Questions about a folding backpacking sluice.

[Gold Rover]

I'm new to prospecting and I've got 1 season under my belt using a folding 50 inch Royal backpacking sluice. It's fits great into my backpack or into a 5 gallon bucket and I've had a lot of fun with it. But I wonder about loosing fine gold through any leaking at the joints. What do you think experts, should I worry about it?

Have you had any experience good or bad with a box like mine??

 

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[fuseboxxx]

I have the same one. I wouldn't worry. Just get it as straight as you can cause most of it will get caught in the first section anyways before the first hinged part. You could also buy the frame that is made for it to straighten it out. Just take the legs off. Hope that helps

 

[Gold Rover]

I have the same one. I wouldn't worry. Just get it as straight as you can cause most of it will get caught in the first section anyways before the first hinged part. You could also buy the frame that is made for it to straighten it out. Just take the legs off. Hope that helps

Thanks for the reply. I straighten it and give each hinge nut some tightening each time i run it. I'll relax and enjoy it.

Plus, I've got plans for some DIY projects, so it won't be my only alternative.

 

[B H Prospector]

Hi goldrover and welcome. I personally don't use folding sluices but know of some who have of verious makers. They have all told me that they have seen gold and material being sucked out the bottom through the hinged area. What they did was run a piece of thin weather stripping accross the bottom. Problem solved. You still need it as flat as possible.

Good Luck!

BH Prospector

 

[tyeechinook]

Thin weatherstripping sounds like a good idea. Did they run it covering the whole bottom? Or just across the areas where it hinges?


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[B H Prospector]

Just a strip from side to side where the two sections meet and touch on the bottom.

 

[Goodyguy]

I never had that problem on the one I made myself but then I made it extra tight and had the section above over lapping the next section (the way shingles on a roof overlap) and the same with the last section. The ribbed mat also overlaps the joint on each section. When the riffles are screwed down it makes the whole unit rigid and water tight at both joints.





As you can see it starts out narrow and each section is the thickness of the aluminum wider so the one above will fit overlapping into the next section. It ends up wider at the bottom than at the top. I haven't seen a store bought one in person so maybe they are made the same way I dont know.


GG~

 

[B H Prospector]

That is the best folding sluice I have ever seen GG. Well thought out and constructed.

 

[Goodyguy]

Thanks BH Prospector that means a lot coming from you.

I only used it twice then took it apart to use some of the aluminum on other projects thinking I would rebuild it later but never did. I caught fluidbed gold trap fever and now that's pretty much all I use when it comes to sluicing.

GG~

 

[63bkpkr]

Well GG whether you ever rebuild it or not you always make some superb gear. Thank you for sharing.................63bkpkr

 

[Gold Rover]

The Royal overlaps like your sluice, GG. I'm impressed by the quality and your skill in manufacturing it.

I just got turned onto fluid bed myself by KevinInCO and russau, so hopefully I'll be running both in the spring.

 

[Goodyguy]

The FBGT's (fluid bed gold traps) pretty much make all the other sluices obsolete. Unless you like to spend extra time classifying and doing clean ups and dealing with 4 times the concentrates to process.

Drop riffle sluices are the next best choice. And except for the gold well drop riffle sluice with the added twists they are fairly inexpensive.
But real easy to make your own.

GG~

 

[Gold Rover]

Now I have to investigate drop riffles! The learning never ends.............

It's one of the reasons that I'm so jazzed about this new hobby.

 

[B H Prospector]

Not a Hobby Gold Rover, a way of life, never call it a hobby.

 

[Gold Rover]

Not a Hobby Gold Rover, a way of life, never call it a hobby.

May I ask why?

 

[mxer47]

Federal mining laws protect miners not hobbyist. As a hobby you are no longer protected in view of the courts. We are all under attack and need to stand united. Some good terms are prospector or small scale miner.
Good luck

 

[Gold Rover]

Federal mining laws protect miners not hobbyist. As a hobby you are no longer protected in view of the courts. We are all under attack and need to stand united. Some good terms are prospector or small scale miner.
Good luck

Thanks for the explanation.

 

[B H Prospector]

Federal mining laws protect miners not hobbyist. As a hobby you are no longer protected in view of the courts. We are all under attack and need to stand united. Some good terms are prospector or small scale miner. Good luck

Exactly the proper way to explain it Mixer47.

 

[Kruzman]

The Royal overlaps like your sluice, GG. I'm impressed by the quality and your skill in manufacturing it.

I just got turned onto fluid bed myself by KevinInCO and russau, so hopefully I'll be running both in the spring.

Just to differentiate between the fluid bed traps, and drop riffles if your new to the concepts, they each have different disadvantages. A major disadvantage of the fluid bed traps is they need a lot more water than a drop riffle to run correctly. conversely, if you have a lot of water flow, you can generally run larger material through a fluid bed trap than you can a drop riffle due to its built in classification.

 

[KevinInColorado]

I agree and would add that the modern fluid beds work well with moderate flow although you will have to manually clear the grizzly in some cases...still faster and more productive than traditional classifying so the fluid bed wins almost every time! Bazoooooka!