Progress so far on my homemade relic sifter

[Mike95inNJ]

I saw this project in a book titled The Urban Treasure Hunter. I garbage picked the wood needed for this. Took approx two hours to get done. Only thing needed is the wire mesh of which I'm going to try and get today.
HH, Mike in NJ

 

[coin finder]

Hi, it's coin finder Look real well made , and good luck with it.

 

[Mike95inNJ]

Went and bought a 5' X 24"roll of 1/2" mesh and put it on. I still want to put a 3/4" strip of wood on the bottom over the mesh for the perimeter of the sifter for better reinforcement on the screen and to keep the sifter box alittle up off the ground when it's laying down so the dirt can still come through when filling it. Also used alittle bar soap where the legs swivel for easier movement. Spent $9 for mesh and brackets.

HH, Mike in NJ

 

[Mike95inNJ]

Re: Finished sifter

Garbage picked the rest of the wood needed to support the wire mesh on the bottom. Hopefully try it next weekend.
HH, Mike in NJ

 

[boogeyman]

Nice job!!! One hint for you, round over the handles. A roundoverbit in a router or a rasp. If you use it for long periods your hands will thank you. Never thought of using bar soap, I've been using washers cut from bleach bottles about the size of a big fender washer & a couple of Nylocks. Works really good even in wet areas!

 

[Rasputin]

Now that is true Yankee thrift.

 

[DirtfisherGabe]

I know this is kind of a dead topic, but did you ever get a chance to use it? How did it perform?

 

[boogeyman]

Don't know how his worked. Been building these for over 20 years. Have made them with 1/2" and 1/4" hardware cloth. Have one I use now with a sheetmetal trough underneath that funnels material into a five gallon bucket. I use this one mostly for classifying for the drywasher. I built one for a buddy using expanded metal instead of hardwarecloth. He added straps off of an old backpack & a strap to hold his bucket in it. (wish I'da thought of that ) That & a short shovel & he's ready to hump it across the hills.

You can make them the width of your hardware cloth by 48" long, with handles that extend 2' past the side of the frame. This way you can set it at an angle & shovel into it when working sand or you're just tired of shaking.

 

[Clev]

Hey boogeyman, do you have any diagrams for building one of these? Im not good with wood, lol...

 

[Produce Guy]

It looks like you could also stiff your compost with that.

 

[boogeyman]

Hey boogeyman, do you have any diagrams for building one of these? Im not good with wood, lol...

I usually just throw everything on the ground & play tinker toy. Usually somebody wants one in a hurry. Drop me a PM (to remind me) & I'll get you a couple of drawings together etc.

Produce guy,
Never stiffed my compost Never really thought about using a sifter, I have a large chipper and rake the big pieces that didn't decompose off the pile & chuck em in the chipper again. If you run your compose back through the chipper it comes out nicer than what you can buy.