[Jewelry making - Article 00333] - [Orchid] Tip for sorting casting shot by size

[Fr. George Aquaro]

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    Just the other day, I made a little tool for sorting casting shot by
    size. I like to add granulation to some of my silver pieces, and I
    am too lazy to make my own. Picking through a bag of grain is
    painstaking, so I turned a cigar box into a sorter. It has about an
    85% accuracy rate, and dramatically cuts the labor (and eyestrain!). 

    This isn't fancy, but it does work pretty good: 

    http://www.ganoksin.com/ftp/granulation-001.jpg 

    Just take a cigar box like this.  It has a sliding lid and is fairly
    deep (any cigar shop can provide these).  Cut the bottom 1" off of
    the box.  This will become the sorting tray. 

    Trim the long end of the sliding lid panel so that it is roughly the
    same length as the long opening of the box, then cut it in half.
    Keep this cut as smooth as possible. Afterwards, sand the cut sides
    of the lid pieces flat by placing some sandpaper on a flat surface
    and sanding the cut. 

    Now glue/epoxy the lid pieces into the upper opening of the box you
    just cut the bottom off of. This is going to be tricky, because it
    involves some compound angles. This is why I use quick setting glue.
     Don't get your mitre saw out and try to make a piece of art unless
    you are really certain you can work out the geometry. Gaps can be
    filled with glue. 

    You are creating a sloping ramp, which tilts from one end of the box
    down to the other, using the two lid pieces.  Each lid piece also
    tilts towards the other, so that a valley is formed. This is so that
    a bead of casting shot will want to roll down the V-groove that is
    formed by the two pieces from one end of the box to the other.  

    I have about a 1/2" difference between the height of the ends of the
    pieces, creating a sloping effect down the long width of the box. 
    The pieces are tilted towards each other at about a 30=B0 angle.
    However, the critical element of this ramp is not how well the two
    pieces are joined together, but rather how you keep them apart. 

    The upper end of the ramp should have gap wide enough only for the
    smallest piece of casting shot, perhaps 1/16". The lower end spreads
    out to 3/16", which is about as big as a casting shot 'clinker'
    gets.  So, as the ramp descends, the space between the two box lid
    pieces gradually increases. 

    http://www.ganoksin.com/ftp/granulation-002.jpg 

    Once the lid pieces set, you can cut out strips of cardboard and
    glue them into the box bottom, about 1" apart, which will form a
    series of compartments for the shot to drop into. The strips just
    keep the shot beads from rolling around and foiling your
    organizational efforts. 

    Let everything dry. Go have a cigar recently liberated from the box! 

    Once all is set, put the top back on the bottom of the box, and go
    get some sterling silver casting shot. With a teaspoon, gently place
    some shot into the higher end of the ramp. The shot will roll down,
    then drop through when the groove becomes too wide. Obviously, the
    smaller the shot bead, the more quickly it will drop, landing in one
    of the compartments in the bottom of the box. Eventually, each
    compartment will fill with shot roughly the same size. 

    http://www.ganoksin.com/ftp/granulation-003.jpg 

    http://www.ganoksin.com/ftp/granulation-004.jpg
 
    Now, this box does not have a brain, it is working on the principles
    of physics. So, it can't filter out odd shapes from perfectly rounds,
    and so some flat pieces will fall through in the narrower area when
    they 'should'have passed all the way to the end. As you place shot
    into the groove, it helps to have a pencil or stick ready to
    'motivate' the shot beads to move. Just don't push straight down, but
    rather just a little brushing motion. Pushing down will jam the beads
    into the groove and damage the groove.  Rough edges in the groove are
    your enemy. 

    Some shot will, at first, bounce off of the bottom of the box and
    leap into other compartments until a layer of shot is formed to
    catch falling beads. Other beads may race down the ramp and
    overshoot their intended compartment.  To prevent this, place the
    shot gently into the groove, a little bit at a time. 

    It ain't pretty, and it ain't perfect, but it gets the job done.  I
    take the box bottom to my workbench and pick the pieces out that I
    need.  If I needed a whole bunch of the same size, I can pick them
    out and put them in a baby food jar. 

    As Mr. Portokalos says, 'There you go!' 

    My thanks to all the fine folks who make your website such a great
    resource for amateurs like me! 

Fr. George Aquaro

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