Anybody got plans for building a good, heavy duty portable sifter?

[creskol]

Thanks!

 

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[Pi_Rat]

Go to wal mart and get the pool pool noodles that are thick and meaty they cost about 2 bux. and then go to the home depot and shop the concrete isle. My home depot had these black plastic tubs that are designed for mixing motor. They run about 5 bux. Pick up some 16" zip ties. Bring everything home and drill 1/4" to 1/2" holes in the bottom of the tub. Hole size depends what you want to recover. Definitely do not go larger than 1/2" inch. Wal mart also has plastic tubs that people store clothes in that are cheap. Just pick up the size tub you need and drill holes. Zip tie float noodles to the side and you are good to go.

 

[DocBeav]

Here are some picts of the one I'm building right now. Using a crate that some flowers came in. Very sturdy and solid. I lined the outside edges, closer to the bottom, and zip tied them in place. The material was some pipe lagging that is used on ships. Closed cell foam, very sturdy and floats well. I lined the bottom with some plastic mesh I got at a local craft store that is used to make latch hook rugs and was only $0.59 for an 8"x10" sheet. Cut them to fit and used some epoxy to hold them flat and in place. Going to zip tiome them all down as well but haven't gotten to that yet. Did a float test on it and the bottom sits about 1-2" in the water. The foam will certainly hold a large scoop of sand and rocks from my 720i scoop! (which by the way I lined the back of with some of the same mesh...lets the sand our slower but already finding those annoying small tgts that fall through. Will post those pictures later on in a separate post).



Still have to do the zip ties and add a lanyard and caribiner to clip it to my belt. The mesh does let sand through pretty well but not much else. Sometimes it would be nice to have a place to dump that scoop and sift through it and not have to return to the shore to dump scoop and check the contents.

 

[H-2 CHARLIE]

how will you use that thing ?

 

[DocBeav]

how will you use that thing ?

Seen them used by others in some videos and discussed it with some of the more experienced hunters here. I really wanted it for the lake that I hunt. Real shallow and under a layer of sand is LEAVES lots of leaves and compact soil beneath that. It won't easily go through my scoop so I had to keep trying to pick through it or walk back to shore, dump and sweep it with the coil. This way I can put a lanyard on it, attach it to my belt and have a floating sifting table I can take on the water with me. I was hitting small targets and was looking for a way to stop chasing them and make them easier to find. I think the sifter will work well for that. After the tgt is found, dump it out and on to the next one! May be worth trying it in some of the rocky areas we hunt in on some beaches around here as well. Those pebbles and fist sized rocks can make it difficult to see tgts in the scoop.

 

[creskol]

Thanks all .. some good ideas! I appreciate the replies.

 

[fongu]

I find a lot of fresh water mussels in my scoop and plan to build a sifter in the near future and I've seen some pictures on other forums of some home made sifters that gave me some ideas. I'd like to build a small and light weight sifter to take with me on some land digs out in the woods based on a sifter I seen in one of Charles Garrett's books. Since I'm not able to metal detect this week and probably next week, there isn't any rush to try and put these things together right now. When I do and I test them and if they work, I'll post some photos.

 

[Sandscoopdan]

Here is one I made for my daughter. Complete with a cup holder. LOL. I made this one out of a bakery rack that I got from a local restaurant. The mesh chicken wire I got from Home Depot in the fence section. It is metal 1/4in holes, 4 pool noodles attached with zip ties (got a zip tie gun from Harbor freight tools for a couple dollars), brass oring from Sea sport scuba, brass swivel clip from Lowes. I am going to make another using plastic mesh 1/4in chicken wire(just found a roll at Ace hardware). I also attached a boat cleat that the rope is wrapped around but I wouldn't Recommend that. Bout to remove it as it is an inconvenience. Here are some pics:

 

[sandy shoes]

very helpful thank you

 

[Sandscoopdan]

Your welcome. I am going to buy a roll of the plastic 1/4in fencing. It comes in a big roll and I don't need it collecting dust in the garage. I would rather send some of it to some of you guys on treasurenet who also want to make one of these. i am only going to use a little so if you need some, let me know and I can mail it to ya.