Easy Pyrotechnic Screen Boxes

Retrieved: 12/28/2014

Conventional wood framed screen boxes are usually about 1 ft. square and 3 or 4 inches deep. I find this much screen area to be more than is necessary. Cleaning them is difficult because of all the corners. Stacking them for multiple grain separations is awkward unless extra rails are added around the tops of the frames. Then you have more corners to clean. All these problems can be solved by using plastic storage containers as frames.

This is a typical shoe box size plastic storage container. They have very smooth, water-proof surfaces and rounded corners for easy cleaning. They should have stop tabs on the exterior which allow you to stack one inside another with about an inch of clearance between the bottom surfaces. They seal fairly well when stacked to control dust nicely.

First, get a sharp utility knife and cut out the bottom of the container, leaving about 1/4 to 1/2 inch of a lip around the edges. Usually the container will have a raised ledge molded into the bottom which makes a good guide for cutting.

Now cut your screens to size so that the screen is larger than the hole in the bottom of the container. You should be able to get 2 screens from a square foot of screen cloth. Two for the price of one!! Now, you will need some good tape (duct or strong masking tape) and some good quality epoxy glue.

Before applying the epoxy, you should rough up the gluing surface of the plastic with some coarse sand paper.

Then mix up the epoxy, apply along one edge, put the screen in place and apply the tape over the screen where the epoxy is. The tape should hold the screen tightly against the container frame while the epoxy sets. Now repeat the procedure for the remaining three sides. If you have a well behaved screen that lies nice and flat, you might be able to get away without using epoxy at all and only use the tape. This is much less trouble, but also much less durable as you can imagine.

Voila! The finished result is a compact, stackable, light weight set of screens with a convenient catch box which is merely another unmodified container. I'm so pleased with them that I seldom ever use my original, wooden box screens any more.

Date: Thu, 03 Sep 1998
From: Randy Norton (rnorton@ifn.net)

Your screen idea is neat. Mine are nearly the same, except:
a. I put my screens on the inside.
b. I fasten them down with automotive "blue goo" so they are very easy to take off and replace.