Nice! I was planing on using a drill with a bent threaded rod in it for vibration. If I need more I can place a nut on the end of the rod and move it up and down the rod to get more vibration. My first try was a fail due to not having it suspended. I like your adjustment with the cables! Thank you Sir!
I am using your basic design because of its simplicity and inexpensive design. Instead of using a vibrating sander, I am trying an industrial grade 40 watt vibrating motor and I will add speed control,We will see how that works, as it maybe over kill but it’s worth a try as I wish it to run for long periods of time sifting worm castings for my worm herd. I thank you for your design and I wish you luck with your future endeavors.
Great, thanks! I screen old potting soil to remove fines resulting from the peat breakdown. Window screen works. I needed a powered screen mover. Looked for other cheap motors but came back to your idea of an old sander, and a light dimmer as rheostat. Just wired the sander to one end of the screen, hung the sander/ screen end from a portable worktable, the other end down to a bag. No frame, springs, or hooks. The mix does need to be a bit dry for the fines to go through the screen. You helped me get going.
Thank you very much for kicking my mind into gear. I’ve got a sawzall here that I haven’t used in years that should vibrate just fine and it’s variable speed. 👍🏻
Clever design. Bit much for that shaker though, probably. I do like the portable & foldable base & 2 different size wire cloth options. Do you have a vid of the base design & build? I'd like to see the details of the wood joinery & folding hardware. Thanks for sharing!
Really Kool. When I did this and in a very similar way, I used Foam under the Sander and that worked instead of having to buy a second device. What I'd love to see is something that will, Macerate well rotted Manure, So, I can mix it with reasonable grade soiled, making a really good mixture for composting. Kind of like a. Wood chipper for Horse manure
another option for a vibrator is to have a regular electric motor attached via a rubber serpentine belt to an off balance/off center wheel. the wheel will shake the tray, and the belt just isolates and protects the motor from the vibrations.
Gave me great 👍 ideas for me worm separator I’ll need this summer. Easy setup and take down. If ya burn out your sander, perhaps a second-hand store or recycling center would be an inexpensive source for replacements. Keep on shakin.
@@ChilliChump - Yup! As one starts out, on these ideas, they use what they have, but with experience, and learning comes more research, and Discovery! Good find!
better cooling on the motor ........ but if you keep adding tweaks your better off going with a different rig nice explanation ........... I was thinking for sifting worm compost, thank you for the ideas!
There are a lot of details I would like to know about your design. Where is the link to the hinge you mentioned??? And other details like what size hardware cloth did you use there on lower and the upper (1/2 inch? 1/4 inch)? What is L X W X H of the outer frames with legs and also of the frame that holds the sieves? Thanks!
I think you need to add an additional fan to the motor to cool it it. The inbuilt one is optimised to work at full motor speed and won't move enough air at the slower motor speeds. This is a common problem with workshop and industrial kit where a variable frequency drive is fitted and usually you'll see an additional, non-speed controlled fan fixed to the motor.
Try finding one of those powerful vibrating exercise plates that you stand on. A simple cheap upgrade that people are selling or throwing away now the fad has passed.
The reason it's heating up may be that at the slower speed the fan will be running slower. You could rig a 3 inch 110 vac muffin fan to pull more air. It may not be worth the effort. A vibrating motor should do well they but may be brushless.
Electric motor bolted to support frame, offset weighted pulley on pillow blocks attached to screen deck. Run a rheostat on the motor? Nice build, pulling three grades I like it!
Aaron Hodson You can make your own. “Offset” is a bit of a misnomer. You would just add weight to a section on a pulley. Enough to throw it out of balance. This pulley turns on a 3/4” shaft. The shaft is captured by two pillow blocks. You can tune it by adding/reducing weight on the pulley, or adjusting Spring tension on the frame. I built one for gold mining. If you search goldfield prospector unit they have a nice vid or two on their operation/ mechanics. Good luck.
Try to find a double shafted motor, preferably in the 1125 RPM range. Mount offset weights on each shaft at the same position. Bolt the motor to a crossbeam just like this fellow did with the sander. The vertical motion will cause the sifting material to “jump“ up and down and travel easily down the slope.
I saw a reciprocating saw used in the past. I wonder if a jig saw would work also. I will try the jig saw method because I don't have a reciprocating saw.
Great build, I would have the narrower screen at the lower end, or maybe you tried that and found it better this way. I have a motor from an old fat reducing belt thing with offset weights I may try that, thanks.
@@ChilliChump - another trick, it to start with an upper section (Separate Layers, or "Decks" - not along the Same run, was my thinking!) that does the 1/2", but with a lower section (Deck, underneath the first one) that uses the 1/4" Construction Cloth. The lower deck needs some space between, likely about 6" on a small rig like this would be good! Another, is to have even a 1" or larger, initial Seperation Step, either as a Feeder Grizzly, or as a 3rd Deck, on top! But, then, it's "Not so cheap" and heads more into a "Professional Level Game!" Now, if we could get low cost, 6" to 8" wide Conveyors, too, that would really "Kick it up a notch!" 😁
how dry the compost needs to be to work nicely without risk of jamming? I assume the screen mesh is 1/4" and 1/2"? What would you say pros and cons are compared to tumbling type of sifter? One of the cons of tumbling type I have seen is that the twigs can go pretty easily through the mesh when tumbling.
nice explaination and plans. But very hard to watch. It seems you connected your camera to a vibrator. I was dizzy halfway through. Get another human to video you or put the camera on a fixed attachment.
A shaker would be great if I was only interested in a single grade of compost. With this I am able to seperate into 3 grades...from fine compost, to large chunks
