Miller Table Bed Question

[Weser]

Hi all,
I'm looking for some advice on building a Miller Table. I have a cheap commercial chalkboard that is made from fiberboard with chalkboard paint on it. Would this be good to use for a Miller Table ? Should I waterproof the backside of the chalkboard ? Any advice would be appreciated !

 

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[Sackett]

That should work for a Miller Table. Just build your box that it goes in good and tight so that no water leaks under it. I would not waterproof the underside, because it "could" hold water inside the board "should" water get in there Having said all this I'm no expert no Miller Tables, but have built several of different materials and just finished my new one. It is 1" thick pool table slate 161/2" x 36" and heavy,,,,but does it ever catch flour gold!!!!!!!Good luck and let us know

 

[TerryC]

Check with Astrobouncer. He built a really good one. If you can afford it, try using a pool table slate. A little overkill but durable. TTC

 

[Weser]

Astrobouncer if you would, throw your opinion / advice out there...

 

[Goodyguy]

Hi all,
I'm looking for some advice on building a Miller Table. I have a cheap commercial chalkboard that is made from fiberboard with chalkboard paint on it. Would this be good to use for a Miller Table ? Should I waterproof the backside of the chalkboard ? Any advice would be appreciated !

Genuine slate is best..... Gold really wants to stick to it. I've tried chalkboard paint over various materials and after I tried real slate I threw the rest in the garbage.

Here's one I built a couple years ago using 1" pool table slate.....

The slate was free....Just go to a billiard table store and ask if they have any scrap or damaged slate you can have. (it's usually stored out back if they havent tossed it already)

It cost me $10 per cut at a marble supply store where they cut me enough to build 3 miller tables from the 1 section that I got for free.

I wanted 3/4" slate but all they had at the time was 1"

 

[Weser]

Thank you Sackett, TerryC, and Goodguy for the replies ! Goodguy that's a nice Miller Table. If I can lay my hands on some real slate I'm going to re-think this build !

 

[Color-blind]

Awesome table Goodyguy. I just finished my Miller table last night and did a quick test before I bought a pump and installed it. Any advice on the set up? I also aquired a nice piece of slate (24" x 30" bed) and ran about a 1/4 cup of 100 mesh across the bed. I was amazed at how it worked until I saw the gold pull loose and go down stream and over the edge. The bed is set at about 5 degrees and I took your advise and am using the corrugated sign board for the water flow. The thing I did notice is that although the slate looked flat to me, after I got running material I noticed high spots and low spots. I don't know if that is affecting the outcome. Any thoughts?

 

[Goodyguy]

Awesome table Goodyguy. I just finished my Miller table last night and did a quick test before I bought a pump and installed it. Any advice on the set up? I also aquired a nice piece of slate (24" x 30" bed) and ran about a 1/4 cup of 100 mesh across the bed. I was amazed at how it worked until I saw the gold pull loose and go down stream and over the edge. The bed is set at about 5 degrees and I took your advise and am using the corrugated sign board for the water flow. The thing I did notice is that although the slate looked flat to me, after I got running material I noticed high spots and low spots. I don't know if that is affecting the outcome. Any thoughts?

corrugated sign board ?
Do not have a clue what you mean by that

Gold pulled loose and surfed away..... water flow too fast perhaps, or maybe an air bubble knocked it loose or too much Jet-dry. (a coulple or 3 drops is all thats needed )

100 mesh does not take as fast a flow as coarser material. The finer the material the flatter the angle and slower the flow should be.

As far as high spots and low spots go.... shouldn't be much of a factor once you get the flow and angle set properly.

I have learned that putting the holes on top of the water flow bar and allowing the water to spill over it's sides as well as wraping filter material around the bar really smooths out the water flow.

The smoother the water flow is the less likely gold will get lifted once it settles.

Also a tiny piece of pyrite or mica may look like gold but will pull loose and get washed away.

GG~

 

[Color-blind]

Ooops. The sign board is from another post, sorry for any confusion. The sign board looks like a piece of cardboard (Only plastic) that is cut in a 2" wide strip laid flat on the slate with the reservoir baffle glued to the top. 1/2 of the board is on the reservoir side and the other on the outlet side. It is the full width of the table, as the water fills the reservoir it flows through the small channels of the board creating an even flow across the bed. That part works great, the fine tuning is going to take some work. (Good winter fun) Thanks for the advise and help!

 

[Goodyguy]

Ooops. The sign board is from another post, sorry for any confusion. The sign board looks like a piece of cardboard (Only plastic) that is cut in a 2" wide strip laid flat on the slate with the reservoir baffle glued to the top. 1/2 of the board is on the reservoir side and the other on the outlet side. It is the full width of the table, as the water fills the reservoir it flows through the small channels of the board creating an even flow across the bed. That part works great, the fine tuning is going to take some work. (Good winter fun) Thanks for the advise and help!

If the water passing through those channels create a row of jets then just make sure not to add your concentrates up close to them. Add the material at least 2-3 inches in front of the board where the flow is more stable, perhaps more if needed.

Either way it's all about the fine tuning

 

[Color-blind]

Ummmm.....you may have just solved it!

 

[Color-blind]

Yuppp-Low and slow is the answer. Thanks again

 

[Goodyguy]

Yuppp-Low and slow is the answer. Thanks again

 

[flopper]

My start to a portable Miller table. This is three hours into it. Thousands of dollars worth of tools and couldn't even find a chalking gun.... lol

 

[gold tramp]

Redneck rigs

View attachment 749319 couldnt help notice the camo vehicle in the pic, i knew there was others out there like us, we call our rig the tortoise.

 

[flopper]

Bought it to drive to work thought maybe I could sneak out early easier.... lol.... I call it a Chevy camoler...

 

[flopper]