A little help with my miller table...

R

RTD-Tech

Jr. Member
Feb 3, 2018
49
64
Western Massachusetts
Primary Interest:
Prospecting
Hello all,

I built myself a miller table.
When I was testing it last weekend I did find a few pieces of fine gold in my concentrates, but nothing that I would think of as flour gold. Also I'm not sure if there was any flour gold in my material or if I just didn't set it up and operate it correctly.

If anyone has any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated.

The surface is painted with black chalkboard paint. It's size is about 12x24 inches.
 

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RTD-Tech said:
Hello all,

I built myself a miller table.
When I was testing it last weekend I did find a few pieces of fine gold in my concentrates, but nothing that I would think of as flour gold. Also I'm not sure if there was any flour gold in my material or if I just didn't set it up and operate it correctly.

If anyone has any suggestions, they would be greatly appreciated.

The surface is painted with black chalkboard paint. It's size is about 12x24 inches.
Click to expand...

One thing that will help you in recovering that fine gold, if there is any, is to closely classify* the concentrates and run each size fraction separately. A little slope or water flow adjustment may be necessary for each size.

Good luck.

* Suggest 30, 50, and 100 mesh so that gives 4 different batches.....plus 30, 50, 100 and minus 100.
 

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Looks like you have a problem with the flow. More water coming out on the right side. You either need to change your feeder to a water dam like is used on the Gold Hog MultiSluice or point the holes in the PVC up and put a 1/4"+- bar across down stream of it, and in front to level the flow out.
 

Your table should be level side to side. Looks like a lot of air bubbles in the water. My water tube drizzles on to Scotch Brite pads to eliminate bubbles and smooth the flow.
Do you remove the magnetic black sand? Don't need those heavies bumping into things.
 

I have been slowly making one myself, have the table, pump, and box, just need to finish the build.
I made the stainless steel table top, should I rough it up with a palm sander, or leave it smooth?

Thanks Bob M
 

I don't know about stainless for a bed, but I would say rough it up. Needs some bite to hold the gold.
 

Original "miller" tables were slate topped you do need the texture.

They are not magic they are for separation of fine gold from the same sized gangue. The hard to separate stuff at that.

I would run minus -50 - 70 -100 - 150 in batches.

You should already know that you have gold to seperate. Not running and hoping it is going to show you gold you don't know you have yet.

They are finishing tools not production recovery tools.

You should be able to pan most of your plus 50 mesh gold
 

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Once you get good at panning, you will never use your miller table again. I don't like to plug people or companies, but Doc from Gold Hog has, what I would describe as, the best videos on youtube for separating fine gold from fine black sand. Who am I to judge?... just a guy who purchased materials for a miller table several years ago and never needed to assemble them, haha.

The time you might invest into perfecting the flow on that table could be used get you close to being great at panning, in my opinion. Plenty of people use miller tables and are happy with them, but a pan will do the same job faster once you get the feel for it.

Be diligent about classifying and separating gold from black sand will be much easier, regardless of the method you choose.
 

I run a miller table for final cons to bottle them, and then pan to get what I missed. Not all gold will sit on the table. Round gold will roll, and foil will fly down the table. I run a cutting mat surface sanded with 400 grit.
 

Capt Nemo said:
I run a miller table for final cons to bottle them, and then pan to get what I missed. Not all gold will sit on the table. Round gold will roll, and foil will fly down the table. I run a cutting mat surface sanded with 400 grit.
Click to expand...

I get round gold often. I have to stop it with my brush, stop the water then pick it out with a dry finger . Can't say I've seen foil gold.
 

Try making a dam at the top with a piece of foam pipe insulation (comes in lot's of sizes and real cheap) with a piece of pvc pipe in it. If cut to size properly it should just wedge in and evenly cause the water to flow smoothly over the top w/o bubbles. Also don't forget Jet-dri. Certain parts of the country have different "black sand" than others and can be very hard to pan even with the best of classification. I come up with some black sands mixed with the same screened sized gold that will make you sailcat your gold pan across the creek and cause you to mutter all the way home. Biggest thing imo about a miller table is the fact it is a slow...really slow process. Mixed in with a fire in the fire-pit, a couple of friends telling tall tales, an elk tenderloin on the b-b-q and a splash of sippin' gin makes for a great evening.
 

lions head.jpg

This is a piece of lode gold we crushed out of a bucket of rock from our patent. About 4mm across. .022 grams

That'll stick in a 50 mesh screen for sure.
 

So, how about the OP? Have you made any changes? Is your miller table running better?
 

No gold in NY said:
I get round gold often. I have to stop it with my brush, stop the water then pick it out with a dry finger . Can't say I've seen foil gold.
Click to expand...

I've had a few large pieces that'll fly when you get a brush anywhere near them, and not catch again. They must have been hammered flat by the rocks and waves.
 

No gold in NY said:
So, how about the OP? Have you made any changes? Is your miller table running better?
Click to expand...

I took some of the suggestions posted, and it looks like it runs better.

However, I haven't had a chance to get any new material to run through it. Time will tell. Still trying to get my hands on some fine classifiers.
 

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