Floating sand sifter

[Xraywolf]

Made this thing last year, used PVC pipe and stuffed it with pipe insulation, PVC glued all joints and wrapped more pipe insulation around it [for added flotation].

Wanted to stay away from a metal screen so I can pass my coil over it, so I used .25 plexiglas and I CNC drilled a batch of holes. Wasn't satisfied so I hand drilled a bunch more. I got one of those ankle straps surf boarders use, has about a 4 ft leash.

don't use it all the time but it really comes in handy, you can dump in a scoop and it pretty much self sifts with the motion of the water ... I usually dump in a scoop then go right back and see if the target is still pinging, if its not its usually in the sifter. So it can be a time saver manually sifting through the scoop to find the target which may or may not be there. Follows me around without effort, sometimes I forget its even there. Bad thing is kids are super curious about it so it attracts them like magnets. Not that I mind mentoring kids occasionally, but when I'm in the zone with my headphones on, last thing I want is to be distracted by a gaggle of yacking kids.

All in all, glad I made it, a cheap and handy tool for the water detecting arsenal. I've seen some videos of guys using plastic clothe baskets floating on a tire for the same effect, this I think looks a bit less ghetto than those.

 

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[CASPER-2]

NICE

Mine is around same size - but mine has 2 sides - one with medium screen - other with fine screen- that will trap stud earrings and other tiny targets

 

[OBN]

Nice work, should be a great time saver. The area's I hunt now I could not go without, One thing I have found.. gold seems to be the only thing that just pops out. Be Safe and Good Luck!

 

[Xraywolf]

I thought about smaller holes or mesh but then sifting becomes more inefficient, so I'll take the risk of losing an occasional stud.
I'm just glad it floats as good as it does, a chunk of 1/4" plexi has some weight to it ,,, I think I drilled even more holes since I took that pic. But I'm about done even though I could drill more, each new hole is a risk I'll ruin the whole thing if a section of it fractures.

 

[CASPER-2]

the smaller side I only use if item falls thru the bigger side - will rescoop and then dump on that side
- I don't use in real shelly or rocky areas - more for thick mucky areas that take forever to sieve thru -
to save time - i'll dump a load in it and then search for another target while it filters thru

I thought about smaller holes or mesh but then sifting becomes more inefficient, so I'll take the risk of losing an occasional stud.
I'm just glad it floats as good as it does, a chunk of 1/4" plexi has some weight to it ,,, I think I drilled even more holes since I took that pic. But I'm about done even though I could drill more, each new hole is a risk I'll ruin the whole thing if a section of it fractures.

 

[TooManyHobbies]

Mine is also metal free. Cut a few inches off a 6 gal. bucket, drilled a bunch of holes and wrapped with a pool noodle. Secured with zip ties. It will hold a full scoop from my T-rex. Lanyard with a carabiner attaches to my belt.

 

[Sandman]

I've used the Garrett Gold classifier pan with pool noodle. But I learned I didn't need the float when I learned how to bring the scoop up in little hops as it sifted real well then. I mainly stopped using it when I had to hunt dry sand.

 

[Xraywolf]

bucket bottom with noodle looks pretty nice, I'd have opted for a black bucket though to make precious metal stand out better.

That said, I went with this tinted plexi mostly because it was what I had on hand, I would have used clear or white if that was all I had.

 

[TooManyHobbies]

Precious metal stands out just fine in the white bucket. And those dark coins are real easy to spot.