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Floating shark tooth sifter


WAHAMA90

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Didn't get out to the cliffs this weekend, so I decided to make a floating sifter. This one has 1/4 screen in it. I am going to make another one that has 1/8 screen, but I'll have a smaller 1/4 screen that fits over it along with a scoop that I can pour water over the larger screen. I think I will fashion some sort of strap on it so I can carry it on my back so that I can still surface collect until I get to a good sifting spot.

20170102_124449.jpg

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Great, looked like plastic. Didn't think plastic screen would hold up to well! Again awesome job.

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Here is the scoop. I plan on attaching it to the 1/8 screen float, but also putting a piece of foam on the back of it. I figured that it can just float beside the sifter until I need it. 

20170102_131825.jpg

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4 minutes ago, aerogrower said:

Great, looked like plastic. Didn't think plastic screen would hold up to well! Again awesome job.

 

26 minutes ago, FossilDudeCO said:

looks great!

and much lighter than the wooden ones I have seen!

Thanks

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Nice design! 

How do you attach the hardware cloth to the PVC?

Regards,

    Tim    VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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would you be willing to share your "plans" or at least a how to make one of these?

 

I know I would be interested!

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The design and making one of these is pretty simple. The drawback, that I have seen with sifters made with pvc ( especially schedule 40 like this one) is they will not hold up under heavy and demanding usage. When you are in a river environment shoveling 5 and 6 shovel fulls into the screen all day the pvc does not hold up as well. That is the reason I use wood, they may be heavy, but if constructed right and taken care of they will last forever. And by adding pool noodles, just as shown, the wood floats too.

Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt
behind the trailer, my desert
Them red clay piles are heaven on earth
I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt

Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers

 

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On January 7, 2017 at 4:16 PM, sixgill pete said:

The design and making one of these is pretty simple. The drawback, that I have seen with sifters made with pvc ( especially schedule 40 like this one) is they will not hold up under heavy and demanding usage. When you are in a river environment shoveling 5 and 6 shovel fulls into the screen all day the pvc does not hold up as well. That is the reason I use wood, they may be heavy, but if constructed right and taken care of they will last forever. And by adding pool noodles, just as shown, the wood floats too.

Your typical white schedule 40 PVC pipe will become brittle and break after prolonged exposure to sunlight. It's meant to be buried inside the walls of your home.  In fact many plastics degrade over time with exposure to UV light (=direct sunlight).  But I would think if you stored it between trips out of the direct light it should last a fairly long time and considering how cheap it is you could just keep building new ones.  But maybe just don't leave it in the back of the truck when not in use.

 

I also like my classic wood version.

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Nice design. Take some photos of it out in the field next time so we can see it in action. The other useful feature of a sifting screen meant to be used in water would be an appropriate length of cordage made into a loop and tied off on a corner of the sifter to act as a lanyard. These are useful when solo sifting in rivers so you can tether the sifter to you leaving your hands free for shoveling.

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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WAHAMA90, Loved your light screen. So much so that I "stole" your design and made one for my upcoming Florida trip. I was hedging between 1/4 and 1/2 screen, then I thought, why not try a new version of yours where I can have the best of both worlds. Will post a pic in a few days to see if those who sift think it will work. Again, your design seems great for us Northerners that have to pack it in our suitcase. I left the handles unglued so I could detach and slip it into the suitcase easier.

 

 

 

On ‎1‎/‎2‎/‎2017 at 1:59 PM, Fossildude19 said:

Nice design! 

How do you attach the hardware cloth to the PVC?

Regards,

 

Also I attached my screen using zip strips every 1.5 to 2 inches. Seems solid. We will see

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4 minutes ago, aplomado said:

Maybe some paint on the PVC would protect it from sunlight?

Really cool!

 you would have to prepare the pvc to hold the paint, otherwise it will peel off. If I were to make one of pvc, I personally would use schedule 80 cpvc

Bulldozers and dirt Bulldozers and dirt
behind the trailer, my desert
Them red clay piles are heaven on earth
I get my rocks off, bulldozers and dirt

Patterson Hood; Drive-By Truckers

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I just made these nesting sifters. I still need to put the 1/8 mesh on the last one. They still need handles and a strip on the bottom. I was able to buy 2 pieces of 1/16 aluminum angle 4' long for  $2 each at the hardware store the other day. I might put it on one of them. 

 

20170126_164509.jpg

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  • 5 weeks later...

Nice! I like the nesting idea!

I've made wooden and PVC sifters, I use the PVC most of the time but the one problem I have is sinking the sifter by adding too much material to sift, the wood with the noodles attached floats much better. I think I'm going to get some of the extra large noodles and see if that will make it float it better.

Rob :D

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For some reason in South Florida the pool stores (and the big box stores) sell the pool noodles in two forms: a larger diameter hollow tube and a smaller diameter noodle that just barely fits into the larger one. For maximum flotation I lubed up the smaller tube and was able to nest that one inside the larger tube to achieve a large amount of flotation so that I can cable tie the nested noodles to just two sides of my sifting screen. I can put about three good shovelfuls of sand/gravel into the screen before it starts losing buoyancy. A little shaking releases a lot of the sand which lightens the load considerably. I only put noodles on two sides and then pad the other two sides with the foam insulation that is used to wrap water pipes. This makes comfortable sides to grab and shake the sifting screen that are not the large diameter of the pool noodle flotation sides. Works well enough for me.

 

This is what my gear looks like: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/42992-end-of-year-peace-river-trip/&do=findComment&comment=467550

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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13 minutes ago, digit said:

For some reason in South Florida the pool stores (and the big box stores) sell the pool noodles in two forms

 

FYI, Walmarts  in Southern Florida do NOT stock noodles in the winter. I had packed my PVC sifter in my suitcase with the intent of adding the noodles when I arrived. Did not happen. Did not look further since I was loaned sifters anyways.

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1 hour ago, minnbuckeye said:

 

FYI, Walmarts  in Southern Florida do NOT stock noodles in the winter. I had packed my PVC sifter in my suitcase with the intent of adding the noodles when I arrived. Did not happen. Did not look further since I was loaned sifters anyways.

 

Mike, why would we want to swim with the temps down into the chilly 70's?

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Indeed! Why even venture outside if the temps dip into the 60's? :P

 

The big box stores might only have pool noodles in the "swimming" months but you probably could have found one if you'd gone to one of the many chains of pool supply stores down here (not that that does you any good at this time).

 

 

Cheers.

 

-Ken

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  • 2 weeks later...

All good ideas. Auto UV protectant like Armour All might help protect the pvc pipe is applied before using

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