Sluice box videos

[Frank1960]

How folks, I am thinking about getting a sluice and hitting some rivers here in Colorado any good videos on how to use them and what is a good inexpensive portable sluice for carrying around. Thanks

 

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[jog]

YouTube video's. They have them for just about anything.

 

[Frank1960]

Thank you jog

 

[Astrobouncer]

I have a couple videos up of sluicing, high-banking, etc. I have made and tried all kinds of sluices and now use only the drop riffle sluices. They are better then conventional riffles because they clean up much faster, and also you can run more material in them in less time. Gold recovery of even super fine gold is comparable to conventional riffles, as long as you don't use too much water velocity or drop.

http://www.youtube.com/user/Kyuto00009?feature=mhum

 

[Frank1960]

Thanks good video. I was thinking of getting the keene 50" folding sluice

 

[Astrobouncer]

Let us know how it works out for you! I like the compartments and the different size riffles on the plastic keene, seems like it would stop the fine gold from being blown out by bigger pieces of gravel.

 

[Frank1960]

The one I was looking at wasn't the plastic one I didn't like the looks of that one the other one was a newer one also but made of metal. Might just get pans first and see how things turn out.

 

[Astrobouncer]

I wouldn't get a conventional riffle sluice. Check out this thread for why:

http://southernprospector.s2.bizhat.com/viewtopic.php?t=544&mforum=southernprospector

And also this one:

http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.php/topic,323849.0.html

 

[Frank1960]

does that eliminate the mat at the bottom of the sluice Astrobouncer? Also how heavy are yours to carry for a good mile or two?

 

[Astrobouncer]

Yes there's no mat in most drop riffles and they are not needed. The water flowing against them will hold the material just fine. Even 100 mesh or smaller gold. You can get a plastic drop riffle sluice like the Le Trap, California Sluice box, or Angus Mc Kirk (to name a few of the better known ones, im sure there's more out there) and they will weight almost nothing and catch superfine gold. Even my large 4 foot drop riffle sluice is made of lighter wood and weighs less then 15 pounds, and its no problem for me to carry that in to some remote canyons for a mile or more. Sure coming out, carrying cons and it being water logged (plus the gear I already pack in) its a little heavy, but not to bad. Angus Mc Kirk has some really nice back packable ones, but the California sluice box has some nice back packable versions as well. Or you can make your own with a table-saw for next to nothing in cost.

 

[Frank1960]

well the loss of the mat sure is a compelling argument makes clean up easier. I will look into those that you mentioned above. Going to order the pans first then save for the sluice just need to decide where to get the pans for the least amount and that take paypal. There are some that sell the deluxe garrett with 3 pans and a classifier but do I need all those pans or is just the one pan and classifier enough? Oh and thanks for all the helpful info!

 

[Astrobouncer]

Frank you can get by with just one pan and one classifier, but later on down the line its nice to have a couple different pans to work with. I use a blue 14 inch pan from Keene most of the time now for sampling new areas or finding pay streaks , since I can drop 2 full shovel scoops of material in there. But for cleanup I use my older 12 inch black pan with only 3 riffles. If space is tight I use the real cheap small red pan. I also have a maverick gold pan, which works really well, but it can only hold 1 shovel full of material, so I rarely use it.

 

[Frank1960]

Ok then I guess the garrett pro set would be better. I do like the bigger bottom on the one and figured if nothing else could use the classifier with that and then the smaller bottom on for panning or is the bigger one for panning and the smaller one for rechecking the finer material? Dang I got a lot of videos to watch and learn from lol

 

[63bkpkr]

Hello Frank1960,
Astro has tested and refined this drop riffle design units to the point that he Does know what he's talking about. If you have the time, the wood working tools and know how to use them without removing your fingers you can make one of Astro's designs for next to nothing. If you need to purchase a ready made unit then Angus McKirk and California Sluice products are good folks to work with and they have many models to choose from, from tiny sample to production sluices. One of the larger Mckirk sluices weighs about 6 pounds while a Keene A-52 weighs about 11 pounds. These would be comparable in physical dimensions while the ABS plastic sluices are way lighter and do not use carpet or matting. I believe the California Sluice's are lower in cost than the McKirk's and way lower than the Keene's. Some of the McKirk's have two metal bars that brace the sides and allow easy positioning of a boulder to keep the sluice down in the water. Getting a sluice box up and out of the water is not as simple as it would first seem. First the water is heavy, second you do not want to tip the box as what you've just trapped could fall out and third the river bottom is usually slippery and the footing is often poor and with all of these combined a person could have several not good things going on at the same time as he's attempting to lift the box out of the water, usually the back gets pulled or a person falls and neither of these are the right thing to be doing. Hence, I added cross bars to my Keene A-52 near the flume at the top and with the cross bar at the bottom I now have two very comfortable handles to use for picking the box up.

Cross bars would be easy to add to any plastic sluice but there's a couple of tricks in making the bolt holes in the sides of the box. Cross bars are just flat strap steel with an "L" shaped bend on each end though they would be much stronger if they were made from a right-angle bar. I made mine from an aluminium right angle bar that's about 1/32" thick. Build your cross bars to fit either the inside or the outside dimension of the box (along the length of the box). Make the "L" leg about 2" long and put a 1/16" hole through the leg 3/4" up from the bottom of the leg. Now you can mark, not make, where the holes go on each side of the box. In the center of the the marks on the box start by drilling a 1/16" hole. Lets say we use a #10 bolt to hold the cross bars to the box sides. So now we drill each bolt hole in the box a little larger BUT NOT as large as the bolt. Now here is trick #2 get a nail or some metal rod that is a bit larger than the bolt, warm the nail with a torch not real hot but just hot enough that it melts the plastic and with the nail just hot enough force it through the hole and pull it back out quickly. Why? Drilling plastic leaves small rough spots around the outer edges of the hole and cracks start from these rough spots. You do not want the box to crack! Melting the plastic seals over any rough spots and it will leave a small round doughnut around one or both sides of the hole, lightly sand these off with 200-600 grit emery paper. When bolting the cross bars to the box use a "Fender Washer" between the bolt and the plastic and do not torque the nut down very hard, just hard enough to allow the lock washer to grip the nut and the metal of the washer or the "L" of the cross bar. Also, ABS plastic is fairly easy to glue together and ABS glue is carried at many hardware stores.

I started prospecting with just a small sifter and a plastic gold pan. I made my sifter from a large Tuna fish can with both ends cut off. I pop riveted 1/8" or 1/4" mesh hardware cloth to one end of the can and soldered over all the sharp edges of the hardware cloth to keep it from sticking me all the time. A sifter of some sort IS A MUST as it makes panning or sluicing go so much easier. Of course if you live near a Walmart store or any store that sells expanded metal drawer organizers, buy one of these in a size to suit your application and they will work as good as any sifter you purchased from a mining supply store.

It sounds as if you have not used either a pan or a sluice. If that is the case there are MANY "how to" sites for the beginner on the internet that teach you how to properly pan and how to properly sluice. These sites will be invaluable to you as they teach the proper methods of using these tools. I was unaware the sites existed till some of the good people on T-net stuck my face into them, what a blessing!

Panning or sluicing CAN cause your back to really ache! LONG Before you go prospecting prepare for this by exercising, yes get down on the floor and do crunches and stretch exercises. Also, as you will be walking a couple of miles to get to your site while laden with your gear, you should do some ankle exercises as spraining an ankle on uneven ground is also NOT a good thing. Being in reasonable to good shape makes any type of prospecting MUCH more enjoyable as well as safer!!

NOW, if I've chosen the correct picture here's a looks see at what I found this year via panning, a little metal detecting and sluicing. The gold is piled on top of a U.S. fifty-cent piece.

Have fun, be busy on the internet looking at videos and reading the how too's of prospecting and you will put the winter shut down to good use.

63bkpkr (PS - there's lots more gold out there)

AND One Last Note: make or buy a sluice Then purchase a bucket that your sluice will drop all the way to the bottom of the bucket Without forcing the walls of the bucket outward. My A-52 just fits into the top of a typical 5 gallon bucket but it only goes down about 4'' and starts to force the wall outwards. I cracked the wall of my bucket and with the bucket leaking it is not a good thing for many reasons.

 

[Frank1960]

Thanks for the info 63bkpkr I have decided to go with the McKirk or at least that is the one I am looking at right now. Thanks on the info about drilling the holes I don't want them to crack that is for sure. I will be adding a cross bar towards the bottom of the sluice for grabbing. Didn't think about the weight of the water in the sluice thanks for that. I don't excercise and already have a bad back that I have gotten used to so will just deal with it like I have for years. Eventually it will go numb lol Been and will continue to look at videos about panning and sluiceing. Now to find the gold lol

Thanks for everyones help ya all are great on here!

 

[Hoser John]

I'd go for the righteous Le Trap and get it on as every canyon,creek and gully is fulla water and even on P33 hill I'd bet too-John

 

[Doug Watson]

For the price, weight, and efficiently, go with the Le Trap or the Angus Mackirk. Right now I have the Angus Mackirk Au Trap sluice and I like it better than any I've had yet. Can't go wrong with either one. Both are good production sluices and now you've got me looking at the snow outside and our rivers almost in flood stage. Bummer! Doug.

 

[Frank1960]

I'm leaning real hard for the Angus either the $40 or the $60 one haven't decided which yet

 

[Golden member]

Here's a video that I made last summer, it's more about building a sluice box but it's a well rounded adventure anyhow. Enjoy

 

[Doug Watson]

Really enjoyed your video. The fro and drawknife bring back a lot of memories. They'd haul you off to jail for touching cedar around here anymore (washington state). Thanks for sharing. Doug.