Questions on Ingredients

If you are going to buy only one sieve, buy that 80 mesh. If you are going to buy two, get an 80 and a 120. For coarser than 80, you can always use a piece of (metal) window screening, or a screen material kitchen strainer. I've worked that way for years.

Funny, I've never rubbed off my fingerprints though :>)

Wayne Seidl Key West, Florida, USA North America, Terra Latitude 81.45W, Longitude 24.33N Elevation 3.1 feet (1m)

If you are looking for an inexpensive source for sieve material to make your own, the best place I've found is McMaster-Carr. A 1ft square of most any mesh size is in the 7-8 dollar range. I built a simple square fram from 2x2 lumber and stapled the sieve screen to the face of it, then gave the frame multiple coats of semi-gloss interior latex to seal both the wood and the seam where the screen meets the wood. Works great!

McMaster-Carr is at . For an

80 mesh sieve I got part number 85385T869 "Type 304 Stainless Steel Woven Wire Cloth, 80 x 80 mesh, 0.0055 inch wire diameter, 12" x 12" sheet". It was $7.24 one year ago. No minimum order, no "handling" charge. I also got 4 other sizes and the total shipping was only $4.25.

Hope this helps!

Bob Masta dqatechATdaqartaDOTcom D A Q A R T A Data AcQuisition And Real-Time Analysis

It might be easier to get a piece of PVC pipe about 200 mm diameter, and cut off about an 80 mm length. (I scrounged a bit of yellow PVC: is that for gas?) Lay the mesh on it, and run a biggish soldering iron (25 watts is plenty) round the edge, to weld the mesh into the PVC. Then cut round the outer edge, being careful not to leave any strands of the mesh sticking out.

The big advantage of a circular frame is that there are no corners to clean out after use.

We make our own plastic framed sieves using slices of reclaimed plastic ducting, you can get it up to 8 inches in diameter. A better trick than a soldering iron it to put a hot-plate or frying pan on medium to low heat, lay a piece of cooking foil on it, then the mesh, then press the plastic pipe onto that until a small bead of softened plastic appears around the pipe/mesh join. Remove from the heat and place on a cold surface, and then peal off the foil. Finally clean off the edge on a sander. It takes longer to write about it than to do it!

Steve Bath UK

In article , Jake Loddington writes

Another way is to put a piece of silver foil in the bottom of an electric frying pan, or a regular frying pan and put the screening down on the the silver foil and place the pvc pipe, or a piece of cut off, 5 gallon bucket, on top and weight down or press down until the plastic melts the sieve mesh to itself.

Regards, June

I don't know where I read this but... Cut off the top 4-5 inches of a 5 gal bucket. Then, insert the bottom potion of the bucket through the ring from top to bottom so the two pieces wedge together. Trim so both rings are the same length. Remove the inner ring and place a piece of screen on the top of the outer ring. Insert the inner ring so it secures the screen. If you can follow what I just wrote, more power to you! It is not hard to do, just hard to follow. If all else fails, use the previous suggestions utilizing the hot plate. Steve in Tampa.

Such a wealth of info I don't know where to start. Thank you again. Donna