self classify sluice template. what gauge would use of aluminum

[restless spirit]

so ive been lookin for a Thomas creek self classifier sluice and havnt had any luck finding one. so I decided to make one.only I wanted to make one that is a little smaller .anyways heres my template made from postar board just to see if measurement are gonna work. so now that it seems easy enough to make I'm just wondering if there is a standard thickness amongst sluice makers? not to heavy but not to flexable. any one have any recomendations

 

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[Goodyguy]

I like to use 8ga aluminum but most use thinner 14ga.
Sounds to me like 14ga is what you are wanting.

GG~

 

[restless spirit]

thanks brother!

 

[bobw53]

Just tossing this out there... Make sure you know what alloy and temper you are getting.. And make sure that at the thickness you are going to get, that you will be able to put
the bend radius in that you want without the material cracking or tearing. There are quite the number of common alloys of aluminum that have wildly different properties...

 

[vaquero44]

restless spirit I'm thinking some rubber V-matting on the bottom would work very well there!

 

[restless spirit]

good idea thanks

 

[Goodyguy]

3003-H14 aluminum is a good choice for your project. Will easily bend to a 90 degree angle with no breaking or tearing.
Commonly available and affordable. Also weldable if need be.

Go for the Gold
GG~

 

[restless spirit]

3003-H14 aluminum is a good choice for your project. Will easily bend to a 90 degree angle with no breaking or tearing.
Commonly available and affordable. Also weldable if need be.

Go for the Gold so
GG~

sounds good to me I'm looking it up now

 

[bobw53]

Thinking about this... I have a job I do occasionally out of 3003.. The stuff is GUMMY and soft. I just did that job a few weeks ago, and just for fun. (.032 thick material),
I tied a strip in a knot... Check out the 5000 series. Still highly formable, yet stronger, and it looks like its a little cheaper...

Ideally, 6061, solution treat it, which would let you bend it almost as well as if it was dead soft, and then it will naturally age harden to a T4 in 3 days at room temp (best heat treat
I ever got paid for).. Or you can artificially age up to a T6.

https://www.onlinemetals.com/merchant.cfm?pid=7128&step=4&showunits=inches&id=240&top_cat=60
https://www.onlinemetals.com/productguides/aluminumguide.cfm

I just bent this piece of 3003 with nothing but my fingers in about 15 seconds... I'm really not sure how the 5000 series will behave, I've never worked with it,
though it should be a bit stronger.

 

[restless spirit]

wow !!! I'm still looking inline at a few metal pages.

 

[Goodyguy]

Good point Bobw53

H14 designates the temper, and means that 3003 has been strain hardened and partially annealed.
It's used for cooking utensils, chemical equipment, builders hardware, storage tanks, truck and trailer components, mail boxes, cabinets, fan blades, awnings, siding, kitchen equipment, decorative trim, architectural uses, signage applications, etc.


Where greater strength is required, you may want to consider 5052-H32.
That may be what I use. Didn't know for sure as I buy drop from my local fabrication shop.
I can call them Monday to be certain.

GG~

 

[Goldwasher]

your gonna get A LOT of build up vvith your design.You need flovv in the under current. your going to use shallo recovery profile. Too much sand and heavies vvith not enough flovv means the recovery area vvill not exchange properly. Your effort in classifacation ill be overtaken by compaction.

Here is a link to a great book its from the thirties. Read about under currents and riffles. It is mostly geared at dredges and large ops but the physics carry don to the little guys.
https://archive.org/stream/placerminingforg00averrich/placerminingforg00averrich_djvu.txt

 

[Clay Diggins]

your gonna get A LOT of build up vvith your design.You need flovv in the under current. your going to use shallo recovery profile. Too much sand and heavies vvith not enough flovv means the recovery area vvill not exchange properly. Your effort in classifacation ill be overtaken by compaction.

Here is a link to a great book its from the thirties. Read about under currents and riffles. It is mostly geared at dredges and large ops but the physics carry don to the little guys.
https://archive.org/stream/placerminingforg00averrich/placerminingforg00averrich_djvu.txt

VVe are going to have to get you a keyboard with a vvorking vv or get an online translator Goldvvasher!

It took me a vvhile to figure out vvhat a flovv was.

Heavy Pans

 

[restless spirit]

cool thanks man

your gonna get A LOT of build up vvith your design.You need flovv in the under current. your going to use shallo recovery profile. Too much sand and heavies vvith not enough flovv means the recovery area vvill not exchange properly. Your effort in classifacation ill be overtaken by compaction.

Here is a link to a great book its from the thirties. Read about under currents and riffles. It is mostly geared at dredges and large ops but the physics carry don to the little guys.
https://archive.org/stream/placerminingforg00averrich/placerminingforg00averrich_djvu.txt

 

[Goldwasher]

VVe are going to have to get you a keyboard with a vvorking vv or get an online translator Goldvvasher!

It took me a vvhile to figure out vvhat a flovv was.

Heavy Pans

Lol I know. I meant to do a phone edit and forgot.

I could just have a disclaimer that I speak with an Austrian accent...w sounds like a V....and I type that way

VONDERFUL!!!!!

 

[Goodyguy]

Restless Spirit,
Try this link: http://www.hecklerfabrication.com/files/sluice-build-partIII-2.pdf

 

[restless spirit]

wow nice. I'm printing it out now.

 

[Goldwasher]

Restless Spirit,
Try this link: http://www.hecklerfabrication.com/files/sluice-build-partIII-2.pdf

Every time I read that report I find more things that just don't play out in the field. Basically by the end your classifying to 8 mesh and using a trowel in the hopes of perfect recovery.

You can for sure feed unclassified with a shovel into a standard box with decent flow and not 'LOSE' the amount of gold inferred.

All the horror stories....stopping and restarting, losing as the h20 stops, clay robbing, scouring. In a regular in stream operation they are so minimal there is no reason to be concerned. Test your tailings....test them as you run ith a tub at the end ...feed a bucket let the water run clear for thirty seconds test your collection material. If there is any gold it is about negative three cents in value.

I get the reason that guys that dig only fine gold desire to catch more of it. A self classifying sluice is a good Idea. If I lived in an area like that I would make a hydrauilic concentrator that had a large screen for throughput 1/4 inch clasifacation and a long narrow sluice that had shallow recovery and a slick plate.

Power sluices are very tuneable. The report above makes it sound like your silly for using one. Again back to the tiny hand scoop!!!! Turbulance and fast h20 speed can increase the chance of loss...but if you can get your feed to stratify moderately and give some length to settle out you are going to have very resonable recovery rates.

There are adjustments to make based on material and h20 availability. Moving volume is still the most important aspect of production.As you read about undercurrents on large operations you discover that most operations abandoned them as they barely added up to 5% additional recovery on large operations. In situations that had runs of hundreds of tons ran and clean ups done maybe monthly. Sometimes bi- monthly.

To me classifacation is important if you have less than ample h20 and if you must clean cobbles. The reason sluices came into use is the fact that they cleaned material as it ran through the troughs and man hours that had been used for screening and moving tailings out of the dig/feed area could be put into digging more material. Only couple sluice tenders are needed to rake and clear cobble.

If it hadn't had such an impact on production it would not have taken over the way placering was done.

If more people watched Doc's video's less people would share this study!!!

sorry Goodyguy

 

[Goodyguy]

Don't be sorry,

I've seen all Doc's videos
as well as having a thorough understanding of the principles involved in recovering gold whether dry or suspended in a liquefied medium.

I've also read many studies on the subject of gold recovery done over the years by experts in the field as well as by universities.
When it comes down to it, all studies and videos aside, I rely on my own experience designing and perfecting existing technology backed by positive field testing results.

Thing is, there is NO one size fits all.
Or one link that has all the answers.

I find that there is no substitute for first hand knowledge combined with years of experience.
Does that mean that I'm not still learning? No it does not.

Go for the gold
GG~

 

[Goodyguy]

Good point Bobw53

H14 designates the temper, and means that 3003 has been strain hardened and partially annealed.
It's used for cooking utensils, chemical equipment, builders hardware, storage tanks, truck and trailer components, mail boxes, cabinets, fan blades, awnings, siding, kitchen equipment, decorative trim, architectural uses, signage applications, etc.


Where greater strength is required, you may want to consider 5052-H14.
That may be what I use. Didn't know for sure as I buy drop from my local fabrication shop.
I can call them Monday to be certain.

GG~

Called the fabrication shop and they said I buy 3003-H14
They said the 5052-H32 while stronger may be too hard to bend into a 90 without tearing unless you pre heat it.

Good luck on your project.
GG~