Home build clear fluid bed sluice

[Bbarton]

I've been using bazooka gold traps for a few months now and really like the way they work. I bought a custom sniper from a member here a few months ago and the 24" sniper my girlfriend bought me, that we thought was never going to come, showed up in the mail mid December by surprise. I've been using both of them quite frequently but mostly the larger one since it has a larger custom trap(longer). Since the flows have been much higher lately with all the storms I could easily run a bigger model. My coworker built a prospector size model out of abs with a longer trap and seeing how well his ran I decided I wanted to build one as well. I decided to build mine clear just for the fun of it so I used lexan (polycarbonate) for the strength of it. Spent the last few days after work getting bits and pieces of it done and I finally finished everything up today. Built the size off the prospector specs mostly, except it has a longer trap. Used 3/4" pvc like my coworker used and also pulled the tubes through the back and have caps on the ends so they can be cleaned if junk gets in them. Only had a couple of minor issues and that was with where the grizzly bars starch to the top plate which is why there is a few stray rivets. Now I just have to get out and use it!


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[Goldfleks]

Give us some video!

 

[Bbarton]

I'll try to remember to take my GoPro next time I'm out and get a video of it running and the exchange happening in the trap. Should be pretty cool for about 3 trips until it's too scratched to see inside of it haha.


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[Goldwasher]

I'll try to remember to take my GoPro next time I'm out and get a video of it running and the exchange happening in the trap. Should be pretty cool for about 3 trips until it's too scratched to see inside of it haha.


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lol I was gonna say let us know how long it takes to go opaque

 

[Bbarton]

lol I was gonna say let us know how long it takes to go opaque[/QUOTE]

Shouldn't be long haha, I am obviously not worried about that in the slightest. Just had access to the material so I used it to build a bigger trap all together. Going to try to use it after work today on the creek that is 10 feet from my plant. Been finding good gold down there in a gravel bar so we cut a gate into our fence to be able to access it since it's inaccessible from anywhere else unless the water gets really low


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[russau]

Your Lexan will last a lot longer than Plexiglas , and will last long enough to see the results of your design!

 

[Goodyguy]

lol I was gonna say let us know how long it takes to go opaque

Shouldn't be long haha, I am obviously not worried about that in the slightest. Just had access to the material so I used it to build a bigger trap all together. Going to try to use it after work today on the creek that is 10 feet from my plant. Been finding good gold down there in a gravel bar so we cut a gate into our fence to be able to access it since it's inaccessible from anywhere else unless the water gets really low

Even after it's all scuffed and scratched up it will still be pretty transparent while wet.

 

[Goldwasher]

true. having access to polish occasionally would be nice. the sides of the intake will satay clear for a while.

 

[Bbarton]

Well it worked exactly as I had hoped it would work. Fed it 12 buckets of material after work the other day while sampling a spot a little downstream. Didn't get deep enough to get anything of size but had a lot of flour size and a bit of +50. We were consistently finding round/chunky +20 and bigger just upstream. Here's a video of it running and a pic of it in the water. https://youtu.be/a_TG_6glgFI




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[KevinInColorado]

lol I was gonna say let us know how long it takes to go opaque

Shouldn't be long haha, I am obviously not worried about that in the slightest. Just had access to the material so I used it to build a bigger trap all together. Going to try to use it after work today on the creek that is 10 feet from my plant. Been finding good gold down there in a gravel bar so we cut a gate into our fence to be able to access it since it's inaccessible from anywhere else unless the water gets really low


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Funny how often the good gold is exactly where they build the treatment plants! (First flat spot downstream of a historic gold camp...hmm, not that odd I guess )

 

[Bbarton]

Funny how often the good gold is exactly where they build the treatment plants! (First flat spot downstream of a historic gold camp...hmm, not that odd I guess )[/QUOTE]

On top of that the creek is going around a turn right where we are and the gravel bar we are working is all part of an inside turn. Pretty nice. Here's where we've been working during normal/low water and where it was last week one of the high flow days. In January, during the large storms we had, I had to stay overnight to monitor the processes and emergency pump to other tanks and I saw the creek probably another 2 feet higher than it was here.



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[Goodyguy]

Well it worked exactly as I had hoped it would work. Fed it 12 buckets of material after work the other day while sampling a spot a little downstream. Didn't get deep enough to get anything of size but had a lot of flour size and a bit of +50. We were consistently finding round/chunky +20 and bigger just upstream. Here's a video of it running and a pic of it in the water.

You could feed that sluice with a #2 shovel
The plexiglas is too slick for now but should slow down a little with wear and tear.

 

[Bbarton]

You could feed that sluice with a #2 shovel
The plexiglas is too slick for now but should slow down a little with wear and tear.

Yes I definitely could, I just am moving material from my hole over to where the sluice is so I'm bucketing it over and feeding it with a trowel until it's half empty then picking the bucket up to feed it that way. And it's actually polycarbonate so it'll hold up to the abuse it'll get


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[Goldfleks]

I would make the slick plate longer if you do a second build. At least 36" in length, up to 48" if you can handle the extra size/weight. Better landing zone for your bucket to dump on. Nice build.

 

[Goodyguy]

Yes I definitely could, I just am moving material from my hole over to where the sluice is so I'm bucketing it over and feeding it with a trowel until it's half empty then picking the bucket up to feed it that way. And it's actually polycarbonate so it'll hold up to the abuse it'll get


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Yep Polycarbonate (lexan) is the best clear way to go, that's what I use sometimes on prototypes but it will still scuff up, scratch, and can break.


GG~

 

[Bbarton]

Yep Polycarbonate (lexan) is the best clear way to go, that's what I use sometimes on prototypes but it will still scuff up, scratch, and can break.
View attachment 1415417

GG~

Looks nice! Yes it will scratch and scuff over time (already has) but I'm not concerned in the least about that. Polycarbonate actually has superior qualities to ABS in almost every way (twice as strong for impact resistance with pc) which is another reason I sourced locally rather than spend a bit less money, but end up spending the same after paying for gas and time. It will all break over time, but ABS and PC are definitely superior in strength to most other plastics. As long as I'm not bombing it down the fairway I shouldn't have any issues. Happy hunting!


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[Bbarton]

I would make the slick plate longer if you do a second build. At least 36" in length, up to 48" if you can handle the extra size/weight. Better landing zone for your bucket to dump on. Nice build.

Yeah I was thinking how nice it would have been to build a 48" but the price of material from 36" to 48" went up substantially. The slick plate as it is, is 29" and the trap is 7" long, so it's not necessarily short. It definitely caught the fines the other day during its test run. If I get them all cleaned up this weekend I'll post a picture of the fines it caught.


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[Goodyguy]

Looks nice! Yes it will scratch and scuff over time (already has) but I'm not concerned in the least about that. Polycarbonate actually has superior qualities to ABS in almost every way (twice as strong for impact resistance with pc) which is another reason I sourced locally rather than spend a bit less money, but end up spending the same after paying for gas and time. It will all break over time, but ABS and PC are definitely superior in strength to most other plastics. As long as I'm not bombing it down the fairway I shouldn't have any issues. Happy hunting!


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Did you consider using aluminum?
Not criticizing your choice of materials I like being able to see inside but I've found aluminum to be easier to work with, lightweight, and very durable.


GG~

 

[Bbarton]

Did you consider using aluminum?
Not criticizing your choice of materials I like being able to see inside but I've found aluminum to be easier to work with, lightweight, and very durable.
View attachment 1415500

GG~

I did consider aluminum but I would have liked to have access to a break to bend it. Aluminum would definitely be the ultimate choice of durability, but it would have been a bit more difficult to come by for me as well. I was just fortunate that polycarbonate was carried by a hardware store in town.


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[Goodyguy]

I did consider aluminum but I would have liked to have access to a break to bend it. Aluminum would definitely be the ultimate choice of durability, but it would have been a bit more difficult to come by for me as well. I was just fortunate that polycarbonate was carried by a hardware store in town.


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I like your build, it's really cool looking
Reminds me of the old Accutron watch where you could see the inner workings.

My brake is only 30" long from Harbor freight but it has come in really handy for fabing up aluminum projects of all kinds.
It was only $39.95 on sale back when I bought it

I was fortunate to have a sheet metal shop nearby that I could buy their aluminum scrap cheap.

Go for the Gold
GG~