20230308 Electric and "Semiautomatic" Sieve Shakers

Lately, I haven't been in the mood to update my blog, as all my energy and spare time are being consumed by gardening. Nevertheless, I wanted to create a quick post to show you something that might interest you: me using my electric sieve shaker... to sift soil. 

The primary function of the sieve shaker is to shake and sift, and it performs this task as expected. By default, it sifts using a single 30cm-diameter, 10cm-high sieve. However, I "hacked" it by stacking two such sieves and anchoring them with a 6.5-inch throttled return spring I purchased from ACE Hardware. Hacking the shaker with two sieves produces a clanking noise when it shakes, which could suggest that the spring isn't tight enough. 

I couldn't find a throttled return spring long enough to secure three sieves. It would be cool if I could run three sieves simultaneously.

While fully automating the sifting process with triple sieves is impossible until I find the right spring, I did figure out a "semi-automatic" way to sift with three sieves - by rocking them with a 14-inch stainless steel Ikea serving bowl.

P.S. 20230420

After using and comparing the two methods multiple times, I find that the semi-automatic method is less of a hassle because there's no need to hook up to electricity outdoors and the sieves can withstand a heavier load without straining the motor of the sieve shaker. Since I'm referring to sifting dirt/soil, home-milled flour probably wouldn't put as much strain on the motor.

I lugged these three custom-made sieves back from Hong Kong!

6.5-inch throttled return spring

the "semi-automatic" shaker