Bucket sieve

brendomac said:

Thanks Goldengoose. Elbow grease it is!

One other thing, in the original post it doesn't look like Ag Man used liquid nails or any sort of glue. Subsequent posts seem to have used glue. Any advice on this one?

Click to expand...

I used that blue PVC pipe glue and it hasn't budged.

It is GOOD stuff.

Thanks guys!

Green PVC Glue is better again but,
It sticks almost instantly.

Tath what is the Green one, is it stronger or something?

Yes it is Cecc.
Bloody stuff does not muck around either. It grabs nearly instantly.
It is used on high pressure PVC.

On ya Doug, thanks for that.

brendomac said:

Thanks Goldengoose. Elbow grease it is!

One other thing, in the original post it doesn't look like Ag Man used liquid nails or any sort of glue. Subsequent posts seem to have used glue. Any advice on this one?

Click to expand...

No probs!
I think Agman had used liquid nails but as you have seen PVC glues can be used also.
Check out my topic on bucket sieves. No glue needed so can change wire anytime you like.
Cheers

Hey guys, well I have made up 2 of these Buckt seives so far and my experience is the same as most of the others here.
I used Liquid nails and the heavy duty wire as others have and it was abit difficult to fit in but I used the full depth of the bucket...ftting the mesh andrng right at the bottom wher the diameteris smallest...probably not neccessary in hind sight.

Mine has been very strong loading it up with big gibba's and it hasn't been an issue at all. Bullet proof fast classifying...my best prospecting tool yet that speeds up your entire proccess.

Made myself a full mesh basket classifier using same mesh as I used in the bucket, bit of stuffing around but it works well.
Just fill bucket with water & agitate basket with one hand, cleans rocks & breaks down clay well & is quicker/easier than bucket.
Using the heavy wire mesh takes a bit more effort but it can handle alot more abuse.

That looks like a great Setup. It seems the classification works along the edges as well as the bottom of the basket.

Looks great, heaps more area for the water to work on the material. How far off the bottom of the bucket is it? Is the that bird mesh from Bunnings type, or heavier grade? I was thinking of using a SS Deep Fry Basket.

Cheers LL

Looks good, how did you attach the bottom part of sieve??

Hi All,

I thought I give the full mesh bucket a go (Thanks Ozii for your inspiration). The good thing is you don't need to weld anything. You can use the overhanging mesh to join back onto itself. To make these I used an angle grinder, hammer, some zip ties, pliers and a log (or some sort of cylinder object). I got the mesh from a recyclers.


1. Work out your dimensions so it fits in a bucket. I used the yellow bucket's height and a diameter that would fit in the black 15 litre bucket. Then Cut out the sheet using an angle grinder or bolt cutters, making sure you leave 'spikes' on two of the edges (circled). The height will be adjustable in the end as you can have more or less of the basket sticking out of the bucket depending on where you insert the handle.


2. Roll the mesh. This is a reasonable gauge, but still rolled OK. You'll get a feel for it depending on how big your log is.


3. zip tie your basket, this will make it easier to bend the ends over the mesh. For this gauge I used a hammer and pliers to fold over the ends


4. It will look like this.


5. Then cut out a base. It doesn't hurt to have the base wider than the cylinder, you can fold these over for added strength. Just cut where you think it works then fold over using a hammer and pliers if necessary.


6. It fits in the bucket, similar to the one Ozii Made.


I also made a smaller one that fits in the big one. This mesh is a smaller gauge like the rabbit cage type wire. So its not as strong, but I did wrap it around itself some more to brace it. It was a lot more fiddly than the bigger mesh. Because it sits in the stronger one it can use that for extra strength, it should also be easier to pack!

Here is hoping they work!

Great idea.

Thank you Ag man and Ten ounce ,
This type of simple yet effective info is great !
I guess I know what I will be making this week!

Great idea Brendomac ! , I was just thinking about what would happen if you made the finer mesh basket larger than the coarse mesh basket .on the one manual agitation both baskets may collect/sort appropriately sized material ..could that work as a 2 stage sorter?

I am new to this but thought it may prove mor efficient?
Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Where can u get this mesh, I would use 1/4 inch?

I made one a while back, normal gauge square bird mesh and no glue required, it holds in place as the bucket is tapered and I can change wire easily if required.

I thought of making a nest of classifiers but so far I have had no difficulty using only one. Once I have a bucket full I pour it into a garden sieve on top of my pan to classify further. That way I can easily look over the sieve for any pickers, gems etc. I get a lot of black sand so when I have panned out the rocks and blonde sands I pour the rest into a bucket for further classifying and processing at home.

If I had a sluice or highbanker I wouldn't bother with a smaller classifier. The bucket sieve does a great job washing the big rocks and breaking up clay so I'd just pour the bucket straight through the sluice.

You may find a two stage sorter as you have described will be less efficient as the small rocks that pass through the first basket but don't pass through the smaller mesh will impede the movement of water and fines through the baskets. I think it would be quicker and easier to classify with the large mesh and then run that material through the fine mesh basket separately. It would depend on the material you are processing. Sand/gravel wash would pass easily through both at once. Dirt and clay would be better as a two stage process.

With your idea of nested classifiers you can transport the lot without taking up too much space and determine how to proceed depending on the material you find.

Give it a go and let US know

Hi Happy Trails,

I second what Maltisau has to say on this one. Additionally, I'd be thinking about the space you need between your larger mesh internal basket and the finer mesh external basket. You'll probably find you might not have much room between the two. But I haven't tested the idea, so I can't be sure.

I have now run a couple of buckets through the setup, so far I have only had to use the finer mesh, it seems to be doing the job very well and is tough enough. The result is a fairly fine grain and runs through a sluice easily. I haven't tried the bigger gauge through the sluice, but from what I hear on the forum, it should work quite well, as long as the water flow is there.

I haven't worked with clay yet either, But I might have some laying about to try out.

Cecc, I got all my mesh from a metal scrap place. But I'm pretty sure you can get the other stuff from Bunnings.