Sluice machine

Hi

I need a pointer as to what would be a good sluice machine, where could I order one, or how could I make one myself?

ANy help, greatly appreciated

Nick

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		Quote:			Posted by klrnick
	Hi I need a pointer as to what would be a good sluice machine, where could I order one, or how could I make one myself? ANy help, greatly appreciated Nick

Cheapest is plywood, painted and all seams sealed with a rubber compound. Use bolt in riffles, and a short knap rug, plain backing painted with rubber or deck compound to seal the fibers together and prevent separation.

Depending how big an op you want, 10 inches (25cm) wide, 8 inches (20 cm) deep, will handle a 1.5 inch (38.5mm) pump. And the longer the better, 4 to 8 feet is good, unless you have lots of mud, then you need more and a way to add water to thin the mud, or you will lose gold. Big  enough to process one to two cubic yards (meters are slightly larger) in a 6 to 8 hour day of killer work.  An ounce per yard means $1000 to $2000 per day, depending on how fast it will actually process. (Mud content, etc.)

Building or buying a sluice is only part of it, you need a dirt box and a grizzly, a big tub (rubber is good) and know  (or learn fast) how to angle the box to get best results.... you really need someone experienced to show you the tricks, because most of it is learned by trial and error. You also need to know how  to tell when to do a clean-up (that is what the tub is for, with some detergent or jet-dry,) and tricks for doing it.

Get some books or do some Googling, on riffles, nugget traps, anything else that might help. If you have access to a BC-Yukon Chamber of Mines library, you can find lots of old books with great information, like gravel lifts.

Personally, I have used 12 mm to 19mm high, plain, flat riffles, I tried Hungarian style (like an inverted L) but found them to be no better than straight... I only have flour and flake gold here, and a minor amount of grains. Hungarian riffles may be good for small nuggets... dont know.

I fastened my riffles together with aluminum angles I made from trim aluminum that you can get at the hardware, in 8 foot lengths, drilled all wood  and all the angles, and pop riveted everything, in the riffles, which I bolted to the box sides... brass bolts are OK but iron stays clean as long as it is wet. Wing nuts are best, otherwise pack a couple small crescent wrenches (rust proof.) NEVER oil or grease the bolts.

I got to making my riffles so that the back ends of the rail pieces, wedged into a block on each side of the box... this kept the riffle tight to the carpet, at the most important end, where all the fine stuff gets caught, and I only needed 2 bolts. You might try rows of permanent magnets, underneath, OUTSIDE the box (only works on wood or aluminum,) trapping black sand will trap fine gold.

Of course, I am not giving you drawings, at least until you are a regular member, you can get a lot by Google search, and depending where you are, you can get a lot of stuff from a public library.

Hey, make this thing with decent underpinnings, you cant just prop it up on rocks. AND, make sure it is all low enough you can shovel into the dirt box, with out killer foot-pounds of lifting the gravel too high. Rubber (4 inch, or bigger?) hose, cross wise makes a good base.

A foot-pound is one pound raised a foot... enough and you have 1 horse power.... or 750/1000 watts, depending on efficiency.

goldigger


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		Quote:			Posted by mdiede57
	I used to work for Gold King, about 20 years ago, and I think I can come up with some plans. They used to make them out of heavy guage aluminum. Therefore, requiring a brake to bend and welding knowledge.  But, there's always another way around that.

Yep! Aluminum dents too easily and wants to break when you try to straighten it. Try your local plumbing and heating supplier, and look for a galvanized duct to go between floor joists... they come in different widths. You might be able to salvage some used stuff.

You do not have to fold a waterproof end in it, cut a panel to fit, with the bent edges, of course, pop rivet it in and seal with some kind of rubber compound. or you could have rubber between when you pop rivet it together.

Most ducting has low sides (4 inch,) just pop rivet some more side material, on, and dab the rivet heads with a sealant.

I made  several 14inch wide, 4 inch high and 4 feet long inserts, complete with removable riffles, and carpet, to slide into a box with high sides. After working so long, I would pull out the insert and put in a clean one. It was a labour saver.

goldigger



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		Quote:			Posted by mdiede57
	The main body of the sluice was aluminum, however, the riffles were steal, electroplated to prevent rusting. and they worked very well. There's many methods that can be used to make an effective sluice. wood, steal, PVC,  you name it. If you want estimated design plans, I can come up (from memory) the design used.

Plans? me? I thought you were the guy wanting plans???

Heck, I just about RE-invented them.... so did Keene.

I do not really like sluice boxes, they lose too much. I like the idea of the *Modern 49R*  machine, which used a spinning bowl. Of course it has faults, as well, like spinning  the bowl too fast or running water through too fast/much.

I once saw a machine, in the 60's, called an automatic gold panner.... dont know how it worked, certainly not like the *Desert Fox,* I have 2 of that type. It  was too expensive, for the gold prices, then, now it would not matter... pay for itself with the first ounce!

Speaking of that type, the Desert Fox wheel, it can be used as a concentrator, also, where you just have flour gold. Simply adjust it less up-right (flatter,)  and screen everything to 0.125 or 0.1875 inches and make sure  all the heavies go into a much larger bucket, than the wee cup that comes with. Recycle the water, too.

You can feed it with a small trough like a piece of rain trough. Plastic is good, and troughing comes with snap on ends! It might be tricky, getting the screenings into the trough, but not impossible.

I would like to have a wheel about 4 feet across.... only way is build it.

goldigger

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