12 INCH TROMMEL BUILD

[AzViper]

Outstanding! Looks waterjetted.

Are you getting any burr on the inside?

How many holes can you drill before you have to run around the house screaming?

I am only drilling the amount of 1/8" holes that my Milwaukee cordless drill can handles before the battery needs to be recharged. Then I drill the 1/2" holes with an electric drill. Seems to be a good combination as my shoulder can't handle much more. Hell just holding the weight of the 1/2" drill is bad enough after working all day. I am only working on the trommel in my free time. Bottom line I try to get 75 holes done in the evening when I am relaxing, remember that's 150 total holes... LOL

 

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[Doitlaynstyle]

Outstanding! Looks waterjetted.

Are you getting any burr on the inside?

How many holes can you drill before you have to run around the house screaming?

I would leave any burrs on the inside alone. Rocks will pound them out. No need for premature metal removal. The rocks are going to be working at that anyway lol.

Side note I ordered and will be picking up my 6 foot section of 16" OD. 10 ga. tubing today. $145 dollars of steel. From there I will be slowly gathering supplies. I am hoping to be done by the beginning of next season. Following your lead but I'm slightly off trail as I think I will be using a trailer axle and towing mine and instead of a gear I am heavily leaning towards using a rubber tire drive off of my gear box.

 

[SLNugget]

Thanks Stan... What kind of racing are you involved in? This is my brother and I at the BF Goodrich S.C.O.R.E Off-Road World Championships in 1979 where we finished 2nd. I am seated in the co-driver seat. We race all the big events for a number of years including Baja 500, Baja 1000, Mint 400, Parker 400, Etc. This was an unlimited Class 2 car, but we also had an unlimited Class 5 car as well. The photo is from the old Riverside Raceway in California. Back then it was totally amazing start to the race. The cars were lined up much like Motocross is. We had a good 3/8 of a mile straightway where all the cars were funneled into the first hard left turn on asphalt in front of the main grandstands. Speeds of 130 MPH heading into that first turn was insane as all cars had to make the first lap or the race had to start all over. This day we had 4 restarts before all cars made the first lap. So many cars were flipping because being open wheel the wheels would get tangled up. This is where my welding skills grew from as we built all our own cars. The center photo gives you an idea of what the old track use to look like look towards the grandstands.

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Keith, I was involved with sports cars for many years but have been out of it for awhile. We did endurance races like the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, and LeMans once. This was back in the 60's, 70's and 80's. The International Motor Sports Assn. (IMSA) was the sanctioning organization. I was very familiar with Riverside having been there quite a few times over the early years. Shame they bulldozed it. I also did some formula car (open wheel) racing so know about interlocking wheels and the results of doing it. ( Here are a couple of photos I have on this computer.






I did a little driving in the early sixties but realized I was a much better mechanic/fabricator. I ended up being Team Manager/Crew Chief for most of my racing career. I even helped build an offroad Blazer for the Baja 1000 but the kids driving it destroyed it very early in the race. They never ran it again except on their daddy's ranch in Texas. ) Congrats on your outstanding accomplishments in racing.

 

[AzViper]

Keith, I was involved with sports cars for many years but have been out of it for awhile. We did endurance races like the 24 Hours of Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, and LeMans once. This was back in the 60's, 70's and 80's. The International Motor Sports Assn. (IMSA) was the sanctioning organization. I was very familiar with Riverside having been there quite a few times over the early years. Shame they bulldozed it. I also did some formula car (open wheel) racing so know about interlocking wheels and the results of doing it. I did a little driving in the early sixties but realized I was a much better mechanic/fabricator. I ended up being Team Manager/Crew Chief for most of my racing career. I even helped build an offroad Blazer for the Baja 1000 but the kids driving it destroyed it very early in the race. They never ran it again except on their daddy's ranch in Texas. Congrats on your outstanding accomplishments in racing.

Stan nice photos. Yeah rather sad that the old track was taken down in Riverside. Today off-road racing is a rich mans sport. Trucks costing a million dollars or more are being built and the transmissions costing a quarter of a million alone. Yet the payout "Purse Money" is nothing. Its all about being recognized as being a winner of the toughest off-road race ever, that being Baja 1000. People in here complain about Valley Fever while dry washing. Try following hundreds of vehicles across the desert for 1000 miles.

 

[AzViper]

I installed a header block at the top of the sluice. The stainless steel water dispenser was installed pointing downward. A PVC fitting will be installed where the nut is on the backside and a rubber hose will then be attached to the distribution manifold. This is being installed in the event I need additional water to flow to operate the Gold How Mats properly. The block was screwed using stainless steel screws along the sides with the bottom screws countersink along the bottom so that the screws are flush with the sluice box. The frame I built I am debating on using Velcro to secure the sluice to the frame using Velcro strips at the top and bottom and a few strips on the sides.

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[Doitlaynstyle]

LOOKS GREAT! Be sure to use some silicone caulking to prevent water from leaking out at the header/box joint. I still strive for the craftsmanship that you have...

 

[AzViper]

LOOKS GREAT! Be sure to use some silicone caulking to prevent water from leaking out at the header/box joint. I still strive for the craftsmanship that you have...

The guy that mines with me is like Mr. Haney of Green Acres the old TV show. Full of ideas but his craftsmanship is the pits. When he takes his equipment out more time is spent fiddling with it. Always on the cheap and nothing is built to last. I tried to get him to buy square tubing to build a sluice stand, what does he use? Rebar.

 

[Doitlaynstyle]

The guy that mines with me is like Mr. Haney of Green Acres the old TV show. Full of ideas but his craftsmanship is the pits. When he takes his equipment out more time is spent fiddling with it. Always on the cheap and nothing is built to last. I tried to get him to buy square tubing to build a sluice stand, what does he use? Rebar.

Unfortunately most of the time you do get what you pay for but the trick is having the skill to turn what you pay for into what you want THE FIRST TIME lol. I really kick myself hard when I mess something up.

 

[Hefty1]

Rebar.

Yea concrete pillar...lol

 

[AzViper]

LOOKS GREAT! I still strive for the craftsmanship that you have...

LOL. That will come with age, experience, and most importantly having the correct tools to work with. Can't wait to see your trommel come together and the *****ing that will be heard from Idaho of all the holes you will be drilling... Its really not that bad. If I had a shoulder I could rely on it would have been finished by now.

 

[AzViper]

Frustrated on the outcome of my brother’s prognosis and not being able to sleep I decided to drill more holes before starting the day. I am still using the same Unibit and I now have 405 holes drilled with 1000 holes remaining. I lightly grinded the outside of the cylinder with a worn out 120 grit disc on my 4” handheld grinder. The disc is more like 220 grit disc. After lightly grinding I used a deburring tool that is used in the plumbing industry to clean up copper tubing. Works great on steel to clean the inside holes. For those that may be drilling your holes make sure that you leave a small strip of your drill template remaining so that you can continue with the precise gluing of the next template. Print all the templates you plan to use all at the same time.

I would not tackle this job with my plasma cutter. I think the results of my drilling says it all. Cutting the holes with the plasma fatigue is going to set in and mistakes are going to be made. Rather hard to make a mistake with a center punch, hammer, and drill while using a Unibit that will stay on center from start to finish. Not going to get a better job unless done with a CNC laser or CNC plasma and that will be $$$ out of your pocket.

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I look at this trommel below and have to wonder what on earth was the designer/builder thinking with so few holes in the cylinder. If you want to lose gold this would be the trommel thats going to lose the gold. Nice build but why is the spacing of holes so far apart? Within each square of four holes I could drill five more holes and then the center hole still would have lots of metal around the hole. Hmmm...

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[AzViper]

One of the four hose barbs that will connect to the distribution manifold. The idea is to keep everything up to the manifold 1-1/2" then it steps down to 1" with the spray bar being fed from both ends. I hope to have enough flow for the sluice but I have a plan in place in the event the sluice needs more water. I also drilled and installed this cross bar at the front of the sluice just to keep the sides from getting dinged. The cross bar also provides a handle to aid in picking up the sluice.

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[GarretDiggingAz]

Viper. Looking good. I don't know of what's up with your brother, but I hope things will improve.
The trommel looks good. Think it's definitely a work of art and know it'll be great. I'm hoping to see it at work. Let me know if you need some hands moving material. Lol. Got a couple kids who love to dig. They don't like the panning through the cons. Guess that's my job.

 

[russau]

go get in and get that surgury now so itll be back to almost normal this spring! when i had mine im still working on getting my strength back. now my left arm is stronger than my right arm.BUT neither hurt anymore!!

 

[AzViper]

Viper. Looking good. I don't know of what's up with your brother, but I hope things will improve.

My brother was diagnosed with throat cancer and been through Chemo/Radiation, it appeared things were looking good until last week the when the doctors dropped a bomb shell on him after a PET scan. The 8 weeks of treatment did not work and the aggressive cancer had spread even more. He saw a specialist last Friday at the Mayo clinic in Scottsdale and will be driving (from Lake Havasu) back over to the Mayo Clinic this morning to have test run. He was not going to continue the fight but the specialist had some encouraging words but that all hinges on test run today and the outcome of these test.

I see my Orthopedic surgeon today on the outcome of my MRI. I already know the outcome as the results were in my mail box yesterday. From what I was able to understand I have surgery is in my future. I am hoping to get the shoulder done ASAP and spend my recovery time with my brother.

Yeah my trommel build is taking a long time as I am having to build all the other supporting equipment that goes with the trommel but I am not in any hurry as I work on everything when I can.

 

[SLNugget]

Keith, Best wishes to you and your brother at your doctor appt's today. I have a friend who survived agressive throat cancer and is doing well these days. Hoping for the same outcome for your brother.

 

[AzViper]

Keith, Best wishes to you and your brother at your doctor appt's today. I have a friend who survived agressive throat cancer and is doing well these days. Hoping for the same outcome for your brother.

I am set for surgery on December 18th. Not sure I am going to follow through with the surgery. Mainly because of my activity the surgeon does not believe the new joint will last and if the plastic wears through and I am back to metal on bone they can not cut a second time due to the small area where the new socket is attached the bone. The key is knowing when the Teflon socket wears out and replacing the Teflon.

 

[Sample Pan Dan]

Sounds like horrible option either way Viper. Best of luck

 

[GarretDiggingAz]

I opted to not have mine done. Doctor told me it wouldn't help the arm pain. Just would help the rotation.
Besides his name was the same as the suicide assist doctor. So I didn't want to risk the surgery. Lol. I told him he should change his name.

 

[AzViper]

I opted to not have mine done. Doctor told me it wouldn't help the arm pain. Just would help the rotation.
Besides his name was the same as the suicide assist doctor. So I didn't want to risk the surgery. Lol. I told him he should change his name.

Going to have the shoulder done December 18th.