My Diy Fluid Bed Gold Trap Sluice

[DesertNuggets]

I am so glad I found this thread. GG you sir are a great man. Letting people have the design of this is truly a noteworthy thing. I have the materials and the shop to do this in. You will probably see both a new fluid bed at the bottom of my sluice and crutch legs on my sluice for adjustment lol. Probably a new handle on my pump and so on. Hey there is no bigger form of flattery than imitation right?

Video Link: http://youtu.be/jCAjFg_Mhh4

Nice work! Small tip. Classify smaller. Those big rocks are just messing things up.

 

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[Doitlaynstyle]

The classifier is actually for the big sluice box. I would normally only run concentrates through the cleanup sluice you see here. But since it was only garden dirt, and I needed to demonstrate the cleanup sluice, this is what you got in the video. LOL Oh and BTW ALL of the brass that I embedded into the garden dirt was caught. Nice to see since I was running all the rocks through there.

 

[tiger4life]

Quick question, is the Bazooka Gold Trap really protected under any Patent. I know most people direct to the Schimdt patent but that design is different in alot of ways except for the tubes that help fluidize the material is this what is patented.

 

[Goodyguy]

Quick question, is the Bazooka Gold Trap really protected under any Patent. I know most people direct to the Schimdt patent but that design is different in alot of ways except for the tubes that help fluidize the material is this what is patented.

I found this on their website. "We, at the Bazooka Gold Company, are proud to bring back the patented Howard Schmidt's Gold trap line of products with an improved design and construction."

Then there is this from the US Patent Office: "Design patents last 14 years from the date the patent is granted".
Schmidt's design patent on the gold trap was granted: Issue date: Dec 19, 1995. 18 years ago this Dec.

GG~

 

[tiger4life]

I found this on their website. "We, at the Bazooka Gold Company, are proud to bring back the patented Howard Schmidt's Gold trap line of products with an improved design and construction."

Then there is this from the US Patent Office: "Design patents last 14 years from the date the patent is granted".
Schmidt's design patent on the gold trap was granted: Issue date: Dec 19, 1995. 18 years ago this Dec.

GG~

Hmmmm interesting, I still do not see how their "improved design and construction" is covered under the orginal patent anyway. Thanks GG for the info on the length of patent designs, not that I intend to start production nor want to. But I really like the concept and due to the overall bad ratings and what people are saying about this business I do not trust sending my money to him so like previous posts I will start my build. But if there was someone out there that had an interest in a business and ran it better than him it might make a ok living. Frankly I am not sure there is much profit in a unit to make it worth it but I am not sure about the market size either.

 

[UncleMatt]

The word "patent" is often used to scare off people from competing, when no claim can actually be made to a patented product. Expiration aside for a moment, if 3 things are different on the current bazooka than are listed in the 1995 patent, their product is likely not covered under that patent.

 

[tiger4life]

The word "patent" is often used to scare off people from competing, when no claim can actually be made to a patented product. Expiration aside for a moment, if 3 things are different on the current bazooka than are listed in the 1995 patent, their product is likely not covered under that patent.

Thanks for the input that is interesting, the only thing on it that remotely is similar is the pipes with holes that create the fluid bed. But even that is not exactly the same.

 

[Goodyguy]

I'm retired and not wanting to go into production for any amount of money. My time is too valuable to me for that.

 

[tiger4life]

I'm retired and not wanting to go into production for any amount of money. My time is too valuable to me for that.

I understand that for sure even though I am not retired yet but even now my time is more important and something like that would totally consume all your time. I sell software that i created to help prepare for the electrical masters exam online and thought i could make some extra money, well I have made extra money but barely enough to make up for the constant headache that customers give you. I did make a copy of the popular hand dredge and thought about selling some but............nah.
Pictures below with out the hose and bucket as they were in the basement, let me know what you think:


Works really well, I even use it to clean out my Koi pond

 

[Goodyguy]

I understand that for sure even though I am not retired yet but even now my time is more important and something like that would totally consume all your time. I sell software that i created to help prepare for the electrical masters exam online and thought i could make some extra money, well I have made extra money but barely enough to make up for the constant headache that customers give you. I did make a copy of the popular hand dredge and thought about selling some but............nah.
Pictures below with out the hose and bucket as they were in the basement, let me know what you think:
Works really well, I even use it to clean out my Koi pond

Love the flexible hose idea
Not a big fan of the T handle.

My first was a T handle but soon changed to the more comfortable design as shown below.......

 

[UncleMatt]

I just got some 3" leather cups off amazon.com for my home built hand dredge pump. If anyone is looking for those, they have them pre-cut and formed to whatever diameter you want.

 

[419GottaMinute]

Unclematt: can you post a link?

 

[Doitlaynstyle]

Hey guys, Does anyone have the model number or a link to that check valve? I like the idea of sniping to check an area before committing to sluicing it. I want to build one of those with the bucket on it.

 

[Goodyguy]

Hey guys, Does anyone have the model number or a link to that check valve? I like the idea of sniping to check an area before committing to sluicing it. I want to build one of those with the bucket on it.

You can buy the whole thing ready made for $99:
http://www.gold-n-sand.com/#/standard-dredge/4536573307


Or just the valves:
Gold Prospecting Equipment by Gold-N-Sand

 

[tiger4life]

Love the flexible hose idea
Not a big fan of the T handle.

My first was a T handle but soon changed to the more comfortable design as shown below.......
View attachment 748382

I was thinking the same thing after a day on the creek, it's a little hard on the hands. I will change it on the next one.

Oh on the flexiable hose I think it would be better to have the valve closer to the pump instead of the way I have it, I will change that next time.

 

[tiger4life]

I need the leather cup, I used a rubber seal that I got at Home Depot that was intended to seal of pipe.

The valves I used are also from home depot and I think they sell for $6.99 piecece.
But this one looks better since its clear and it says it can be used horizonal or vertical but is pretty pricey at 32.00, I also think I will go with vlaves next time that is one size larger than pipe size but not sure if that will decrease my suction.

 

[UncleMatt]

You can find them HERE and HERE

Be aware, the second link does not have the correct photo up. Here is what I got:



The washers were not included, I am just considering those as mounting bits.

 

[Goodyguy]

Used as a highbanker.......

 

[mattfink]

here's the I built but I need a different gasket

 

[rgecy]

I found this on their website. "We, at the Bazooka Gold Company, are proud to bring back the patented Howard Schmidt's Gold trap line of products with an improved design and construction."

Then there is this from the US Patent Office: "Design patents last 14 years from the date the patent is granted".
Schmidt's design patent on the gold trap was granted: Issue date: Dec 19, 1995. 18 years ago this Dec.

GG~

Actually the Schmidt patent is a Utility Patent. At the time this one was filed, the terms were also changing, and according to the patent office it would be 17 years from Date of Patent or 20 Years from Patent filing, whichever is longer. The patent was filed in 1994 and would be good through 2014. Since it is a utility patent, it is more about the concept and method of use than the actual design. So pretty much any device used in this manner that has a fluidbed that is designed similar to the patent would be covered. Even if there are other changes etc.

However, someone could patent the additional ideas to improve on this!

I had researched this greatly and decided I wanted a unit that could handle a lot of material quickly and not lose the gold that other highbankers do when overloaded. My son and I built a fluidbed highbanker last year that can handle 2 or 3 guys shoveling no problem. We went through 4 yards of material in no time and caught gold down to 100 mesh no problem.

The one thing that I added to the design was a diverter that forced the material down into the fluid bed. This ensures that even if the bed is full, it is pushing the heavies down and not letting it skip over the top. The 36 inch slick plate also allows the water to settle down and let the gold drop before it hits the grizzly.

We found 5 times as much gold as the other guys using standard highbankers because we didn't have to worry about the riffles filling up or too much material going through at one time. I also ran 1 hour with a tub at the bottom and did not find a single visible piece of gold in the entire tub!

For cleanout, the fluidbed has a drop-down door and the material just flows out into my tub. I also put a piece of ribbed carpet in the bed to help trap the fine gold and keep it on the bottom.

I have made some improvements this year and will post picts when I get back out. Most notably expanded metal mesh over the grizzly to keep the flat rocks from getting stuck. Also fixed the water issue where it was flowing out the back. Made a pray bar adjustment and extended the hopper grizzly.

Robert