Homemade DIY Worm Sifter
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- Опубліковано 9 тра 2020
- I have had the parts sitting around for a months now and as I'm home nearly 100% of the time I finally was able to start and finish building my shaker table to help sort worm bins I have in the house. This is homemade and hopefully will inspire other designs! If you have any ideas on how to make this DIY worm sifter better please let me know in the comments!
This won't work well for castings that are really wet but should help a lot when they dry out!
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That is FRICKIN AWESOME and talk about saving some money great job 👍 the only downfall is you gave me another project to build LOL
Awesome set-up! Thanks for sharing.
Great job. I'm sure you'll love it.
Thanks for watching!
Would you provide a link to the 1/4” and 1/8” “screen” material?
Google perforated aluminum sheet...
What's a intelligent invention. Thank you.
Thanks for watching! This is really based off the design of the Brockwood worm sifter which retails for around $2,000. This unit cost less than $150 to build although I'm not sure of the exact cost since I had a lot of the wood already. The most expensive part was the perforated aluminum screens.
Great setup. Keep up the great work. 😎
Thanks for watching!
Wow! This is awesome
Thanks for watching!
That is amazing! Hope you can perfect it before you go back to work.
Thanks for watching!
Luckily I'm still working just from home but as I don't have a commute it helps add more time for tinkering. Also I don't have a hundred things going on each weekend so more time then as well.
This is gonna be awesome for you!!
I hope so, might need to adjust the angle and might add weights so I can shake it a bit faster! I'll have more videos on changes I make.
Brillant setup.
Thanks for watching!
Well done!
Thanks for watching!
Very nice build.
Thanks for watching!
Nicely done
Thanks for watching!
Nice design
Thanks for watching!
I’ve been looking at a few dozen of these kinds of projects on UA-cam. I’m actually just working on a landscaping project. I have an extra old saw and now I’ve found a use for it. For controlling the speed of the saw, A few use a router variable speed controller from harbor freight to control a corded reciprocating saw. I like the idea of the tarp controlling the soil and I’m thinking about bunjee cords to cut down on friction. Also considering making a fake metal attachment that will be stronger than a blade as they seem to break in others projects.
Thank you so much for sharing your ingenuity and talent.
Thanks for the router speed controller suggestion it is currently out of stock but I think I'll be picking one of those up! The tarp was necessary as I tried making a trommel before and castings went everywhere. I found the paracord I'm using to work pretty well so far but bungies should hold up just as well. Key was making it easily adjustable without using metal which is too rigid. I tried using metal instead of a blade but found that I couldn't get it to fit correctly so I cut a blade to be smaller and drilled a hole in it has some movement to prevent binding and possible breaking.
Thanks for sharing. Please share the information on where I can purchase the screen: I have searched and I have only found Some 7:08 it is only 12” wide. I really need this. Thanks
Hi Michael I purchased the screen on eBay but I can't find the listing anymore. I looked locally first but it was really expensive. What had a lot of places to order from I got samples then ordered.
I like what you’ve done. I’ve got a suggestion to improve your idea. One is to feed one side of the bin until complete then feed the other side so the worms migrate. It’ll greatly reduce the number of worms getting onto the sifting screens. To improve upon your design instead of using string to suspend the screens how about cutting a keyhole slot or mortise, the length of desired travel, into the side of the screen frame. Then you can put a dowel, bolt, or something similar into the frame itself for the mortise to slide on. You could use a bolt with nuts to make it easy to disassemble for repairs or cleaning. Or maybe heavy duty cabinet slides. I love the sawsall idea. I could only think of a cam to lift and drop it. A sawsall is a great idea for the back and forth motion. I love this idea. That sifter you mentioned is now like $3175. There are knockoffs available for $900 or so but that’s more money for other projects.
Is that method referred to as the triangle method or something similar?
What a great idea. I have an old hedge trimmer that boke but the drive still works and this is a prime project just made for it. I'm guessing that you pre-sorted the worms as best you could because the medium seems very dry. Thank you for this video.
You are right a hedge trimmer should work really well and have the power for it! Although I'm still playing around with the angle and speed. I might want to up the speed but to do that I'll need more weight so the machine doesn't move around!
Most of the material going through was Hardwood Pellets or Coco Coir this time and I did let them age quite a bit before sorting them. I plan on trying some bins that run primarily on cardboard but will need to dry the contents out before trying this out.
Use a jig saw instead of the reciprocator. A jig saw has more trigger control. Just a thought and probably been said some where else. Thanks for sharing your knowledge .
That hadn't been mentioned. I would need to figure out a way to reinforce the blade. I would think it would snap with how thin they are
@@WorldComposting Yes agree , the thin blades wouldn't put up with too much stress. If you could reinforce that the motor control would be great. Jigsaws recipe far slower. Thanks for reply.
I like the sawsall
Very cool, give my brain thoughts
Always great to think about new ideas when it comes to this stuff!
Could cut the 2x4 adjustment shorter to free up more room, no big deal but since your asking for ideas, great design I’m doin it! Thanks
Congrats! A very practical and usefull idea. I have wach a lot of video, and I think this one will work for me. How do you think I can attach and old wasmachine motor instead?
Like your idea very much.
Thanks, I have thought about attaching this to a drill that spins rather then moves back and forth and would think a washing machine would be similar. You will need the shaft going into the center of a metal circle then have a metal rod attached at the edge to create the back and forth motion. You could also try and use it to vibrate the screen which can work pretty well.
Thank you for this. I somehow didn't think of a reciprocating saw when I thought I don't want to spend 3,000 but how do I get that shaking motion.
*Puts the wallet up, re-engage diy complex*
I was thinking how to diy a powered sifter and this exactly what I was thinking lol.
Great minds think alike! 👍😉
I’m not sure if you still check this but thought I’d try anyway.
How tall is the front and back? Like the idea of having it lower to the floor vs up high. Since it’s low to the worms at the end fall neatly into the bin!
Orbital sander might work good idea thanks
I have one but I'm not sure how I would attach it
I would like this project more in detail?.
I wish to build it for my own.
For my uses on my vegetable garden!.
If you look at how Captain Matt works his unit I think that would help but your engineering seems to be spot on
I would just expand on your drill idea and add up and down shakers by putting a small pulley wheel on the end of a half inch drill and grinding it to look like a cam or egg shape. the speed is also adjustable on a big old electric drill. Nobody uses the corded drills anymore so you get them at garage sales. It would shorten the length of the stroke by putting soft foam bumper pads on each end, this combined with the up down action of the drill cam could help. Thanks for your help, I am just developing my interest in raising the oldest land animals on earth. Unchanged for 650 million years :)
I have toyed with using a drill instead of the reciprocating saw but it seems to be less smooth on the motion.
You could also wire those old drills to a rheostat and fine tune the speed of them as well.
Hi David.
What a nice idea. It might take some improvement in order to make it more resistant against the aggressive vibration its going through, however, what I find difficult to figure out, is the point, about the two different holes sizes in the perforated boards, while after the sifting is done, all the casting is anyhow drained into the same container withot any distinction; or there's something, I must have missed.
Hi Yoram, I purchased two sheets with different size holes for two reasons first so I could separate based on size later if I wanted to. Right now everything goes into one bin as building out the separation was not a top priority as I was still testing out the machine itself. The second reason was I felt dumping castings on holes 1/4 inch would allow too much material to be forced through as I placed the it on the perforated metal. The first section is 1/8 inch and the second is 1/4 inch.
I hope that answers your questions if you have anymore let me know!
Mu thoughts would be to have a slope to add the compost meterial onto to slowly suplie the machine it was sorting the meterial 2 fast to effectively separate all the 3mm meterial if you could reduce the angle or restrict the transfer to the 6mm section that would help hope you don't take this as criticism just advice thanks for a wonderful idea and video
Good job. Where did you buy those bins / trays, where the compost falls into, and what would I type into Google or Amazon to track them down?
I purchased them at Home Depot
www.homedepot.com/p/Plasgad-Black-Medium-Concrete-Mixing-Tub-887101C/205451550
You can get them on Amazon amzn.to/2SQhDV6 but they are somewhat high priced.
Love the sifter, looks like it would run much faster than the manual sifting I've been doing with our worms. I am a bit curious, why you have both the 1/8" and the 1/4" sifter holes both going into the same completed compost bin? Since I typically use the 1/4" screen to sift out the worms and the 1/8" screen to keep the cocoons from falling into the finished castings. Would it make more sense to have two different collection bins for the different hole diameters? What has been your experience with this?
The big issue I had with manual sifting was you need to empty the screen instead of having it just run off like this does.
I have both going into one bin right now but I will probably add a wood bar between them and separate the castings like you mentioned. I also did want a location to dump the castings so they would settle before hitting the 1/4" as a lot can fall through due to momentum which I don't want.
As I use this a bit more I can always make some changes to help get better results but I wanted to finish this as I have a lot of material to sort and the time to test and make changes.
@@WorldComposting I agree, finding a way to get the castings settled more quickly would let more of the smaller pieces call through the 1/8" holes, I also wonder if less of an angle would give it more time on the smaller sifting area. I love the reciprocating sifter much more than a rotating trommel and would love to see any more improvements that you come up with
I would make the adjustable mechanism out of metal, like with a metal bar or straps, still adjustable. I would think where the rope anchor points would keep rubbing and eventually wear out.
I think they will wear out eventually but to help slow it down I did make notches in the top the string sits in so it doesn't rub at all on the anchors and only a little at the top wear the movement is. Also string is easy to replace and adjust as necessary.
The sawzall might have been simplest, but it isn't difficult to mount a motor spinning a disk with an arm attached to some part of the disk and the other part to your sliding traay. Might be cheaper, and could possibly also allow you to shake your tray less violently (closer to center of the disk the arm attaches, less travel and greater leverage). I don't know if the mechanism has a name but is standard way to convert rotational force to linear force or vice versa. Seen in many pictures of steam locomotives and steam powered paddle wheel boats.
I have looked into doing a disk with an arm and using my drill to spin it which has better speed control. While the process behind it seems easy the building of it has been more difficult. Partially because of time and secondly because of materials. I don't think wood will work so it needs to be metal which quickly increases the cost for materials and less knowledge on my end as I don't typically work with metal materials.
This idea will also allow you to adjust the intensity of the shaker by either placing the arm towards the center or the outside of said disk/gear.
a friend is a good job, I grow a worm in Russia a little differently, Like and subscribe
Perforated metal can often be found at surplus stores
Never thought to look there which is why I ordered it online. I was shocked at how much the local stores wanted to charge when I called them up.
Thanks for Watching!
Won't you lose cocoons through the eighth inch perforations? I had to go down in diameter to harvest all my cocoons.
An update on this would be great
I actually have a few videos on this ua-cam.com/play/PLLEZ5krxcR7YXQlipGWzAMpOMV8HbGWcC.html but I really don't have anything recently as I haven't had the time to work on it lately.
What's the point of two different size sifter plates when it all falls into the same bin?
I did this so that way I could separate them out into different containers in the future if I needed to. Also the 1/8 inch up top gives me a bit of area I can dump the castings without them being forced through the large holes.
I am looking for a way to save the worm eggs will the eight of a inch work for that
To be honest I think you will need 1/16th to sort for cocoons.
where did you buy the mesh screen. 1/8 and 3/32
At the mesh screen store
How did you slow the saw down? I have a corded model and returned 3 speed limiters already for not slowing the saw at all.
The trigger on my saw has about 3mm of travel where it slowly ramps up and I try keep the trigger within those 3mm of travel. Really hard to do but I didn't want to purchase another one just to run the sorter. I have been tinkering with using my drill to move it as the trigger has a longer pull but haven't found a good solution yet.
@@WorldComposting Thanks. I'll keep trying to find that spot on mine. I have operated it extremely slowly to get the end of the piston all the way back or forward for blade removal. Then it jumps right to warp speed. =/
I know everyone is talking about inflation in 2022-April... You said in the video here that you were quoted $2000 for the brockman shifter. Today's price is $3200. Thanks for the video. I think I'd rather make one.
Unless you are running a business that is a really high price. I think I could have used a stacked version to save space
@@WorldComposting agreed, way too much $$$. I enjoyed watching your build vids. Been searching for the aluminum to make the sifter, narrowing it down. What do you mean by stacked version? Like different sieves on top of each other?
Exactly stack the perforated sheets. I'll see if I can find a link
Please provide a link to the Ebay store/seller of the aluminum sheets
This is the seller I purchased from on ebay www.ebay.com/usr/kay_enterprise
Do they make an aluminum sheet with holes smaller than 1/8”. The idea is to remove silt and sand but nothing else. Thank you.
I ordered it years ago on eBay but if you search on there I'm sure a company would make what you need.
Nice build. It's July 15, 2023. The Brockwood is going for $3,245. USD today. That's also a nice build. It ain't the-price-of=a-running-used-car good though. No freaking way, I could build 10 machines, each of with would last at least 3 years of daily use, for that price. I'm happy for Brockwood's success, but they ain't gettin' my money; no matter how big my operation gets. Just sayin'.
How about using a vibrating sander?
try it
I wonder how well this would work for cat litter?
I don't see why not unless the litter is more sticky.
do you still remember link you buy it from ebay for screen?
Here is the user I ordered from: www.ebay.com/usr/kay_enterprise?_trksid=p2047675.l2559
and here is a link to perforated sheet: www.ebay.com/itm/Perforated-Metal-Aluminum-Sheet-1-16-Thickness-24-x-24-1-4-hole-3-8-stagger/183403267113?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
Hopefully the links work
World Composting thanks very much it is helpful
You have a video on how to make this?
Unfortunately I don't as it was sort of made with extra wood and parts from around my basement. In many cases wood was shorter than I wanted so I made the entire design shorter on the fly.
Do you have a soft copy of the design?
I can't say I have any design documents. I'll see if I can put something together.
Do you really think the worms are damaged by hardware cloth? I am blown away by the cost of the aluminum.
In a shaker like this yes as it isn't flat but If you used hardware cloth most would survive but might be ripped up. You could maybe try coating it with a plastic or something that will help smooth it out. Now if you had it vibrate up and down you could probably use hardware cloth without issue as the worms wouldn't be sliding as much.
@@WorldComposting
I'm going to build just a hand shaker so maybe the damage would be minimal. Don't want to hurt my worms.
You can also buy a pan sifter from amazon which might hold up better than building one. I know that when I built one the hardware cloth rusted after using it twice. Here is a link to a set of gold sifting pans that could be used amzn.to/2LPhocB
DAMN!.... Did you really have to put on a glove to move the soil?
The glove is a standard garden glove and I always put on gloves to protect my skin. I also wear gloves so my hands are clean when I grab any camera equipment after shooting.
@@WorldComposting Yeah....to protect your delicate skin. Got it!
I think springs would work better than those strings
I don't understand why you have two different sized sieves and only one result, one grade of sieved compost.
Two reasons.
1) The smaller holes up top make it where less material falls through when adding it to the sifter.
2) It gives me the option later of separating out the castings by size using tarps. Right now I feel that is not needed but I was worried about it when I built it originally.
@@WorldComposting Gotchya. So, 'future-proofing' your machine, very sensible!
More than one way to skin a cat . Looks like it worked pretty well. Noisy but that is to be expected.
It is a bit noisy by not nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I can run it in my basement and it sounds like running dishwasher on the main floor and you can't hear it on the top floor at all.
Saying that I still wonder if a setup with a drill might work better or a vibrating unit of some sort.
Instead of all that violent shaking, I wonder if simply vibrating might work as well or better...
My name, in Latin letters (rather than the Hebrew), is Yoram
Great video it could’ve been five minutes long, you rambled a little bit.