Ceramic materials are widely studied for their high temperature structural applications. In many crystalline ceramics the range of solid solution decreases with temperature and thus precipitation of a second phase occurs. Thus, ceramics can be hardened by precipitation of second phases. However little is known regarding the effect of precipitation and nanocrystalline grain structure in the ductility of ceramic materials. On the other hand, oxide ceramics are under intense-investigation for their technological advantages in magnetization, dielectric response and chemical stability in such diverse uses as magnetic recording media, induction cores and microwave resonant circuits. This investigation has been undertaken to produce, characterize and measure the properties of ceramics that can be hardened by precipitation. The selected systems include Fe(1-x)O-Fe3 and MgO MgFe2O4. Mechanical milling is used to produce nanocrystalline ceramic oxides in the systems Fe(1-x)O-Fe3 and MgO-MgFe2O4 The mechanically alloyed powders are consolidated by means of spark plasma sintering (SPS) at temperatures ranging from 673 K to 1273 K and a pressure varying from 500 to 50 MPa in vacuum.