id with a difference

[Chef Geoff]

From time to time the subject of barrelling machines crops up, I owned one of these many years ago and lost it in one house move or another, which was no great loss at the time as I used it mainly for my beach detecting finds, of which I now do very little.
Just lately I thought I would check out the cost of a replacement and was shocked at the high price these units now attract.
This got me thinking and searching for the parts to make one myself. Now all the parts ie. Motor, switch, cable drive wheels, belt, runners and barrel are easily sourced on the internet and from DIY shops for about £22 complete.

The one item I can't seem to find is the actual metal housing, now I know I could rig something up using any box design but it has got me intrigued as to what these housing's are made for???
There are only a couple of manufacturers of the machines in the UK but most seem to use the same identical cowling, as this has got to be a small market I find it hard to believe they are made exclusively for these machines.

SO has anybody got any suggestions on what else they may be used for

[nfl]

ive got the same barreling machine in picture ,your welcome to it if you want it as i dont use it,would even swop for a mediocre pair of headphones lol. ,,seriously if you want it get in touch

[nobby]

what would you use it for?

[nfl]

ideal for cleaning decimal coinage ,poor grots small artifacts etc

[Al.Thepastfinder, ( Alan )]

i get mine out about once or twice a year, i made one once too,  ran it from a 12 volt battery charger,  can't remember what parts i used now, i used a wide peice of plastic drainpipe for the barrel and fixed runners down it to turn the coins, not sure if the motor was from an old washing machine,

 one of the boys at the time put me onto it,  he used to make his own too,

[Chef Geoff]

Yes Al as you say the drums are PVC waist pipes and the end caps are the same, the motor from a drill is suitable with a potentiometer to govern the speed, the runners are metal dowel rods covered in heat shrink rubber and the 2 cogs and belt along with the brackets can be bought from modelling websites.