Lets design the ultimate sluice...

[UncleMatt]

Not sure how open everyone is to a sluice development thread, but after seeing all the many mods and interesting sluice designs, it occurred to me that together we could all probably come up with the best sluice possible for small scale use, to capture both nuggets and very fine gold both. Of course we would have to figure out some groundwork about basic requirements for our final goal, but I am sure that whole process would be a lot of fun! If there is an interest in this, please sound off, and offer ideas/suggestions/etc.

I personally think it would have to include a fluid bed of some kind. I am a little biased towards the bazooka gold trap, but sure that design could be improved on. I personally would like to incorporate magnets to trap black sands and slow down gold in the flow. I have also wondered about a lithium battery powered pump accessory, and maybe a metal detector built in too. So throw ideas into the pot!

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Agony and Death on a Gold Rush Steamer: The Disastrous Sinking of the Side-Wheeler Yankee Blade - Grab it through Amazon!

[walldo]

I have the gold cube and have seen results compared to a desert wheel. Keeping the fine gold wet makes a huge difference.
Maybe a sluice with two or three channels with magnets after the dam. Just low grade magnets like a heavy mag sheet type stuff.?

 

[Astrobouncer]

I think its a bad idea. I have already had DIY builds I posted stolen and re-branded with another logo and later used for profit to mine the miners (no I won't name which company but its obvious when you see their 'new' product heh). My advice, if you have something that works better then whats out now, keep it to yourself until you get it patented and all that.

 

[walldo]

Advice received.

 

[UncleMatt]

We could make it open source, available to all in the public domain to build or sell, but not patent. I see guys over at geotech1 do this with MD circuits. Not sure if that would work, just think this project would be a blast.

 

[Hoser John]

As you stated Astro-stolen over/over and patent is hog wash now. Just make your own with any sluice made-cut a piece of punchplate with 1/4" holes---the width of your sluice and enough to go over the first 3 or 4 riffles. Insert 2 screws with 2 nuts and lockwashers on the downflow end and they are your height adjusters--simply lay in place and shovel onto that at the very top end of ANY SLUICE and good to go. Always classify to 1/2" minus to feed and away ya go for next to no dough. Always classify dry as much easier(nuttn' sticks to bigger rocks) lighter and then prewet prior to introduction to any sluice- I never patented over/under classification,tri-jet technology-offset elliptical vibration devices WHY-share freely for the betterment of miners and ya sleep soooo much better and scum suckn' lawyers and chinamen will violate anyhow with a tweet and your outta there-John

 

[UncleMatt]

I am not concerned about someone taking an idea and manufacturing it to make a profit, I just wanted to have a fun project designing something we could all make use of.

 

[Hoser John]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMEN and I can attest to the fact that it feels ABSOLUTELY RIGHTEOUS when industry standards are your own inventions/ innovations/ group efforts-John

 

[Goodyguy]

As you stated Astro-stolen over/over and patent is hog wash now. Just make your own with any sluice made-cut a piece of punchplate with 1/4" holes---the width of your sluice and enough to go over the first 3 or 4 riffles. Insert 2 screws with 2 nuts and lockwashers on the downflow end and they are your height adjusters--simply lay in place and shovel onto that at the very top end of ANY SLUICE and good to go. Always classify to 1/2" minus to feed and away ya go for next to no dough. Always classify dry as much easier(nuttn' sticks to bigger rocks) lighter and then prewet prior to introduction to any sluice- I never patented over/under classification,tri-jet technology-offset elliptical vibration devices WHY-share freely for the betterment of miners and ya sleep soooo much better and scum suckn' lawyers and chinamen will violate anyhow with a tweet and your outta there-John

Only thing I would add is a length of smooth aluminum in front of and butted up to and at the same height as the punch plate to dump the material onto first so it gets pre stratified before it hits the punch plate. Could easily be positioned in the flair area ahead of the punch plate creating both underflow (under the punch plate) and overflow (over the punch plate.)

I would also eliminate those first three or four riffles and place vortex mat in their place in the area underneath the punch plate.

*Oops I think we just reinvented the Calsluice


GG~

 

[UncleMatt]

I am in the process of researching/pondering a method of using centrifugal force to seperate gold from lighter materials. A vortex leaps to mind, but I am thinking about a rotating mass of water several inches in diameter with catch slots around the outside to catch the gold as the centrifugal force pins it to the cylinder wall. The trick is to make it powered by the flow of the stream water. Just brainstorming different concepts at this point.

 

[UncleMatt]

Look at this design for something different...

SIDEWINDER SLUICE

 

[Goodyguy]

I am in the process of researching/pondering a method of using centrifugal force to seperate gold from lighter materials. A vortex leaps to mind, but I am thinking about a rotating mass of water several inches in diameter with catch slots around the outside to catch the gold as the centrifugal force pins it to the cylinder wall. The trick is to make it powered by the flow of the stream water. Just brainstorming different concepts at this point.

Reminds me of the laundry washing machine I'm converting to run a high volume of concentrates. But it runs on electricity.

 

[Hoser John]

#1 rule of mining since the dawn of time when a simple sheeps skin was the first known fabricated sluicebox-KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID aka the KISS method-violate and perish as convalution is NOT the solution to gold recovery. Beer is--John

 

[rodoconnor]

Matt Reggie Gould's Bazooka does exactly that

 

[UncleMatt]

Reminds me of the laundry washing machine I'm converting to run a high volume of concentrates. But it runs on electricity.

I would love to hear your input on this concept GG. I am messing around with a few drawings, but nothing worth posting yet. I think of the vacuum cleaners that use this idea to spin the relatively heavy dirt and debri out of the airstream before it exits through a filter. Now apply that to a gold seperation device that spins the heaviest bits out of the water, leaving the lighter stuff to flow out. Since water is much more dense that air, I envision a pipe with water spinning inside that is relatively small in diameter (around 6" maybe) where sand/sediment is introduced at the top, and as the material descends through the cylinder the centrifugal forces move the heavy stuff to the outside wall, where it passed through the wall of the cylinder in classified slots to catch basins. Employ a metal detector on the outlet so that any nuggs are caught. MD trips a servo that momentarily kicks the flow of water and sediment into the fluid bed catch basin, and then returns it to regular exit.

 

[UncleMatt]

Matt Reggie Gould's Bazooka does exactly that

I was intrigued by your post, and went to take a look at it just now. I laughed when I saw this next quote in the description of how it works:

"The heavy materials are greatly effected by the Separator. The first part of the Separator has a component, called the Concentrator, which causes the heavy, (High Specific Gravity), materials, as well as the water, to spin. The heavy materials, due to centrifugal force, are forced against the wall of the inter tube. The Separator tube, has 22 traps or slots which allow the heavy material to escape from the inter wall to the Main Storage Chamber. Once the heavy materials enter this Storage Chamber, they are trapped until the front end Nozzle Assembly component is released and the contents poured into a bucket."

LOL, I swear I did not read that before posting my idea. Its nice to know your crazy ideas are actually not that crazy.

I will do some more reading and post again on this guys rig.

 

[rodoconnor]

Matt, it is not a crazy idea when it works.A lot of very knowlegable peopledismiss this idea as b.s.. I have one of the origianls he made and the damn thing works!

 

[UncleMatt]

The thing is, you need an engine to run the gould bazooka, and most areas I want to prospect have restrictions on that kind of thing. When this concept can be applied to the same areas where unpowered sluices are being used, that will be interesting!

 

[Jason in Enid]

The reason there are so many different sluice designs is because of the need to capture different sizes and shapes of placer gold. If you want something that can "do it all" it have to outrageously long to incorporate all the different features. Then you would have trouble placing it because of the amount of total drop needed.

 

[Hoser John]

Uncle Matt-Thats called a hydrocone , made sold by keene for a few years--designed by Green Machine in the 80's and their design was ruined--I have one wanna try it?? Nuttn' better to do on a freezing snowy winters day than play with toys that don't work -John Might be a pic in a mid 80s catalog as selling stuff that don't work is the norm