jmorris
Member
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2005
- Messages
- 24,162
I was sent a PM on an old thread that photobucket had ruined and so not to not have threads stripped, after a certain point the op can no longer edit them, so I can’t fix it. In any case I figured I would just repost the thread with the photos hosted here. Mods feel free to merge however you see fit. This was the original one back in 2010. https://www.thehighroad.org/index.php?threads/brass-vac.529570/
After the 2010 TX State match I was surprised to see, two weeks later, quite a bit of the over 38,950 cases fired during the match still on the ground. Even with the guys that are nuts over the bag a nut, the wizards of the nut wizard and everyone from novice to master of the five finger discount on range brass having their pick, a lot was left. With the cracks in the soil growing this time of year I couldn’t see letting the brass become part of a potato crop in china so I decided to gather some myself.
I quickly realized why I was seeing spots with high brass concentration despite all of the methods used to collect it. If you are not on a flat surface neither the bag a nut or the wizard pick up the brass very well. The wizard will get a little more than the wide roller on the BAN will get but is quite a bit slower.
I decided to resurrect a project from the old days and put together my brass vac. It’s really quite simple, although the blower/vac can mulch you don’t want your brass all dinged up so it draws through a manifold with holes in the bottom so heavy objects (brass cases) fall into the first bucket and lighter stuff (grass and dirt) will pass through as normal. I just strapped everything to a 4 wheeled cart, using closed cell foam as a gasket. It’s not perfect but good for a first generation, 2 hrs and ¾ tank of gas gathered 12 gallons of brass.
If the ground is not almost perfect the Bag A nut will leave a lot behind
The nut wizard was able to pick up a hand full or two more than the BAN but still left a little gold mine behind.
Once you get it set at just the right speed the brass vac will pick up cases leaving heavy(er) objects on the ground, while running lighter objects right on through.
I made a mount for the blower/vac, and the manifold to connect the two 5 gallon buckets, blower and shop vac hose together. I used 2” PVC for the extension.
Here it is ready to go except I did add a strap to keep the handle around 45 degrees so I didn’t have to bend down to pick it up, moving from one honey hole to another.
After the 2010 TX State match I was surprised to see, two weeks later, quite a bit of the over 38,950 cases fired during the match still on the ground. Even with the guys that are nuts over the bag a nut, the wizards of the nut wizard and everyone from novice to master of the five finger discount on range brass having their pick, a lot was left. With the cracks in the soil growing this time of year I couldn’t see letting the brass become part of a potato crop in china so I decided to gather some myself.
I quickly realized why I was seeing spots with high brass concentration despite all of the methods used to collect it. If you are not on a flat surface neither the bag a nut or the wizard pick up the brass very well. The wizard will get a little more than the wide roller on the BAN will get but is quite a bit slower.
I decided to resurrect a project from the old days and put together my brass vac. It’s really quite simple, although the blower/vac can mulch you don’t want your brass all dinged up so it draws through a manifold with holes in the bottom so heavy objects (brass cases) fall into the first bucket and lighter stuff (grass and dirt) will pass through as normal. I just strapped everything to a 4 wheeled cart, using closed cell foam as a gasket. It’s not perfect but good for a first generation, 2 hrs and ¾ tank of gas gathered 12 gallons of brass.
If the ground is not almost perfect the Bag A nut will leave a lot behind
The nut wizard was able to pick up a hand full or two more than the BAN but still left a little gold mine behind.
Once you get it set at just the right speed the brass vac will pick up cases leaving heavy(er) objects on the ground, while running lighter objects right on through.
I made a mount for the blower/vac, and the manifold to connect the two 5 gallon buckets, blower and shop vac hose together. I used 2” PVC for the extension.
Here it is ready to go except I did add a strap to keep the handle around 45 degrees so I didn’t have to bend down to pick it up, moving from one honey hole to another.
