14" Rock crusher expression of interest

Not for sale, just wanted to know how much of a market there was for them.

I currently have one of my uncle's building me a 14" petrol driven hammer mill. He's got a mountain of experience building all sorts of high end gear, but this is his first small Rock crusher. I asked him to build it because l haven't been terribly impressed by a lot of the other ones available or with their prices(or postage prices).

Anyway he wanted to know if there was a market for them, if there is he would do up the designs and have most of the parts CNC cut rather than machining it all for this one build.

I know people want them, but not sure how many or how much they are willing to pay(this guy doesn't work for free..). So just trying to gain some idea of the market or any feedback about the idea.

He likes to make things to a pretty high standard so instead of the simple chain mill l had originally planned he's making it a hammer mill with dust extractor and small hopper feed. Going to be interesting to see the finished product and how well it works.

By small rock crusher I guess you mean portable?
I will be considering one for myself at a later date but I am a very small fish so not familiar with market turnaround sorry.
Convenience and ease of use is king of the block.
good luck. :Y:
I imagine it would appeal to small claims miners over the hobbyist but I could easily be wrong.

By small l mean something on pneumatic tires that you could push around or put on the back of a ute, instead of the massive stuff he has helped build for mines.

Yeah lm not entirely sure of the market myself. I have a dolly pot and l have a small angle grinder mounted crusher, but wanted something that l could run a bucket full through without taking all day or having to set up.

The unit would probably be ok for a small hobby mine, but personally l just wanted something that was convenient and ready to go anytime l wanted to crush a decent sized sample from an area.

I would be keen.

Not going to bid or guess a price but if he builds similar stuff then he will know his costs and what margin he needs.

Yeah lm not after bids for a product that hasn't even been made yet, more just getting an idea of the price range people are comfortable with or what features they would want, as that would probably help him decide how much work and types of materials to use.

The main difference with the materials being the hardness and wear profiles, cheaper stuff will work, but better materials that will last longer(like for small scale mining) will cost more. And work wise if people want cheap but good enough vs a higher quality product with more features.

From what he's been saying he should end up with a better product at an equal or lower price than the chain type crushers they sell over in America so lm sure if he built a few they would sell but lm trying to work out what people want vs what they will accept and roughly how many actually want them.

I know lve wanted a reasonable crusher for ages, but still not sure how many others do.

The only Australian made (I believe soon to be made overseas) small impact crusher I know of is https://armstrongindustries.com.au/...ock-crusher-0-55kw-electric-motor-500-x-350mm
They are around 30kg & cost $1500.
The next size up is 110kg, on wheels & $5000.
IMO you would need to be around that or cheaper for similar sized units?
Hammer mills are usually more expensive & heavy?

Yep and while lm sure the Armstrong industries units are made well, they have been out of stock of their mini crusher for awhile now and it's a big step up to their larger units.

When l say hammer mill ln talking about similar to what they use in their(Armstrong) impact mills, not chains, but solid replaceable hard bar mounted to mounting plates that fit on a slide on shaft.

Price wise probably maybe the $2k sort of range depending on features and materials. I was after a 14" unit for myself, but he could probably make smaller units for less if there was enough interest.

The reason any of it would even be possible is because he already has all the equipment and know-how. Once he makes the designs he can just leave his CNC machines to cut all the parts which reduces the time and effort involved while giving a high quality finish. He's currently semi retired, but has a sideline designing and making things like engine parts for antique cars among other things. His workshop is drool worthy as is his collection of toys, but he's always looking for a new market or niche where he could do better that what's currently available.

IMO something around the $2k mark & portable would have a worthwhile market.

$2k for a 14 crusher would be outstanding value.

A well built machine around $2k would be interesting

I'd be keen for one for around $2k.

Any movement on this? I will be needing a new crusher pretty soon

Still in development and not really going in the direction l was originally expecting.

I had asked him to build me something similar to the K&M 14 inch crushers, but seems he doesn't like doing things by half so is building a lot more than l originally had in mind.
He is currently waiting on some of the parts, but the first unit should be finished in February(may or may not make more, but pretty sure he plans to make at least three at this stage).
Then there will be a testing phase, but it shouldn't be hard to modify, mainly just efficiency and crush size along with assessing wear pattern, wear rates and which is the best hammer shape and rpm or if it will depend on rock type. Lots of little things, but that probably won't take more than a week.

So guessing mid February l will have a better idea, but l seriously doubt he will be able to make them at $2k at this point. The hammers are AR steel, the tires are solid 16" flat proof, the bearings are high grade cylindrical, the motor is 15hp electric start, the whole thing is built to a higher standard than l needed, but better to have more than you need then less l guess. On the bright side he's making sure it won't be hard to replace wear parts like the hammers and screen in the field without needing any special tools and that it won't be hard to get replacements or perform maintenance if/when needed.

Would love to give you a firm date and price, but l don't even have one for myself yet, sorry.

Primary crusher for 2k would be nuts... anny chance he could do some jaw crusher? I've got a home made chain .mill.crisjer but need something to munch down to larger material before it hits the feed.

Hey Matt,

Depending on exactly how big it ended up and throughput, over $2k might still be very good value.
Sounds like youre looking at ending up with 1/2 a tonne/day plant. Starting to get serious...

Id be keen to be kept in the loop on this one too.

Cheers,
Zengeo

bjarvie
Yeah l know where your coming from. He wants me to bring by a decent amount of rock to run through for testing later this month and while l have plenty of rock it's going to be a pain getting that much of it down to a reasonable size.

I'll see how this project goes first before l start thinking too hard about a jaw crusher, but it's certainly on my long term wishlist and l don't think it would be a hard thing to make.

Zengeo
I've little doubt that it will be decent value, just that it may not end up being the price range l had originally been expecting.

Kind of the problem having someone that's used to working with high end stuff, they don't want to do things cheap, they want to put in the effort and money to make a higher quality product. I mean it's great to get a better product, but l think it's going to be way beyond my original expectations in terms of performance and possibly price(l still have no clear idea about the end cost for this build).

You gotta work with him on that then. Dont just let him loose (knowing what you do about the way he works) and then be shocked when he comes back and says Here you go. Only $5k a pop!

If hes used to engineering products, hell be used to working to a budget.
Set it, then see what he can do :Y:

I started work on a smallish Jaw Crusher about a year ago, with the intention of it being mounted on a wheelbarrow frame, and running off a 12v battery,
but got stuck on how to drill holes in the triangular bastard files I was planning to use as teeth.

So I tried making an EDM to do the holes, (Electronic Drilling Machine - Youtube them, they're pretty cool), But I didn't get things right and accidentally made a smoke machine instead!
(yet another project to get back to)

My fallback has been to use a hammer drill, with a smashing bit on the end, and crushing the quartz in a dolly pot, which works, but its loud!

Then it occurred to me while doing that, that I could just use hardened bolts as teeth in the jaw crusher, which would also make them cheaper & easier to replace as they wear.

Even if it doesn't crush to as fine as I want, It should still crush stuff down to the point where & can fine it in the dolly pot, or easily run it through a flail mill. (next project)

When I get it working, I'll post pics & plans. Just don't hold ya breath!