Propaganda by the Seed: Building A Bucket Thresher

This video goes along with the Seed Saving episode of the podcast Propaganda by the Seed, which you can find at edgewood-nurse...
This video walks you through the process of making a bucket thresher. This tool quickly and efficiently allows for the threshing (breaking seeds free from their pods/heads/stalks) of many types of seeds including vegetable seeds and grains.
Materials list:
1 5-gallon bucket with lid (ideally a lid that goes on/off easily)
~24" of 3/8" threaded rod (other diameters can be used if you prefer)
1 regular 3/8" nut
1 3/8" acorn or nylon lock nut (a regular nut is ok in a pinch)
2 2" x 3/8" Washers (larger is ok)
1 heavy 2" washer (will usually have a 1/2" hole)
4 18" pieces of weed wacker string
Tools:
Something to cut threaded rod (or get the right length before leaving store)
Drill bit to match weed wacker string
Drill Press or Drill (you will need a drill to run the thresher)
Wrenches and/or Vice Grips
File, sandpaper or other tool to remove burrs after drilling (optional)

[@stevepoole817]

I love the design using the weed wacking strings. I've always thought the metal paint stir rods are a bit rough on the seeds. Will this sort of a rig work to remove the fuzz from seeds such as liatris and aster?

[@infiniteohms]

Yes! I have successfully cleaned many fluffy seeds with this tool without damaging the seeds viability. It does require a fairly fast drill speed, if the battery on my Milwaukee m18 is running low it won’t de fluff seeds very well. On the flip side I have occasionally damaged seeds by using to fast a drill speed, so better to start a bit slow and go faster then use full power all the time. I hope this helps!

[@axeman8900]

@@infiniteohms Thanks for the reply. Good info on the speed of the drill. i have a bunch of asters and liatris I want to use it on. I'll let you know how it turns out.