goldog's fluid head blog.

[goldog]

Well it's not exactly pretty but if you don't zoom in...



It's taking shape. On to the trap. I'm starting to think it could be in the water soon.

 

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[goldog]

I wanted to complete the Goldzooka by today. Maybe it'll happen.

The trap in the original is pretty straight forward. Some tubes, some holes and some glue. Drill some holes in the tubes. Then the wall. Glue it all together. Half hour tops right?

Life should be so simple. I had some plan to have access to the tubes. Plugs at the end that could open up to inspect and clean out. In my mind a simple modification.

"How about removable tubes?"

Yea, but let's not complicate things. After much brainstorming we believe we've come up with a design we both like.

 

[goldog]

I've tried to keep up with all the suggestions for features. One recurring request is to have an inspection area on the deck.

Adding some v-mat comes. Gouged grooves has been suggested. Ouch. Ok gouged is an unfair word. Carved or routing maybe. A purist would leave it alone. Many unhappy reports from v-mat users. Me included.

Carving into the deck Just no. If done right I'm sure it could work. Just don't think it's for me.

Sooo....

Introducing the MagnaZook. An invisible barrier in the deck to hold magnetic black sand. I sort of followed the CleanGold sluice idea.

Will it work? I don't know. I'll take any feedback.

 

[Au dave]

I think that adding the magnet to collect black sand eould cause issues with flow ( laminar ) into the trap. Seeing how much bs you people have to deal with over there it wouldn't take long for a dam to form prior to the trap. IMHO I would leave it as is ... simple ... if you need to see if your'e still on the gold do a sample pan or a clean-out it doesn't take long...

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[goldog]

Thanks for the input Dave. You are certainly right about the BS.

 

[goldog]

After looking at different magnetic setups I thought I'd give it a try. Not too strong. It will only build up to a small line.

 

[goldog]

Here's a mockup.

It may be the meds but I think it'll work. We'll see. Just some cheap Office Depot magnets. Get the round ones that are rectangles. Thought that was funny.
http://www.officedepot.com/mb/a/pro...Brand-Magnets-Silver-12/fromLocalBrowse=false

Read the reviews.

Took a little ingenuity to get them to behave. Stuck together they don't work. As the song says "Ya gotta keep 'em separated." And to work through a 1/4" deck would require strong ones. Dry tests have shown me that it will catch heavies.

 

[goldog]

Done. Almost.

A few details to work out. I've got to come up with a handle. Probably trim the front. I made a "factory" set of tubes. I may make some changes. But, hey! That's why I made 'em removable.
I hope the deck performs the way I hope. We'll see.

 

[Jeff95531]

I am totally on board with your build. I was graciously allowed by my peers here to call this link "my poor mans BGT"...but what the heck, it worked.
http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/gold-prospecting/474956-my-poor-mans-bgt.html

And as far as testing goes, it was 100 recovery first time out so nothing at all wrong with that...right? Not a shameless plug...I just LOVE it when plans come together!

Have fun, stay safe, happy pans and let the season begin!

 

[goldog]

That's cool Jeff.

Here's sluice #1.


The build went ok. Certainly some learning curves. No. Two should go a lot smoother.



Hoping to get it in the water this weekend.

 

[goldog]

Got a little bit of help on the tube installation.
.

Little guy really liked it in there.

 

[goldog]

Went out Sunday and tested the first Goldzooka. First, it's big. The 36" is much bigger than my old 30" Prospector. I fudged an inch here and a half there too so that may have added a bit too. It moved some dirt. We weren't pushing it too much but had good flow. Seemed to eat what I fed it.


This is the test gold and lead that I put in.


Here the gold I got out. .

As for the lead?

 

[goldog]

https://youtu.be/njuZAmXGF_Q

 

[Goodyguy]

A good test would be to run the gold down the sluice after the trap is already full of material.

GG~

 

[goldog]

We ran one bucket first. Then the pan with the gold and about five or six more. Really impressed with the performance. It caught most all of the gold and a bunch of lead.

The magnetic deck did mostly what I hoped it would. The tubes stayed in and clearly did their job. I really couldn't have asked for more.

 

[Jeff95531]

WTG goldog! Looks good! Since this was it's maiden voyage, my only concern would be is "where's the fines"

I mean I see some...is the ground you're working that close to the source?

 

[goldog]

I only added about a half dozen fines. Maybe twenty pieces in total. Got that back. We did get one piece out of the ground.

 

[goldog]

Back at it this morning. Thinking about sizes A 30" Prospector is lined up. But I'm going to make some Sniper sized boxes as a production test. Any feedback as far as sizes would be helpful.

The Sniper is small. I just feel the trap needs to be bigger. Maybe an in between size. Just using round #s. A 30" with say 10 at the flare and 6 at the bottom. Vs 4.5" width of a Bazooka.

An extra 1 1/2 inches in both L&W might be good for the trap.

 

[goldog]

The thread about the AMRA hands & pans rule has me thinking again. (Run! Run for your lives....).

I have a vision of a panzooka. The hog pan has its place but there's gotta be a way to do it for half or less the price and weight. I'm not exactly clear on the fossicker pan but it may be close

I may look into vacuum forming some of the parts. Just to add some challenge I guess. I have some heaters and a shopvac.

 

[mytimetoshine]

Panzooka! I like where your head is at lol.

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