Blue Bowl Techniques

Millz90 · Feb 9, 2015

So i finally got my Blue Bowl set up and running but i wanted to get opinions of others that have ran a Bllue Bowl to make sure everything is running like it should be....lol

The first thing i did was classify the materials down to 70 mesh. Then i put a scoup in the bowl and turned it on until i seen the blondes moving. It looked great but then when i went back and looked again it started looking like a star but it took a LONG time.
So i started doing a little more research and a few videos on YouTube said to have the water about a 1/2" from the top of the bowl.....Well i tried this and it picked up the blondes alright as well as EVERYthing else in the bowl. So im assuming that was to fast......?

I am really looking for fines so i thought i should be running it just above the actual hole in the bowl....is that correct? and it will just take a long time? Did i have to much material maybe?

Any advise would be appreciated.

yotaboy86 · Feb 10, 2015

delnorter said:
Hey Keith, understood. Thank you for the PM.

Yotaboy86, thank you for the offer, but as I work for the highway department I have access to unwanted aluminum highway signs and thought I'd try my hand at building a table. You know, the tinkerer thing.

Mike

Completely understand...i spend a lot of time welding and fabricating truck suspension..that is until i found prospecting haha

russau · Feb 11, 2015

I found that I get the best gold results from being consistant with each step I do when concentrating/cleaning up my fine gold. screening is a must for me as well as changing the water levels in the BB and run each screening seperatly and my feeding the BB is done with a autofeeder to fed small amounts of material at a time to capitalize of specific gravity of the gold. once I have my setup running as I like it , I add my cons and walk away. when I do come back I suckout the fines from the BB and add more cons. its in a closed system so I don't lose any gold.I would really hate sitting there spooning in cons! just the thought is making my back ache!

Rdg Sluicer · Feb 11, 2015

russau said:
I found that I get the best gold results from being consistant with each step I do when concentrating/cleaning up my fine gold. screening is a must for me as well as changing the water levels in the BB and run each screening seperatly and my feeding the BB is done with a autofeeder to fed small amounts of material at a time to capitalize of specific gravity of the gold. once I have my setup running as I like it , I add my cons and walk away. when I do come back I suckout the fines from the BB and add more cons. its in a closed system so I don't lose any gold.I would really hate sitting there spooning in cons! just the thought is making my back ache!

I don't get how you walk away? I constantly have to fiddle with the valve to keep the water level where I want it. If I just walked away it seems like it would just overflow.

Rdg Sluicer · Feb 11, 2015

yotaboy86 said:
Hey mike i would be willing to get rid of my black magic miller table if you are interested it does not have a spot for a vial though

Hey if you're looking to get rid of that miller table maybe we can do some horse tradin. PM me if your interested.

specksandflecks · Feb 12, 2015

Rdg Sluicer said:
I don't get how you walk away? I constantly have to fiddle with the valve to keep the water level where I want it. If I just walked away it seems like it would just overflow.

My ac pump is consistent and no batteries to fuss with. If I remember correctly the water level can vary with amount of material and mine has needed near constant attention on occasion. Maybe try another better valve and set it back a bit from threaded coupler.

Best recovery means shutting down between runs and lining outside ring with about 1+" wide band of cons. This Takes Forever. I started feeding it like russau to maintain sanity. So far as I can tell with my gold, your losses increase from maybe 2%~10%. I'm also somewhat inconsistent about making all my cuts (30-50-100) with that I could see less 2%~5% maybe. End of the day it's worth the time saved because you can always re run them 'en masse'.

yotaboy86 · Feb 12, 2015

Rdg Sluicer said:
Hey if you're looking to get rid of that miller table maybe we can do some horse tradin. PM me if your interested.

Another Tnet member already asked me about it but if it dont go through ill let you know

Millz90 · Feb 12, 2015

So when talking about a miller table is it more important to have a longer on versus wider? Or does it matter?

24" x 6"
Or
16" x 10"

Would one be better then another?

russau · Feb 12, 2015

it depends on the amount of cons your wanting to run! id prefer the 16" wide by the 10 " long the other table size would work on the real fine gold and slower water and less feed.

ConceptualizedNetherlandr · Feb 12, 2015

AzViper said:
I had a blue bowl setup as seen in this video and sold it. At the time I thought it was the ticket until I built the Miller Table. Built a Miller Table and never looked back. The bowl is slow and picky on the water level.

View attachment 1117644 View attachment 1117649 View attachment 1117654 View attachment 1117655

Why did you go thru wall with the pump hose?

Millz90 · Feb 12, 2015

russau said:
it depends on the amount of cons your wanting to run! id prefer the 16" wide by the 10 " long the other table size would work on the real fine gold and slower water and less feed.

So the longer table would be better for fine? Is that for more time for the fine gold to drop out?

But really either size should catch fine gold right?

In regards to the amount of cons, i need to run a lot to find enough gold worth anything at this point. I obviously hope that changed but right now im finding all very fine gold.

Reed Lukens · Feb 13, 2015

I have a ton of playlists set up for YouTube, here's the best blue bowl videos
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLcAJzGCJ3Q7w4awXa4kJJajY00Fod1nso

AzViper · Feb 13, 2015

ConceptualizedNetherlandr said:
Why did you go thru wall with the pump hose?

I suppose your asking why I ran the Silicone hose through the black tub, to keep the hose from kinking. The inlet valve was close to the top edge of the tub and had I ran it over the top of the tub the hose would kink. I wanted the Miller Table to sit as low into the tub as I could. I had already drilled and glue the valve to the pipe and wanted the holes within the pipe to point to the back of the Miller Table. I could've turned the valve inlet to point forward and ran the tubing but then the holes would have been pointing forward. Bottom line it was an error on my part due to gluing the valve on prior to having the stand made and not realizing how low the table would sit on the tub.

AzViper · Feb 13, 2015

The best one yet and the guy wants like $1000.00 for the rig. REALLY... I have beach front property along the ocean here in Arizona I will sell.

Reed Lukens · Feb 13, 2015

I agree AZ

his price is ridiculous but his how to use it video is excellent. I have a set up not unlike the one in that video but mine is in the last video and wasn't totally completed then. I use a hydraulic valve on mine for fine adjustment and my friend John, who is DiveDeep88 on here is an aircraft mechanic and built them to his standards in his shop, so our's are primo compared to the gold lab set up and cost around $50.00. John calls his invention the TIGER.

ConceptualizedNetherlandr · Feb 13, 2015

AzViper said:
I suppose your asking why I ran the Silicone hose through the black tub, to keep the hose from kinking. The inlet valve was close to the top edge of the tub and had I ran it over the top of the tub the hose would kink. I wanted the Miller Table to sit as low into the tub as I could. I had already drilled and glue the valve to the pipe and wanted the holes within the pipe to point to the back of the Miller Table. I could've turned the valve inlet to point forward and ran the tubing but then the holes would have been pointing forward. Bottom line it was an error on my part due to gluing the valve on prior to having the stand made and not realizing how low the table would sit on the tub.

That covers what I was thinking. And for the ones who want to make one, they will run that fitting horizontal and avoid the thru wall.

AzViper · Feb 13, 2015

ConceptualizedNetherlandr said:
That covers what I was thinking. And for the ones who want to make one, they will run that fitting horizontal and avoid the thru wall.

Not a big deal as the entire setup stays as a unit and no need to remove or take apart so my error works, but if I need to take the hose off of the barb fitting that's easy as well. Anyways this thread is about the Blue Bowl if anyone would like to build a Miller Table click on the link within my signature below. I have own both the BB and MT and prefer the Miller Table due to its simplicity and very easy to operate with all sizes of gold.