Folding sluices

[greydigger]

Hi all.
Couple years ago I went to the Gold Show in Salem OR and brought home my new sluice .
Size of the A2 but made by a local and a bit better I think.
(Wanted to help local business).
Ok, now they came out with those folding sluices and I think they would be so much easier to carry
around. They are a bit smaller and when first came out I think they had some problems with
the joints not sealing, but I hear that is fixed.
Has anyone used one?
Price has gone up and now they are more than full sized ones.
Wonder if I should sell my old one and save for a folder?
TIA

Grey

 

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[Edson]

I have a Jobe folding sluice and it works ok but the riffles are small (shallow) and it loads up quick and just like any other sluice out there it does great for the big gold but most of the fines and flakes gets flushed right out. I built my own dip box (cross between a rocker box and a sluice) that gets 98% of the gold. I ran some tests with my fold up sluice and my dip box and the dip box gets 3 times the gold that the sluice got, so I don't even use my sluice anymore. I did this several times with different materials but the retention is the same. One thing I can tell you is to screen your material down to 1/4" or even 1/8" depending on the gold you are after. In my area all we have is flower to small flakes so I screen down to 1/8", makes a big difference. Some of the gold that I get in my dip box is almost microscopic.

Good luck. Edson

 

[Astrobouncer]

Just get an Angus Mackirk, Bazooka, Le Trap, or one of the newer plastic drop riffles sluices boxes. They weigh next to nothing and can process way more dirt then the old Hungarian riffles sluices while holding the sub 100 mesh! And cleanups are a breeze compared with dealing with all those riffles, moss etc.

 

[Mint_2k]

Just get an Angus Mackirk, Bazooka, Le Trap, or one of the newer plastic drop riffles sluices boxes. They weigh next to nothing and can process way more dirt then the old Hungarian riffles sluices while holding the sub 100 mesh! And cleanups are a breeze compared with dealing with all those riffles, moss etc.

Hey Astro, I was thinking of the plastic drop riffle ones from GMS....I'm a little worried about the ABS dry roting or cracking up in the heat of my Texas garage, when not in use.... I'm intrigued with the design and the weight and simplicity of cleanup is very alluring.....just scared it might not survive in my garage. Do you know how well they hold up over time? I'm willing to get one to save on weight alone, on the long drive, if it will hold up. I bought one of the GMS bucket sluice models and it found stuff in the first drop riffle from paucity cons I had already panned.

I also bought the upper hopper unit from GMS ....hope it holds up!

 

[placertogo]

Hi Mint,

It's not usually the heat that breaks down plastic. It's the Ultra Violet (UV) light from sunlight that does most damage to plastic. For the few hours a year your plastic sluice is actually exposed to the sun, not a problem. Just store it away from direct sunlight and it will probably outlast you.

PlacerToGo in Maine

 

[placertogo]

Incidentally, I have a LeTrap plastic sluice and an Eldorado plastic sluice. They have both taken a beating and have had them for several years with no damage. An added advantage of plastic is that, if you get into old workings where you are recovering a lot of mercury, the plastic is not affected by the mercury caught in your sluice. Mercury does severe damage to aluminum. By the way, dispose of an recovered mercury safely and let's let the "Greens" know we are cleaning up the environment as we prospect!

 

[Hoser John]

Love my Le Trap as will hold much poundage but so do theives as 2 stolen in the past so you know they are good!!!John

 

[Mint_2k]

These are amazing comments! Thanks so much guys! It sounds like the ABS sluice might be the way to go after all. Can you shovel directly into them using a hopper box, like you can with a standard aluminum sluice? We're really looking at North Carolina for camping and prospecting, and so I believe the gold in places like Thermal City, and Lucky Strike will be flake and fines for the most part...... If what I'm hearing is correct, it may be better for the fine gold to go with the ABS drop riffle sluice design. I may have been under the misconception that these also get overloaded with sediments quickly ( please correct me), but if I'm going to do this with an A52, and the gold is relatively small, it may just be washing out?

I'd don't want to have to classify everything I toss into the hopper, but if I'm understanding you - I'll have to do that for better retention of the fines and flakes.

... There appears to be more to think about on this than I initially anticipated. I was all set in my mind to run the ABS hopper from GMS on an A52 KEENE.. It sounds like I may be better off using a drop riffle ABS set up, all the way. It would be lighter..... Just donno if I have to pre-classify all the dirt I throw in.

 

[Astrobouncer]

You don't have to classify. You can setup some punch plate over the sluice and bank run it. If you watch my prospecting video series, the third video shows me using a custom punch plate drop riffle sluice I made. It worked great and was a monster for handling the clay saprolite in that area. I think the punch plate sluices work the best for clay of anything I have used because the punch plate holes act like little drains and exert strong down force on the clay breaking it up and pulling it apart.

 

[Mint_2k]

You don't have to classify. You can setup some punch plate over the sluice and bank run it. If you watch my prospecting video series, the third video shows me using a custom punch plate drop riffle sluice I made. It worked great and was a monster for handling the clay saprolite in that area. I think the punch plate sluices work the best for clay of anything I have used because the punch plate holes act like little drains and exert strong down force on the clay breaking it up and pulling it apart.

Very cool. Can you hit me back with a link to your vids? I'd really like the check them out.

Thanks again for the great info!