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Built my first sifter

fongu

Well-known member
I finally got off my can and finished the sifter and it didn't take long. I've been listening to the little guy inside my head all week. Kind of like the little person on fantasy island saying: The plane, the plane, but my little guy has been saying: the pain, the pain. Anyway, I told him to shut up and built my sifter. It's not exactly square or pretty and I didn't get the length of the noodles the same size, but it floats. Monday morning I will test it. It does have 1/4 inch hardware cloth on the bottom and I will have to live with that and not use my propointer anywhere near the water. Plus, I want it to have the strength to handle a large load of gravel, some rocks I encounter and the loads of freshwater mussels. I went overboard with the 9/16 staples and tied the tie wraps so the connector would be at the bottom of the sifter and not be in the way or scratch me. The water at the river and this other place I'm going back to is pretty bad and I don't need any infections. Here are the photos. I tied 5 feet of twine and connected it to a carbiner that will clip to my belt or camo finds pouch. I built this along the lines of the sifter in the garrett video and asked Rusty for his measurements and built it and I will find out if it holds up to the river Monday. HH.
[attachment 271459 Myfirstsifter001Custom.jpg] [attachment 271460 Myfirstsifter002Custom.jpg]
[attachment 271461 Myfirstsifter003Custom.jpg] [attachment 271462 Myfirstsifter004Custom.jpg]
[attachment 271463 Myfirstsifter005Custom.jpg] [attachment 271464 Myfirstsifter006Custom.jpg]
 
Hay, I think that will do you very good. I bet in time that you will come up with even a better idea.. I like what you did. I might have to make one. Have fun... KEN
 
Thought I would get to try it out Monday, but maybe Tuesday and I will see if it holds up to what I put thru it. HH
 
If the 9/16 th staples do not hold, I suggest that you find a flat piece of metal ( width of the Wood ) to go down the width and length and maybe use flat head wood screws. If not try some cheap Yard sticks cut to the width that you need. This is what I made a couple of years back, I can also back pack it to the sight,by useing the rope.It probably weights less than 3 pounds, but doesn't hold alot of material , just a couple of Beach Scoops if needed in the center.
 
I hope the staples hold, but if not I will secure it with some wood strips. I really wanted to do the corners with wood screws, but forgot those and had to use some nails. Hope to get in the water sometime next week.
 
Good job Fongu!

I haven't done any sifting and was wondering why and how you use one. I get a signal and use a scoop to find the target. Why do I need a sifter?
 
Thanks Pete. I haven't got to use it or do any metal detecting lately, but hope to try it out this week. Either tomorrow or Thursday.

Togomac, the area I hunt is a river and it's full of fresh water mussels and near the shore a lot of rocks and gravel. After 2-3 scoops to find a deep target, my scoop is full of this stuff and it's hard to find silver or clad coins and silver rings if they have been in the water a long time and changed color. I can just dump my scoop and let it sift itself, setting down in the water a lit bit and recover my targets quicker and then just turn it upside down and dump the mussels and rocks. It's quicker and I have lost targets in the past when I was tired and trying to find targets amongst all the junk in my scoop. Quicker recovery of targets with less loss time looking thru my scoop, hopefully no more lost targets due to being tired and covering a lot more ground at the same time. It clips to my finds pouch belt and follows me around and I have 5 feet of line attached to it. I got the idea from the Garrett video: Silver and Gold-Water hunting in the summer or something along those lines.
There is another spot I have written permission to search and the bottom is full of blue clay and it's a hassle. I haven't been back there in a while, but hope this sifter helps me work in this difficult terrain. I don't know what you might encounter in the surf at the ocean but in fresh water you have a lot of stuff to contend with and this just helps you work faster, better and spend more time finding targets than picking them out of your scoop. HH. I would like to have a pickup truck load of this clay because it's supposed to be good for a garden.
 
Thanks for that explanation Fongu. I may make one of those myself. I'm going to go to a shallow spot in a lake where the young boaters go to party and drink. Not sure what I'll find there but expect a lot of sunken beer cans and pull tabs for sure.
 
I finally got it into the water today for a couple hours and it worked beyond my expectations. Sadly, all I found was 5 cents and a lot of junk and pull tabs. But, I got them out of the water for the next time I hit the river and hopefully want be rushed like I was today. I have the sunspot scoop and it handled one scoop just fine. The sand sifts itself and I just had to look thru the mussels and other stuff. I usually work my scoop up and down with my foot and this lets lots of 22 casings fall thru, but the sifter caught them all. The only thing about lifting a scoop full of sand is it's hard on my back and neck.
I plan to bolt some 1/4 inch hardware cloth to the inside of my scoop like someone did on one of these forums and then I'll just have to dump the gravel, rocks and mussels. HH. This will catch the 22 casings and sinkers that fall thru the 1/2 holes on my scoop.
 
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