Legend - lmine.com - has these. https://www.lmine.com/classifiers-sifter-screens-c-11_120_121/ If one looks, however, the same items might be found for less elsewhere, e.g. Amazon. I've seen them there for about 15$. The reason I posted this source is that they also sell a lot of other things useful for Foundry. (Especially Crucibles).
Tha looks like a good source for sifters and classifiers. Comment: I see a lot of folks using sifters and classifiers for face sand. Their main advantage is that they can be purchased in a variety of coarseness grades and they are pre-made. However, in use, they are not very convenient and are a slow way to sift sand onto a mold. I much prefer a roughly 16” (smaller for smaller flasks) square wood frame with metal window screen (semi-coarse) tacked onto the frame with strips of wood over the staples. This frame I like to lay right on the flask, load with some sand and leaving the frame on the flask, use my hand to move the sand over the screen. I can riddle ten times the sand in a minute that way compared to shaking the sifter. FWIW. Denis
It is a clever adaptation. I guess it is useful for sifting quantities of sand. Do folks sift quantities of sand for some reason? I use my riddle to apply face sand to the pattern. On rare occasions sift “dirty sand” that has picked pine needles (the bane of my foundry life) and blobs of metal. When I sift dirty green sand, I just let it dry out and the dump a shovel full or two onto the square riddle and agitate the sand with my hand. Goes faster than the power riddle shown. He is sifting petrobond, I see. Denis
Uh, based on what I recall from watching (lots of) his videos, he's using a natural bonded sand (locally sourced). I think it's Mansfield sand, and I'll try to find the link to the (British) foundry supplier who sells it. Correction: it's Bromsgrove green-sand, and is sold here: https://www.artisanfoundry.co.uk/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=158
I wish I could get either sand right now, as I've got the foundry Jones bad - bad enough to be eyeing a disused Weber kettle and thinking about converting it with Kast-o-lite30 (hot face) and the dreaded Super-Wool for insulation!
Anything wrong with Twin Sisters Olivine 100 mesh which is stocked by OCS right in your backyard—-Portland? Denis
No, nothing wrong with Olivine at all. I'd like a finer gradation, (if I can get it) though. Since I plan on (mostly) doing Zamak/Za-12, with occasional runs of aluminum, and I'd like the best surface finish I can get while using sand, my hope is to get fine-grade Petrobond. I'd like to make a few (dozen) saleable fridge-magnets per year, if I can. Hopefully that will help (offset) foundry expenses.
I have a couple of these that I really like. One fine like a window screen to just cover patterns; the other coarser to quickly add some weight to the facing layer. Comfortable size and wide enough to sit on top of some of my flasks. $13CDN at Ikea, but I got mine cheaper at the thrift store. I have a for-real actual wooden framed riddle too that's a bit coarser still, it was included with a bunch of used foundry equipment I picked up recently, but I haven't used it yet. It's bigger than I think I really need most of the time. The ones I do use are nice because when one end gets clogged up it's long enough that you can keep riddling from the other end and reduce the amount of time you spend banging it clear and grabbing a fresh scoop, but without being so wide as a circular riddle with a diameter matching that length. If that makes any sense. Jeff
I see my name mentioned so will clarify the points discussed. Yes the sand is a natural clay bearing one, Bromsgrove sand from Atrisan foundry. It was bright orange when new but has now changed to brown after several years use. After use I let it dry out and then pass it all through the sifter. It is very fine, like dust when dry. I spread it out and add water with a garden type spray bottle. I like to leave it overnight and use the next day. I don't sift it again through a riddle as all the sand is now facing sand. That's what works for me.
