May somebody post some pictures of their gold trap box "Bazooka"

[go4thegold]

I'm currently building a gold trap box.
My only problem has been that I haven't been able to get a picture of the end of the box itself. (where the trap is)
I've been wanting to see a picture of the overflow cutout/ exit side. If you've made your own or have a bazooka I would love a picture.

My box is made of sheet metal and it's turning out pretty good. I will be adding pvc pipes to the gold trap to keep a steady stream of water coming in to keep the material in a liquefied state.
Pictures to come of it soon.

Thanks!

 

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[russau]

Research these forums, what your asking for is in there somewhere. it had lots of pictures.

 

[goldenmojo]

type goodyguy or fluidbed into the search bar. GoodyGuy has info on what you are looking for

 

[KevinInColorado]

The spacing and angle of the holes in the fluidization tubes is crucial to fine gold recovery. If you persist in making your own, make your tubes removable so it's easy to modify them or even replace them as you run tests. Any idiot can build a fluid bed but building one that holds gold down to -100 and still kicks out the lighter material...now that's a trick! If you get frustrated, I hear there's a company that's already figured it out and sells em...

 

[benny]

I've got a mini BGT, and something a lot of people miss is the fact that there is a baffle in the top of the trap to force the gravel down into the trap and not let it just shoot out the back end. Sorry, no pictures. Maybe somebody else could come up with one.

 

[UTAvalanche]

I'm currently building a gold trap box.
My only problem has been that I haven't been able to get a picture of the end of the box itself. (where the trap is)
I've been wanting to see a picture of the overflow cutout/ exit side. If you've made your own or have a bazooka I would love a picture.

My box is made of sheet metal and it's turning out pretty good. I will be adding pvc pipes to the gold trap to keep a steady stream of water coming in to keep the material in a liquefied state.
Pictures to come of it soon.

Thanks!

I don't know if this will help or not but here is what I came up with for a small portable recirculating Mini Bazooka size sluice that I use for the desert and processing a 5 gallon bucket or two. I got the basic hole configuration from about 3 other sources who were building bigger sluices. The pattern worked well for me also. My box is set up so that I can easily view what is going on inside and I tweaked the configuration to work the best for me.

If you draw a center line, the line of holes are about 1/2" to either side of the line. The outside holes are 1/2" apart from front to back. For the center I used 1" apart and staggered so they don't line up the same on the two tubes. The pic here shows 1/2" spacing which gave a little too much turbulence in the center with the combined holes and the water coming down the slick plate.

Sorry the picture isn't better. It's a reference pic I take periodically as I build projects.

 

[go4thegold]

Thank you for the tips guys. Some of you have definitely helped a bunch.

I will be out on the American River soon getting that gold.
Gonna be a golden summer this year!

 

[benny]

Those holes are also pointed towards the bottom of the trap. At least on mine they are.

 

[UTAvalanche]

Sorry, yes that is correct. I should have mentioned they are face down. Wish you the best of luck. Would like to hear how you do.

 

[arizau]

I've got a mini BGT, and something a lot of people miss is the fact that there is a baffle in the top of the trap to force the gravel down into the trap and not let it just shoot out the back end. Sorry, no pictures. Maybe somebody else could come up with one.

Can someone describe the baffle and how and where it is situated? Does it extend below the horizontal line between entry and exit level or what?

 

[Goodyguy]

Can someone describe the baffle and how and where it is situated? Does it extend below the horizontal line between entry and exit level or what?

Here is the way I do my baffle:
I just make sure that it extends into the trap from 1/4" to 1/2" lower than the top of the exit port, that way everything entering the trap gets dunked.
(dont look at the holes in the tubes, those tubes were proto types that were discarded)

 

[arizau]

Here is the way I do my baffle:
I just make sure that it extends into the trap from 1/4" to 1/2" lower than the top of the exit port, that way everything entering the trap gets dunked.
(dont look at the holes in the tubes, those tubes were proto types that were discarded)

View attachment 998488

That is similar to what I have done with mine but is it the same concept as the one incorporated in the original Bazooka if there is one at all?

 

[Goodyguy]

That is similar to what I have done with mine but is it the same concept as the one incorporated in the original Bazooka if there is one at all?

I have never had the opportunity to inspect a Bazooka gold trap in person I have only seen pictures of them, the pictures don't show what's inside.
Here is the only inside illustration I've seen and I have no idea of how accurately detailed it is.

http://www.bazookagoldtrap.com/content/BazookaInstructions.pdf

Soon though I will have a 48" Bazooka Miner model to see If I can adapt it for use on my 4" dredge.

GG~

 

[arizau]

Here is the way I do my baffle:
I just make sure that it extends into the trap from 1/4" to 1/2" lower than the top of the exit port, that way everything entering the trap gets dunked.
(dont look at the holes in the tubes, those tubes were proto types that were discarded)

View attachment 998488

It looks to me that the diverter you incorporate scoops all of the water and material entering the trap downward into the bed material and may cause a scouring action that may effect recovery efficiency. My new idea would be to have the diverter not be full height but begin pretty much on a level between the bottom of the entry and exit ports thus allowing gravity to settle the material behind the diverter into the lower reaches of the bed material to begin the fluid bed actions with little or no scouring taking place except on the top of the bed after the material has gone under the diverter. I used a diverter similar to yours and it seemed to scour my box of most of the fine black sands and probably some gold. Just some food for thought.
PS Thanks for the response.

 

[Goodyguy]

It looks to me that the diverter you incorporate scoops all of the water and material entering the trap downward into the bed material and may cause a scouring action that may effect recovery efficiency. My new idea would be to have the diverter not be full height but begin pretty much on a level between the bottom of the entry and exit ports thus allowing gravity to settle the material behind the diverter into the lower reaches of the bed material to begin the fluid bed actions with little or no scouring taking place except on the top of the bed after the material has gone under the diverter. I used a diverter similar to yours and it seemed to scour my box of most of the fine black sands and probably some gold. Just some food for thought.
PS Thanks for the response.

Thanks for the comment,
When I had a plexiglass cover over the trap I didn't notice any scouring, I think it could have been due to the distance from the bottom of the ramp to the leading edge of the diverter which has a gentle slope into the trap instead of a steep angle. Another contributing factor could be that my grizzly (3/16" punchplate) being level with the bed reduces turbulence into the trap eliminating any scouring action. The red arrow points to the nugget trap In front of the grizzly.



However, I would be very interested to see an example of the new idea that you are suggesting.
I'm always open to any improvements I could make.

GG~

 

[arizau]

Thanks for the comment,
When I had a plexiglass cover over the trap I didn't notice any scouring, I think it could have been due to the distance from the bottom of the ramp to the leading edge of the diverter which has a gentle slope into the trap instead of a steep angle. Another contributing factor could be that my grizzly (3/16" punchplate) being level with the bed reduces turbulence into the trap eliminating any scouring action. The red arrow points to the nugget trap In front of the grizzly.
View attachment 1000329


However, I would be very interested to see an example of the new idea that you are suggesting.
I'm always open to any improvements I could make.

GG~

Now that I see the perf roof I think you are right. The wicker tip may still induce some feed water intro beneath the diverter if it is not in line with the two port lips which is probably really a non issue the way the sluice is configured.

I haven't tested mine yet but I set the arced diverter on my suggested line and I also extend down a little between the tubes so that material is introduced closer to the bottom. I differ from your theory, in another post, about water injection though. I have extended straws from the main supply tubes so that they squirt and spread out directly onto the base of the box. The end effect is rising water as if it comes through the bottom of the box. This should keep everything active and exchanging and not allow a packed bed to be formed. I may be wrong but I figure once gold, of any size, is at or near the bottom it is pretty much protected like in a gold pan and not likely to escape especially since the injected water merely fluffs the material much like you see in a spring. In any case I think the performance will at least equal usual capture and I hope be better at retaining -100 mesh which is what I am dealing with by processing ocean beach sands.

 

[Herby D]

Do you guys know if anyone has ever tried ribbed rubber matting under the tubes to stabilize the fine gold ?

Most important two letter word sentence.. "If it is to be, it is up to me"

 

[arizau]

Do you guys know if anyone has ever tried ribbed rubber matting under the tubes to stabilize the fine gold ?

Most important two letter word sentence.. "If it is to be, it is up to me"

Some have suggested mat on the slick plate but mostly just to serve as an indicator that they are pushing gold into the box. It would serve no purpose inside the box in my opinion.

 

[Herby D]

A few years back I saw the results of a test some guy performed by placing a three foot sheet of sheet metal with small ribbed rubber matting after the bazooka.. I don't remember how much material he ran but he found some small particles of fine gold the matting collected.. His assumption was that the turbulence was causing the fine gold to float.. I thought that maybe he didn't have it adjusted correctly for the amount of volume.. just curious..

Most important two letter word sentence.. "If it is to be, it is up to me"

 

[arizau]

A few years back I saw the results of a test some guy performed by placing a three foot sheet of sheet metal with small ribbed rubber matting after the bazooka.. I don't remember how much material he ran but he found some small particles of fine gold the matting collected.. His assumption was that the turbulence was causing the fine gold to float.. I thought that maybe he didn't have it adjusted correctly for the amount of volume.. just curious..

Most important two letter word sentence.. "If it is to be, it is up to me"

Some have noted losses of fine gold from bazooka type sluices. I hope my ideas can improve the recovery knowing full well that there will still be some losses due to the nature of the beast. The finest of gold particles have virtually no settling velocity or are flat and are subject to just washing through a bazooka or any other sluice type.