8 inch gravity sluicing

[spaghettigold]

Hi,everybody ,in my earlyer beginner times(i,m still one) i gathered some infos from this forum,maybe i can inspire others too.
Thanks,saluti from europe ;emilio

 

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[spaghettigold]

SALUTE!

 

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[spaghettigold]

some impressions from the building process,i had a metal worker doing the welding and bending stuff for me,increasing expences,so i had to built her paycheck after paycheck over a 9 months (pregnancy)period.I begun with buying the hose so i can proceed with the flare and then the sluice,matching one thing to the other.And also i ordered a swivel nozzle from keene because i want the hose to live longer .I killed my first four inch hose very quick because i worked with no nozzle and also as a beginner i did not have had the eye for which stones to not suck up.And having many plug ups down a 9 feet waterfall i picked up stones from above where i was dredging and throwed them on the hose hoping to hit the spot with the blockage(by the way hope you all understand my english ,sometimes i create some word by translating them from my motherlanguage.)

 

[spaghettigold]

 

[spaghettigold]

I wanted it made out of aluminum for weight reasons,but not beeing very abrasive resistant i let the metal worker bend and insert a 1mm thick(o,o3 inch)stainless steel inlay as bottom of flare(glued)

to be continued..

 

[spaghettigold]

oversize coupling

 

[spaghettigold]

I let the metal worker weld this aluminum pieces on the flare tail.this pieces fit in to the type of joinclamp that i use for hosecouplings

 

[spaghettigold]

I cutted these slots in to the flare tail and filled them with polymere silicone
Now the clamp can compresse the flare tail around the hose with banding sleeve. Lucky it worked good.I never seen a real dredge in my life .Only in the net.

 

[spaghettigold]

sluice and adjustable bracket(?) for flare

Did first the bracket that flare will be attached on ,so i had the exact measure for final wideness of sluice.I looked at the widenesses of the 8 inch boxes from vendors and took the less wide measure i could find(26 inches) to assure i have enough flow to clear the rocks when working in low available drop sites.Increasing also chances to have a box workable by a single person when no sluice tender there. ( Bracket in sluice)

For adjustability i took stainless steel piano hinge

 

[spaghettigold]

Drilled holes for different settings in to the sluice side wall.Now i can adapt the flare to given drop available in different mining sites.Sometimes you may have too much drop,so you just lower the flare tail to slower the water. Took a wing nut with plastic cover,my thumb will be thankful

(sluice before side wall welded on)

 

[spaghettigold]

flare slides in from inside the sluice

Sluice is 6feet long without flare,9 feet with .
The flare in gravity sluices don,t have to be long like flares from motorized dredges,having no jet that disturbs the stratification.
Water comes out the flare in a nice flat flow with no airbubbles.

 

[spaghettigold]

At this point i continued with the recovery system,expanded, mattings,riffles.I did not mount some stiffening top hat aluminums on the bottom of sluice ,causing me gaps between riffles and matting/expanded because sluice bottom was making a belly.Nz dredgers in another forum kindly gave me some course corrections i needed.In correct cronology i should have mounted them now.

I did it in a last min.job prior to a planned test run.Drilled and sanded all holes for riveting the top hats.

to be continued..

 

[BurntBear]

Thanks for all the good posts spaghettigold!

 

[NeoTokyo]

Dang dude, you are rocking!
For never seeing a real dredge, you are doing awesome.

I may have missed it, but how long have you been mining for?

Take care.

 

[spaghettigold]

Your welcome Burnt Bear,glad you like it.Everybody feel free to copy and/or give me suggestions how to further improove the built.I was very stressed to get the sluice done for my holyday trips,infact i did not get her done for my july trip and was forced to use the 4 inch river/gravity sluice again.I got her finished to a workable point the week before my september holydays.Started my sept.trip without a test run .Like i mentioned before i was lucky everything worked pretty well(concerning the sluice) but there are things to improove like the clips for example.The first 6 zinccoated clips i use to push down the riffles need to be secured with splint pins to not snap open,more peaces than can get lost in the river,i replace them with the same clips i use for the open area riffles,stainless,adjustable and designed well(dead center)so they don,t snap open.Also the wing nuts ,mesh support pins can get lost,will have to find a way to secure them or use another system.The metal worker let his apprentice weld the riffle frame in the fines section and they bended a bit ,which leaves some gaps between riffle and expanded here and there.He tryed to fix it but its still not adequate.Also i have to built good floats and don,t know yet if i use barrels or aluminum.Problem is now i have to pay the taxes first P.s. please don,t hoard all the rocks and leave some to release some fresh gold

 

[BurntBear]

P.s. please don,t hoard all the rocks and leave some to release some fresh gold

I'll try my best, lol.

 

[spaghettigold]

Hi Neo,i started in 2012 to develop some curiosity.Before i was doing soccer,gym and mushroom collecting .To be honest the mushrooms,mostly boletus edulis ,payed better so far.So with the mushrooms the treasure hunting was there since a little boy.Anyway..that year i decided to stop playing soccer,because of several different ouchies(says google translate).
Then i saw my first gold rush alaska and bering sea gold episodes,started investigating in the net for gold around here where i live .To make it short the last two years...somebody get me a braintransplantation please..the worst thing is having a passion beeing so big but not beeing able to live it to the fullest.. all the laws and restrictions....waiting for the spare time in summer..waiting for summer in autumn /winter..and in the meantime,research in the net,building gear.Spending money .Nomore holydays on the sunny beaches ,only mosquito-contaminated rivers,got a ear infection from diving in juli-trip (apprentice due)and food poisoning in september trip(bad luck, mussels with white wine the last day before departure from dredging site)My boss complains i come back from my holydays like a zombie,the other boss at home made me a alluvial necklace ultimatum for next season.But i love it and guess/ hope i,m not the only one in here needing a therapy .You are detecting neo?

 

[spaghettigold]

Recovery system evolution pics

 

[spaghettigold]

 

[spaghettigold]

Later i inserted also a wire mesh section,to be continued..

 

[NeoTokyo]

Dang, that's a lot to deal with. Ear infections and getting sick from stagnant water can easily happen here too. I always feel a little sick when sniping when the water is the lowest.

I do detect too but not so much around here because there is so much trash.
I am waiting on TrinityAu (One of the best detector users here) to take me into some deep canyons above north of here.

I find that I like underwater sniping the best though, so much fun and it gives you time to just be by yourself and have your thoughts to yourself.
Your day could be wrecked with problems but once you get into that water and find the first piece of gold, all your troubles melt away in a kind of Zen like being.