What material for puffer drywashers. Riffle tray and bellows.

[roadrunner]

Is any cloth ok or should the bellows have rubber backing on it so it does not leak air.
How about the cloth under riffles,jeans ok,or should use lighter like t-shirt or pillow case cotton.
I am building one and have the frame up but down to the last 2 items of cloth.
Will check around for used ones also.

 

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[snakejim]

On the riffle tray indian head cloth was used in the old days. It's just a loose weave cloth that air will go through easily. Some folks use ducking these days, but you have to keep the cotton based cloths dry. If they ever get wet the cotton will swell and stop the air going through. Synthetic cloths also work as long as you can blow through them.
On the bellows I use Naugahyde. It holds up well and the air doesn't go through it. Canvas works also, if it is a tight weave.

 

[Justbent]

I do some work for a blind and shade company in Scottsdale. They have a material I use that is 5% open. It's synthetic material. I have 10% open also but the 5% seems to be working well so I never tried the 10%. The bellows material I got from Orielys auto parts. It's a rubber material on one side, fuzzy on the other. There to keep oil from seeping thru. It's cheap and they say it's industrial strength. Whatever that is. The last 2 materials I tried wore out real quick.

 

[roadrunner]

Thanks guys. i will go to O-Rileys, and see about Naugahyde at walmart.

 

[dashriprock]

I know uphostery shops...especially auto upholsters sometimes have scrap Naugahyde in many different colors or will cut you a certain size piece for not much money. I picked up a couple yds for $4 when I re-did my kitchen chairs. Just a thought.

 

[arizau]

What ever you use for the tray make sure it is a loose weave to allow the air to pass. I used muslin (suggested by the plan I used) which comes in several strengths. I also used a vinyl backed fabric for the bellows and got them both from a local fabric shop.

 

[Bodfish Mike]

I used muslin for the tray and a rubber floor underlayment
for the bellows-- I would think a truck inner tube would work also.
I like the underlayment as it wants to bounce back.

 

[Joanne]

I'm starting to think about making myself a drywasher. I've looked at a lot of plans and have some ideas of my own. One area that has me thinking is the riffle tray fabric. I've been thinking about silk screen fabric. It comes in weaves of various fineness and is intended to have a liquid pass through it under some pressure.

Any thoughts on this? Has anyone here tried it?

Joanne


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[Bodfish Mike]

I'm starting to think about making myself a drywasher. I've looked at a lot of plans and have some ideas of my own. One area that has me thinking is the riffle tray fabric. I've been thinking about silk screen fabric. It comes in weaves of various fineness and is intended to have a liquid pass through it under some pressure.

Any thoughts on this? Has anyone here tried it?



Joanne


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I think silk would work but I used muslin as others suggested it.
Thanks for the cool links .
Mike

 

[arizau]

I'm starting to think about making myself a drywasher. I've looked at a lot of plans and have some ideas of my own. One area that has me thinking is the riffle tray fabric. I've been thinking about silk screen fabric. It comes in weaves of various fineness and is intended to have a liquid pass through it under some pressure.

Any thoughts on this? Has anyone here tried it?

Joanne


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It may be too tight a weave if water only passes under pressure. Muslin is traditional and inexpensive.

 

[rodoconnor]

I used muslin for the tray and a rubber floor underlayment
for the bellows-- I would think a truck inner tube would work also.
I like the underlayment as it wants to bounce back.

For grins and giggles I tried a truck innertube once. I worked but didn't last at all.

 

[Strebs]

Heres how i made mine.... Gold Prospecting and Nugget Hunting is what We do!

 

[Thurman]

Joanne,

I think the idea of silkscreen fabric is a good one. There is a site on e-bay or Amazon that sells the stuff in different opening sizes. They even make neat looking aluminum frames (could be used as the riffle tray by adding riffles) - I asked if they would make a custom size, but no response. The advantage is that it is a synthetic fabric that I think would be very tough and would not absorb moisture.

On another site, a fellow posted how to convert the funny language of fabric suppliers into something that is understandable. I will find the information and post it later.

Best regards, Thurman

 

[Joanne]

Heres how i made mine.... Gold Prospecting and Nugget Hunting is what We do!

Those are the plans I am looking at. They seem quite straight forward and complete.

But the REAL question is, "How well does it work?" Is the riffle design fairly efficient? I'm reasonably proficient in metal work and welding, so I'm not afraid of modifications or variations to the design that would improve it.

Joanne

 

[Joanne]

Joanne,

I think the idea of silkscreen fabric is a good one. There is a site on e-bay or Amazon that sells the stuff in different opening sizes. They even make neat looking aluminum frames (could be used as the riffle tray by adding riffles) - I asked if they would make a custom size, but no response. The advantage is that it is a synthetic fabric that I think would be very tough and would not absorb moisture.

On another site, a fellow posted how to convert the funny language of fabric suppliers into something that is understandable. I will find the information and post it later.

Best regards, Thurman

Thanks for the reply. My original thinking was that the fabric is available in various mesh sizes so I could tailor the fabric to the fineness of gold I expect to find in an area. I don't think airflow is an issue even with the finer fabrics, although I could be wrong on that. My main concern is whether the fabric is durable enough for this type of use. Dick Blick carries a multifilament fabric that would be more durable than the single filament fabric I am seeing online.

All this said, I am a complete new-bee to drywashing so I could be completely in left field. It wouldn't be the first time in my life. :-)

Joanne

 

[arizau]

Be careful with your choice of weave. Too tight......You will get a lot of lift (maybe too much) but little air transfer through it. The air helps to classify the material and it blows the dust off. Too loose.....Little lift on the fabric thus the material (it should puff out like a sail) and dust will migrate into the bellows on the down stroke.

Good luck.

 

[Joanne]

Be careful with your choice of weave. Too tight......You will get a lot of lift (maybe too much) but little air transfer through it. The air helps to classify the material and it blows the dust off. Too loose.....Little lift on the fabric thus the material (it should puff out like a sail) and dust will migrate into the bellows on the down stroke.

Good luck.

Thank you! That's the type of information I am looking for. My brain always wants to know the what AND the why. I may very well end up using muslin since it's time tested and sounds like the material of choice. I just stumbled across the idea of silk screen fabric before I learned about muslin. Still may play with it once I get the drywasher up and working.

Thanks again,
Joanne

 

[Joanne]

I'm going to add a tidbit of information even though this thread is a bit older.

Today I was on YouTube watching an interview of Pat Keene by Prospector Jess. As Pat was discussing how gold is attracted by static electricity, he mentioned that their new dry washers use 180 mesh silkscreen cloth. This doesn't mean that silkscreen cloth is the "right" solution, but it does suggest that it is worth considering.

Joanne

 

[Clay Diggins]

I'm going to add a tidbit of information even though this thread is a bit older.

Today I was on YouTube watching an interview of Pat Keene by Prospector Jess. As Pat was discussing how gold is attracted by static electricity, he mentioned that their new dry washers use 180 mesh silkscreen cloth. This doesn't mean that silkscreen cloth is the "right" solution, but it does suggest that it is worth considering.

Joanne

ALL the dry materials are attracted by static electricity as you will discover. Seems counter intuitive to think that would help sort the material but of course Pat Keene knows a lot about wet processing materials.

I'm not sure gold or other materials sticking to your drywasher is a good idea. The point is to allow sorting by specific gravity and to do that you need the material full of air - not stuck to your drywasher. Static electricity does have one advantage on a drywasher though, your moving parts will wear out much quicker. Not so good for the miner but a real winner for the manufacturer.

The traditional material is Indianhead cloth. It worked well. Indianhead refers to the manufacturers name for the product. There are as many replacement choices as there are drywashers. To each their own.

Here's a closeup of the original Indianhead fabric:



As you can see it's basically a cotton muslin with a linen type weave. Easy to find an inexpensive replacement at any decent fabric store.

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