I feed the deer year round and have to sift the corn to get the stray cob out otherwise they will jam up the feeder. My first sifter left a bit to be desired, spilled corn, corn bouncing out on the floor and well it's pretty ugly.

 

 

I wanted to practice bridal joints so I used them to make the bottom two parts of the Cob Sifter Mk2. The upper part was made using a center pin box joint. I didn't have any molding the right shape so I made some. I tried brass screws to hold the bottom and the screen on but after two breaking off I gave up and tapped the holes for machine screws. I finished with shellac. The buckets I use I call Charlie Buckets because Charlie used to work at a local lumber yard and he would bring the empty nail buckets home.

 

 

 

 

 

And yes there is a few spots that I missed with the shellac but I've touched them up... and yes I clocked the screws!

 

JT

Custom fit to the Charlie Bucket too.  Perfect!

Edited December 8, 20223 yr by HandyDan

That's really nice! 

 

Lucky deer!

1 hour ago, lew said:

That's really nice! 

 

Lucky deer!

They are lucky, I had a pet deer once that showed up skinny as a rail eating anything he could find. So I took him under my wing for a while and fattened him up with deer food and apples. He was so small I had to cut the apples up into slices. He never took an apple from my hand but would stand 10' away and wait for me to finish cutting it up and I would go inside the machine shop and watch him eat. Come spring he got into a mess of ticks so I had to doctor up the apples with some meds to kill the ticks. Come fall he had a couple of little bumps on his head and started being more interested in doing deer things. At least he got a chance to make it...

JT

Hind sight being 20-20 I should have rounded the ends of the molding to match the part below I think...

 

JT

38 minutes ago, jthornton said:

Hind sight being 20-20 I should have rounded the ends of the molding to match the part below I think...

 

JT

Why?

 

It's a tool. A very well-made tool, but just a tool nonetheless. The only ones to see it are you and the bunch around here.

 

And I, for one, don't think you need the practice! 

10 minutes ago, Headhunter said:

Why?

 

It's a tool. A very well-made tool, but just a tool nonetheless. The only ones to see it are you and the bunch around here.

 

And I, for one, don't think you need the practice! 

Well I always try to do my best... at anything I do.

 

JT

very fancy!

 

a few years ago, i had a subscription to a Wyoming wildlife magazine, put out by the state game and fish folks, and it had an article on the digestive systems of deer, and how their systems change during the year, to optimize the digestive ability of what food stuffs were common during different seasons.  and how feeding deer with man made deer food would disrupt those changes and actually be bad for their long term well being.

 

I have deer on my property, saw 3 does a few days ago about 20 yards from the front door, checking out the small pond for a drink and munching on the dried weeds in the area.  they all looked pretty healthy, no visible ribs.

 

I used to hunt deer, but never over bait.  just the rules of fair chase.  find them, track them, get close enough to get a good shot at a reasonable distance (my over/under was 300 yards).  try for a one shot kill.  A) it's humane (they don't suffer), B ) i didn't want to spend the next few hours tracking them thru the woods.

 

food for thought.

some reading material:

 

https://www.ncwildlife.org/Portals/0/Learning/documents/Profiles/Mammals/Is-Feeding-Deer-Harmful.pdf

 

"

Feeding wild animals can be an enjoyable experience as it can bring even the most secretive
species right to you. Many people enjoy seeing white-tailed deer up close, and feel good about provid- ing an easy meal, especially during times when food may be scarce. Unfortunately, despite the immediate pleasure, in the long run feeding deer causes more harm than good."

 

"

Unhealthy “Junk Food”

For better or for worse, products like “deer corn” are much
like junk food for deer, and can cause painful ailments such as acidosis, enterotoxaemia, aflatoxin poisoning, and deformities like foundering hooves, which makes it difficult for deer to walk normally. As ruminants, deer have a specific blend of microbes in their stomach that break down their naturally high-fiber diet. Large amounts of carbohydrate-rich, low fiber foods like deer corn can disrupt this microbiome — leading to bouts of severe diarrhea and dehydration that could be deadly."

 

 

As always, excellent work JT. Glad to see you posting again. Assume you've just been busy and everything is well?

14 hours ago, jthornton said:

Well I always try to do my best... at anything I do.

 

JT

 

Excellent outlook JT

Looks a lot like a archaeology sifter.  Time for a fossil hunt.

 

.40

In use here and worked great and you can see some cobs that would have jammed up the feeder.

 

I did round the corners of the molding with my carving tools and I like the softer look of the corners.

 

Growing up on a third+ generation farm, we had a hand-crank machine for that.  Something like this one

 

 

Not this one

Wow, did I count 16 rows on that corn head?????????????

10 minutes ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

Wow, did I count 16 rows on that corn head?????????????

Around the corner from me is a large field normally planted in soybeans, I would guess about 200 acres that's farmed by a seed company.  It gets planted in one day.  A while later, they spray herbicide.  Then in the fall, they harvest in one day.   The machines are huge.

1 hour ago, Fred W. Hargis Jr said:

Wow, did I count 16 rows on that corn head?????????????

Yep. There's a few around here with them but most still use 8 or 12 rows. Pretty common to see 24 row planters now though. Common to see 24' and 30' grain platforms too. I remember when the "big" farmers had 6 row corn heads and 12 row planters. I thought we were something when we got a combine that had a cab and heater. Dad wouldn't let me put a radio in it though. All the gravity wagons, flatbed wagons with hoists and grain truck with side extensions we owned wouldn't hold the corn the grain hopper on that one holds.

Edited December 14, 20223 yr by Grandpadave52

2 hours ago, kmealy said:

Growing up on a third+ generation farm, we had a hand-crank machine for that.  Something like this one

 

Saw an episode of Pawn Stars where a guy wanted to sell them one of those antiques.  The dumb arses used fresh picked corn to demonstrate hoe it worked.

 

 

producer to production assistant:  hey, quick (it's always quick), we need some corn for this next segment.

 

PA runs off to grocery store, because where else would you buy corn in Las Vegas on a tuesday?, get a few, comes back.  

 

producer tells guy in blue, here, use this.

 

guy in blue tells producer, "this should be dried corn", 

 

producer - don't worry about it, it's just TV.

 

and that's how we get dumber watching TV.

On 12/14/2022 at 3:00 PM, kmealy said:

Growing up on a third+ generation farm, we had a hand-crank machine for that.  Something like this one

 

 

The corn is already shucked and in a sack but their process is not the best and there are bits of cob in the corn...

 

My Grandpa had a corn picker that picked one row at a time...

 

JT

Edited December 15, 20223 yr by jthornton