Where can I buy a small auger (or vertical screw conveyor)? It should
be about 1 foot long and no more than 1 inch diameter.  Either motorized
or I would couple a motor to it.  I would like to insert it into a
small bucket of sand, flip the switch, and the auger would "pump" all
the sand out of the bucket?  Obviously I could jury rig an "auger drill
bit" up somehow... but I'm looking for the complete system - the screw
and the surrounding shell.  Thanks in Advance!

Hello,

The pump mechanism that you are talking about is the Archimedes Screw
Pump, invented back in the days of yore by that famous mathematician.
I had to do a report on him in the 6th grade and remembered it off the
top of my head. The only pumps you can find online are industrial
pumps used for moving sluge and contaminated oil, or removing bog
water in swamps. The archimedes pump is not suseptible to clogging as
other motors are because all of work is done by the inclined plane
much like a screw into wood with the force distributed over the entire
plane. Therefore because professional pumps are probably out of your
price range, here's a simple plan to make your own home-built one.
Tools Plus offers a 1" x 18" auger and coupled with a drill and a 1
1/4" plumming pipe, you have your own setup for much less than $100.
Compare this with professional auger pumps at the thousands of dollars
mark. If you are looking for professional grade auger pumps, clarify
and I will start getting quotes on systems from companies. Thanks and
good luck!


Additional Links:

Tools Plus 1"x18" Auger:
http://www.tools-plus.com/toolsplus/mla48-13-6000.html

Internet Glossary of Pumps - Archimedes Screw:
http://www.animatedsoftware.com/pumpglos/archimed.htm


Search Strategy:

archimedes screw:
://www.google.com/search?q=archimedes+screw


Thank you for the opportunity to answer your question, if you require
more information, please clarify the question, or if you find this
answer satisfactory, please feel free to rate it. Thank you!

skermit-ga

Thanks -  good idea... but I really didn't want to create my own...
Wouldn't companys make small ones for getting grain samples or
samples of other dry powder material?

Screw conveyors of the type you are describing are used in the mining
industry. For example, a small screw conveyor (though bigger than you
are looking for) is marketed by Sepor Inc. (http://www.sepor.com/ --->
table of contents ---> solids handling ---> screw conveyors). I
believe this is the kind of thing you are thinking about, though on a
smaller scale.

I assume here that you are talking about dry sand, not wet. Even if
you were to find a screw feeder as small as you describe, it will
probably not be very successful for controlled delivery. First of all
the sand will not magically migrate to the screw. Secondly, you will
need a fair amount of torque and low speed, since the sand will tend
to pack between the screw and the wall of the housing. Pretty well
guaranteed that you will have more frustration than anything.

Assuming it is controlled delivery that you are after, here's an
alternative suggestion. Take a look at
http://www.knelson.com/mp/equipment/lab-vibfeeder.html

You can rig something like this up very, very cheaply. The feed hopper
is a big funnel, and the end of the funnel comes very close (about
1/4") to a slightly inclined chute. The chute has a vibrator (which
for home construction could be anything you have handy... even a small
DC motor with a slightly off-center load attached to the motor shaft).
The sand will not empty out of the funnel unless there is vibration on
the chute, and the rate of delivery will depend upon the intensity of
vibration and the (adjustable) angle of the chute. Cheap, effective,
easy to control, and you probably already have the stuff around the
house to make one. You can get another good look at one of these units
at ttp://www.legend-reno.com/minesupply/m74.htm ... including detail
of the vibratory chute.

If you are intent on "pumping" dry sand out of the bucket, your best
bet is a ribbed conveyor (commonly referred to as a "reclaim conveyor"
in it's full-size incarnation). You can see approximately what I am
referring to at http://www.urubber.com/sidewall.htm.  Imagine the
conveyor in the picture sitting in a small housing, so that only the
top surface is exposed. You could fabricate something like that
relatively cheaply, and it would be more effective than a screw. You
would need a small motor and gear reducer to drive the belt. To get a
another idea of what I am talking about, go to
http://www.easystreet.com/~blawler/mwireclaimconveyor.htm where you
can see a picture of a big one in action on (surprise, surprise) a
sand pile.

Welcome to the world of mineral processing!