Working on a project to build a small chocolate plant with my 10 year old daughter, with the intent of making chocolate to sell and benefit the homeless. We've actually already built the plant, produced product, and conducted the first auction which rose thousands of dollars, and are looking to do another 'campaign'. One step that could use some refinement is the winnowing step (separation of bean shell from the cocoa nib - we have a way of doing it that works well, it's just quite tedious). I know what I want to do, but conveyance and separation is not my area of specialty, and am hoping I might be able to get some thoughts from those of you who are experts in this area. The goal is to make a small scale winnower, in a cost effective way, to allow us to complete the step in a much more efficient way.

What I'd like to do is have a series of screens on a slight slope - vibrating such that the vibrations + slope slowly conveys the beans/nibs 'downstream' where they'll eventually encounter a forced air mechanism that'll do the separation. Originally, I'd located a Rodix in-line vibratory feeder on Ebay for about $50 USD, but because I travel a lot, I missed the auction and hence the feeder. As far as i can tell, that's a really good deal, and i've not been able to find something similiar for a similiar price, or even close.

I'd love to hear any thoughts y'all might have with regards to how we can inexpensively create a way to convey the beans down the screens. I'm currently travelling in Asia-Pac region, and my internet is a little sketchy, so might not be able to respond right away with any questions should they be posed, but will make every attempt to answer as quickly as possible. Thanks in advance for your ingenuity! ■