Help cleaning bedrock cracks/crevices

[SunshineMiner]

Hey guys, been doing some crevicing lately, and just curious what some you guys use to help clean those cracks and crevices out. There always seems to be material left in my cracks that just dont want to seem to come out. Im using a flathead screwdriver, a long crevicing tool with a spoon on the end, a couple different brushes. I've even left visible BBs in cravks as they just wont come up and out and sometimes it takes forever to bust open. Ive used a vacuum a couple times and only wish I could use one on longer hikes instead of short trips from the vehicle. What do you guys do to help you clean those cracks out nice and clean. Going for cleaning as thoroughly possible while still being fast.
Discuss

 

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[63bkpkr]

SunshineMiner, getting sunshine into those cracks is not always easy to do as access is required to really clean them out. Sounds like you already have the typical culprits for crack cleaning. I'm assuming you put down a rag in front of the crevice output end for brushing the particles onto. You might try a wet stick with the bark off of it as that will lift out a bit more from way down in the cracks. A vacuum with a long narrow hose would likely help but then you've the weight of that unit to carry with you. A Geologist's Gad pry bar, ~ 18" long, helps to open the cracks some. Let's see what someone else has to say................63bkpkr

 

[RTR]

I'd split the cracks with a pry bar and or wedges & hammer.Remove the material in question and examine it at home ,where you can pulverize & pan it.
These have worked well for me https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ludell-...gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CKG66NSYjd0CFQUJDAodKUsIdg

 

[minerrick]

If you have access with a vehicle, don't screw around.... I use a 4000 psi pressure washer.... underwater is best (right into my suction nozzle), but if you are using it on the surface use a piece of plastic to contain the stuff flying around. It eats up bedrock like you cannot imagine. I modified the wand so that it was only 10" long from the handle. It helps you figure out where all the bedrock cracks are- no fuss, no muss.

 

[AllenJ]

The bottom line is when you're back in where your tools are limited sometimes you're not going to be able to get every little bit out. In my pack I carry a rock hammer, 12" chisel, Gad Pry Bar, Huntley spoon, and Gary Honan's Marian Crevice tools. I also have a paint brush but it really only helps when the crack/crevice is less than 6" deep.

 

[Goldwasher]

lol...pressure washer


Every tool you mentioned is about right

Get a set of stainless measuring spoons. Different cracks different sizes.

Carry a straw for blowing.

Take a thin plastic water bottle with little to no ribs in the wall, cut it so it is a cup with four inch walls or so.

You can use it as a bendable dust pan that will fit into most crevices that you can hope to get such a tool in.

The point of crevicing is to get the richer material quickly. Cracks and crevices are concentrators and collectors in areas with gold.

If the area has good gold and bedrock worth working. you won't need to bring any material back home to see if it holds gold. You will know on the spot.

If not they aren't really cracks worth putting the effort into.

You can get small 12v car vacs that you can run off of small gate/ security back up batteries.

 

[placertogo]

Each case is a little different. Here in Maine we have a lot of upended sedimentary bedrock easily pried apart like the leaves of a book. Finding a natural crack in hard bedrock can present some challenges. I have had some luck with the expanding cement type of rock-splitting methods but you have to be able to come back to the location a day or so later. Wedges and hammers can work but be careful of brittle metal chips flying off the hammer and striking surface of the wedges. The pressure washer is a good idea but many areas prohibit motorized equipment. I am thinking a pre-charged high pressure air tank with a fine nozzle and trigger-controlled valve. High pressure air works much the same way as high pressure water. Catching the broken away matetial is the problem. Coarse gold and pickers will stay put nearby but fines might be washed away. Keep thinking "outside the box." It worked its way to the bottom of the crack and we will find a way to get it out. I have found cracks that are actually wider at the bottom and those are the honey holes. Sometimes I have gotten into a good crack not from above but from working from the side.

 

[goldenmojo]

Hey guys, been doing some crevicing lately, and just curious what some you guys use to help clean those cracks and crevices out. There always seems to be material left in my cracks that just dont want to seem to come out. Im using a flathead screwdriver, a long crevicing tool with a spoon on the end, a couple different brushes. I've even left visible BBs in cravks as they just wont come up and out and sometimes it takes forever to bust open. Ive used a vacuum a couple times and only wish I could use one on longer hikes instead of short trips from the vehicle. What do you guys do to help you clean those cracks out nice and clean. Going for cleaning as thoroughly possible while still being fast.
Discuss

Nylon based turkey baster. The hard plastic ones crack and so do the nylon ones but they last longer. Use it dry then wet if needed. You can modify it by attaching a straw on the end.

 

[Bejay]

I have special tools that my partner made. They are "handled" shaft hooks in different sizes and lengths. I gave Clay a whole box of larger ones. I use a sand shrimp gun. It will suck out cracks that are in some water and it will also fill with water and allow you to shoot the water into a crack/crevice and blow the material out....then you suck it up. I have made a few hooked tools out of heavy duty screw drivers; but my buddy makes some handy dandy tools. On dry bedrock cracks I use the same crevicing tools but I use a (elect or gas) vac to suck or blow the material out of the crevice. Clay might take a pic and post it.


Bejay

 

[Clay Diggins]

Clay might.



A couple of these, a spoon and a shrimp gun will handle 90% of situations. Another 5% would best be handled with a rock point and a singlejack.

Heavy Pans

 

[boogeyman]

Nylon based turkey baster. The hard plastic ones crack and so do the nylon ones but they last longer. Use it dry then wet if needed. You can modify it by attaching a straw on the end.

The ones from the 99 cent store last quite awhile. The one to use one to lose rule applies here. You can heat & shape the tips to what you need. Another next to nothing tool(s) can be made from plastic milk & juice jugs. You'd be amazed how many different shaped scoops you can make for free. Plus they can be forced into cracks nicely or heated to shape. Make adapters for your shopvac a couple PVC pipe fittings & you can go clear down to 1/4" dia. Those cheap 12v car vacs & a motor cycle battery last quite awhile if you shut it off when not in use.

Saying from a wise old man (my grandfather) "Why the hell buy something you can make?"

 

[Bonaro]

I have a large flat head screw driver and I used a right angle grinder to cut the tip into a hook shape. Works well for cleaning small cracks. My other favorite tool is a long icing knife from the thrift store with the same hook cut into it

 

[cliff162]

I use a dewalt cordless battery operated vacuum, it only weighs about eight pounds with the battery.. works excellent. easy to strap onto a back pack cost about $100, you just need to pick an narrow nozzle for it. https://www.grainger.com/product/49...0837!&ef_id=W4hixgAAADhFvDq-:20180831145646:s

 

[boogeyman]

I use a dewalt cordless battery operated vacuum, it only weighs about eight pounds with the battery.. works excellent. easy to strap onto a back pack cost about $100, you just need to pick an narrow nozzle for it. https://www.grainger.com/product/49...0837!&ef_id=W4hixgAAADhFvDq-:20180831145646:s

Yeouch! And add in the price of the battery.......

Graingers is awesome if you have the corporate account # from work.

As an alternative to buying over priced tips & adapters, grey electrical pvc pipe & ABS pipe, a Harbor Freight heat gun ($9.99 with coupon) and you can make at least 3 custom tips or how ever many you can get out of a 10' length. Constantly dropping tiny screws etc. on carpet or under the bench? cut a leg off a pair of panty hose. tape the top around tip tip. Turn it on & let it suck it in. Run it around where you lost the part. Turn it off & dump the stocking in a bowl. Saves having to dig through the whole tank finding it especially if your eyes aren't so good!

WARNING!!!!!! Always ask wife before grabbing a pair out of her drawer if you value your life!!! REMEMBER! She cooks your food!