Fluid bed sluice plan

[crabtree]

Nope nothing else. Just that .250" (+/-) sq strip.

Thanks

 

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[goldog]

No offense to G-bone but to answer Crabtree's question, I'd go with Goldfleks response. Attach an extra strip to the underside.

 

[russau]

On a fluid bed I built years ago for my 4 inch dredge, I wanted the rear of the fluid bed (output) to also act like a orfice to help suck out the fines as your running. and I built a water column gauge (clear tube ) to be able to see how much water im forcing through this device to be able to tune it to "my" equipment. While I did place this device on the wrong position (end) of my sluice ,it did work and I liked it BUT it needed to be moved to the center of my sluice or it WILL tip your dredge sluice to the bottom of the stream. Wheel stands on a dredge ARENT what I was looking for!

 

[rodoconnor]

Yeah that always makes your day !

 

[G-bone]

No offense to G-bone but to answer Crabtree's question, I'd go with Goldfleks response. Attach an extra strip to the underside.

Absolutely none taken Goldog.

 

[Goodyguy]

GG , I built one like Fig 1 and made it very low profile. It really helps with the super fine recovery.

Great!
Do you have a photo?

GG~

 

[rodoconnor]

GG LOL I don't have the expertise ! I should mention that my center tube through the capture area is a 1" pipe. My thought is to increase the volume of h2o

 

[Sockeye1730]

Ok, so I've started my build and have yet to decide what size tubing to uses.

I'm leaning towards 3/4 pvc. Would 1/2 be better? My trap will be apx. 8" x 8" and 2 3/4" deep. Planning on 3 tubes.

Also, how high above the deck should the top plate of the trap be? 1 inch?

 

[Au dave]

Ok, so I've started my build and have yet to decide what size tubing to uses.

I'm leaning towards 3/4 pvc. Would 1/2 be better? My trap will be apx. 8" x 8" and 2 3/4" deep. Planning on 3 tubes.

Also, how high above the deck should the top plate of the trap be? 1 inch?

I think the 3/4 should do the trick and the trap cover has 1/2" clearance at slickplate end and 3/4"clearance at trap exit

Sent from my GT-I9305 using Tapatalk

 

[KevinInColorado]

The bazooka has 1/2 inch tubes

 

[Vagadero]

Goodyguy, how much to flare out the trap?
It's 9" wide at the narrowest point now.

 

[Goodyguy]

Goodyguy, how much to flare out the trap?
It's 9" wide at the narrowest point now.

Your diagram will work against what I was suggesting. Appears to me that It would scour even more due to the venturi effect created by the narrow opening into the trap itself.
Better to have a wider trap at the opening if you want to create a lower pressure drop zone. Then the trap could widen out even more from there if you wanted.

GG~

 

[Sockeye1730]

Thanks!

 

[Goldfleks]

Unless you're doing a "one off" for a home built project, KISS is the best rule for designing your sluice box. The more complicated the build, the more overhead in time/cuts/material you are going to have to invest which will eat into your profit margins.

I'm sure there are some crazy good inventions out there that capture %1 or 2% more "fine gold" which is a lot of gold for a "one off" sluice for a high volume production gold mine and completely worth the added effort. And the custom nature of this work can be billed in as a premium above and beyond the cost of a normal design. But for small volume stream sluices that amount is almost neglible especially if as the producer of a stream sluice for prospecting the added effort for making those modifications cuts heavily into your profit margins. Granted, "mining the miner" has always been a profitable venture and there is a market for miners who are always looking for the next best thing that will catch one extra spec of gold that their old sluice didn't, and they are willing to pay a premium to catch that spec of gold.

 

[goldog]

I would have to agree. In the current situation as close to a clone as I can get would be my first goal. BGT is a great product. A couple personal mods is all I'm planning.

 

[Goldfleks]

Also no matter how you design your sluice, you need to keep some simple dimensions in mind. Your MAX width of your sluice NEEDS to fit inside a 5-gallon bucket IMHO. The 5-gallon bucket is the staple of prospecting. Having to do wonky tricks or haul an additional tub to clean out the sluice is a serious design flaw of some sluices. I know the Prospector fit snugly into a 5-gallon bucket with a little wiggling. If it was any larger it would have been a huge failure in design. I'm sure you can run plenty of sizes of sluice between the prospector and miner dimensions, but anything larger than a 5-gallon bucket is going to be a major pain for most prospectors to deal with as you then need to carry a special tub or sled just to do the cleanout.

It's not such a design issue on something like the miner, because when your hauling in something that size you anticipate needing special equipment because the sluice itself is a special piece of equipment. But even then I'd probably prefer to run 2 prospectors side by side that clean out easily into a 5-gallon and split in half for easier packing into an area with multiple people compared to the monster that is the miner. You probably get similar production but much more flexibility in how you setup.

Dimensions are a real thing to keep in mind when designing a product. It something is poorly designed and difficult to handle news is going to spread. Prospecting is a close-knit community.

 

[crabtree]

I would have to agree. In the current situation as close to a clone as I can get would be my first goal. BGT is a great product. A couple personal mods is all I'm planning.

I agree with this. I'll be making something for my personal use that is very similar to the BGT but with a few mods/improvements that wouldn't be practical to mass produce.

I've already offered up an exact copy of the sniper and haven't had a single bite. If nobody will even buy a bazooka clone from me then I highly doubt they'd buy boxes of my own design.

 

[Sockeye1730]

Finished my bazooka clone this weekend. Its a touch smaller than a prospector. Its a bit heavy, maybe 15 lbs, but should last a lifetime, ugly welds included

Total cost out of pocket, $5 + a couple afternoons of work. Not sure how well the grizzly will work, I will make one out of rods at some point.

 

[Sockeye1730]

 

[Goldfleks]

I agree with this. I'll be making something for my personal use that is very similar to the BGT but with a few mods/improvements that wouldn't be practical to mass produce.

I've already offered up an exact copy of the sniper and haven't had a single bite. If nobody will even buy a bazooka clone from me then I highly doubt they'd buy boxes of my own design.

You need to get some footage of your box in action. Some YouTube results, cleanouts, etc.

I've been a bit busy Crab, I'll PM you when I can.