20 replies to this topic

[andy]

If anyone is struggling to find a supplier of suitable sieve mesh material for grading ingredients I have a few small 6" ish square pieces spare which members can buy cheaply (40, 60, 100 and 200 mesh.). If larger pieces are required I can recommend a supplier of 12" square sheets. Material appears to be stainless steel but is at least earthable metal.

Hope this is of help as buying from chemical catalogues or skylighter works out very expensive.

[dfk]

Hey andy,

where are you located?
what suplier do you know for larger sheets of screen?

[andy]

I live in sunny Worcestershire.

The supplier of sieve material is potters connection. They have a website and the available sieve sizes are listed on the catalogue page. They're in Stoke on Trent I think.
Delivery was pretty good.

Cheers

Andy

[bobconan]

Well now that you guys have your screen how are you gonna/did you mount it in a box or something. I cant get mine tight while trying to use plastic containers.

[Stuart]

I got my screens in their containers just this evening. I first went around the base with a soldering iron to get a nice straight cut. The screens were then glue gunned in and they work well. God 200 mesh is finer than I thought.

Stuart

[bobconan]

Hmm. is the screen loose? mine was really loose. Maybe thats not a problem tho.im using 80 mesh and 16 mesh brass.

[Stuart]

Well I cut them so they dropped into the container fine so they were loose. The container has most of the bottom cut out with a soldering iron so I just left about 5mm around the side for the screen to rest on and for the glue gun glue to get a good purchase.

[bobconan]

mine was small so i just put the screen on a hotplate and put the container on it. plastic melted right into the screen. holds pretty well.

[maxman]

Has anyone got any ideas regarding mounting frames for 6"x6" mesh that inoxia supply? obviously the fine 100/200 mesh is very thin and the 4/10 etc is thick. Are plastic food containers the way to go? what's the best way of attaching the screens to the containers?

I've seen Dan Williams page and I have some containers but they are a bit flimsy. I tried this with a couple but as there is an edge of container where nothing falls through and areas where chems get trapped.

[sasman]

Hi Maxman

I have used several plastic food containers as described by Dave williams i used Araldite 2 pack epoxy to fasten the mesh to the base of the container.

I was not to happy with them so i ended up buying some 8 "Diameter Brass framed Endecott sieves much stronger and will last a lifetime..

[Strobe]

I've tried using wood frames with the sieve hot glued between a top and bottom piece, but found that my hot glue seems weren't all that great. Chems are tending get stuck around the seems and it's hard to clean them out once they are in there. I've had the same issues with plastic containers and hotglue.

I think the Dan Williams site recommends (or possibly another) recommended using duct tape to secure the sieves to plastic container with a cut out bottom. That way the screens can easily be removed for cleaning and you don't have to worry about chems accumlating at the seems as you retape them every so often. I've not tried this method personally though.

Regarding sources for sieve material, I ran across a good vendor for those in the US at least.

http://www1.mscdirec...000000011742818

Do a search on wire cloth and they have lots of mesh sizes in 12 x 12 inch sheets very inexpensively. I picked up stainless steel 40, 60, 80 and 120 mesh sheets for less than $18 US for all 4 (not including shipping) and had them at my door the day after I ordered. Other 200 mesh, they start to get more expensive than skylighter though.

Before I was aware of MCS Direct I ordered 6x6 sheets from Inoxia as they were substantially cheaper than Skylighters. Unfortunately I haven't received the sheets I ordered on February 19th. Using the Royal Mail tracking number provided by Steve just gets me a message saying they received my package on March 5th and it is being processed for shipment abroad. I didnt order any chemicals or other items that might be a customs issue so I'm not sure what to think at this point.

[Mumbles]

I just took the same plastic containers that Dan Williams uses and melted them into the plastic. Very strong hold on the mesh. You really need beter securing than tape or glue IMO. My drying screens are 2 feet x 2 feet of aluminum window screening. This is stapled on and the rough edges are secured with tape. This holds my stars and shells and such.

I really press and grind on my screens, so maybe thats why I prefer the more secure attachment of melting the screens in. It does make it harder to replace the screens though.

[sasman]

I cant find any large mesh size star screens at a reasonable price so i am going to make some myself..It involves drilling lots and lots of holes...Which has put me off doing it before now..

But i took took the plunge and bought a Pillar Drill today from MachineMart ..Its throat depth is only 105 mm so i can drill a square plate about 8" square.. I would like 12" screens so i may modify the drill so that it takes a 12" deep sheet..
I have seen some nice step drills on ebay and may go for this type of drill rather than buy lots of different sized drill bits..I have some stainless steel sheet about 1.6 mm thick .. Just need to make up some nice Square hardwood frames..I wanted those star screens from Wolter but they are way to expensive..

I am trying to figure out an easy way to repetatively drill lots of holes at a fixed distance rather than eye up each one? any ideas or tips or some simple jig that i can use to make the job easier?

[paul]

I am trying to figure out an easy way to repetatively drill lots of holes at a fixed distance rather than eye up each one? any ideas or tips or some simple jig that i can use to make the job easier?

Create (with any drawing program) a grid, glue it to you sheet of metal, use a center punch to mark every hole and then use a center drill to
drill the holes. these are perfect for accurate drilling holes.!

[sasman]

Thanks for that paul..good idea...I bought a set of cone drill bits from screwfix today and tried to drill through some 1.6 mm Stainless steel sheet..

It was not very good . The holes had a very poor finish and i would have to hand finish each individual hole! so either stainless steel is hard to drill or these cone drills are poor for cutting stainless? .I will try to buy some perspex or polycarbonate and see if that is suitable for screen materail...If that doesnt work i will try Aluminium sheet