Leveling a sluice accurately

[Zahal]

Found the tool made for the job. The Stanley I-Beam 180 at Home Depot. The bubble on the right can be set to whatever angle required.

 

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[johnedoe]

I just use my iPhone ..........

 

[goldenmojo]

I level mine by eye just enough so I can spend more time digging and less time fiddling. Less gear to pack in.

 

[et1955]

Experience, water flow and the type of material you run determine the angle of your sluice.

 

[goldenmojo]

Found the tool made for the job. The Stanley I-Beam 180 at Home Depot. The bubble on the right can be set to whatever angle required.

View attachment 1687755

Don't get me wrong. We could definitely use that at the next miner's bash to check who has surpassed their limit of drink.

 

[Goldwasher]

Don't get me wrong. We could definitely use that at the next miner's bash to check who has surpassed their limit of drink.

I don't know we might need a Plumb Bob for that.

 

[Duckshot]

On the job we used to call a level a "whiskey stick" because the vials are filled with alcohol, not water. When somebody did something goofy a common accusation was- "Did you drink your whiskey stick!?"

But IMO you don't need a spirit level to set up a sluice box. It's all about volume and velocity.

 

[Johnnybravo300]

I set up my sluice like I prefer my women.
Shallow, slightly off kilter and a little fast. Woop woop!

 

[Duckshot]

the way carpenters would get a level to read 1" per a foot is to fasten a block to one end. Say you got a two foot level, A 1-1/2" block gets you 3/4" per a foot, cause you jacked up the one end of the level 3/4" per a foot over two feet. A two inch block gives you 1" per a foot, and a 2-1/2" block would give 1-1/4" drop per a foot, all while the vial reads level..

I learned that from a carpenter.

 

[OreCart]

I set up my sluice like I prefer my women:
Shallow, slightly off kilter and a little fast. Woop woop!

Shallow: Check
Slightly Off Kilter: Check (she married me)
Fast: Check (four daughters as trophies)

Mountains: Check
Truck: Check

Mmmmmmmmm….the only thing that appears to be missing is the sluice box!

(I could not find the sluicebox emoji)

 

[OreCart]

Note: That picture was taken at Abol Bridge, on the West Branch of the Penobscot River with Mount Katadin in the background just North of Millinocket Maine.

 

[arizau]

I read into his post that his reference to a sluice was one mounted in a highbanker setup (?). Doc at Goldhog likes to give advice on that for different mats, etc. Otherwise it makes no sense and...yes, there are other methods as have been stated in previous posts.

 

[Johnnybravo300]

Thats some real pretty blue scenery! The mountain is cool too hehe.

 

[mendoAu]

And then you have one of your partners that insisted that he wanted a drop of an inch per foot on his six foot sluice so I got my four foot level and gave it four inches but oh know...that won't work...we need a six foot level. Go figure. Retired carpenter here so I will give you a leveling tip that comes in handy when plumbing rough framing, etc. Tape a short (couple of inches) piece of 1X2 at the far ends. That way only the two small pieces and not the center touch your studs which sometimes can be really bowed. This gives you an accurate plum wall from top plate to bottom plate. Could be useful on long sluices also. I use this method constantly on my 80in. level. I don't have a set fall on my five inch..I go by how the riffles fill and what I'm suckin' and how fast I'm pumping. And also notice that there can be a big difference when empty vs. full of water and gravel on pontoons.

 

[OreCart]

And then you have one of your partners that insisted that he wanted a drop of an inch per foot on his six foot sluice so I got my four foot level and gave it four inches but oh know...that won't work...we need a six foot level. Go figure. Retired carpenter here so I will give you a leveling tip that comes in handy when plumbing rough framing, etc. Tape a short (couple of inches) piece of 1X2 at the far ends. That way only the two small pieces and not the center touch your studs which sometimes can be really bowed. This gives you an accurate plum wall from top plate to bottom plate. Could be useful on long sluices also. I use this method constantly on my 80in. level. I don't have a set fall on my five inch..I go by how the riffles fill and what I'm suckin' and how fast I'm pumping. And also notice that there can be a big difference when empty vs. full of water and gravel on pontoons.

A person could also place a length of clear tubing from one side to the other on one side of the frame, fill it with antifreeze for color and to protect from freezing, cap it at both ends, and have a permanently attached water level. They are pretty accurate as well.

 

[Goldwasher]

The pitch of the run should be adjusted based on what the material in the box is doing. It will be close but, never really exactly the same. It can be done by eyesight.

With a sluice on legs the side to side level can be adjusted by eyeballing the water coulumn exiting the box. It will be deeper on the lower side. Pretty easy to see. Also if you run somelights through real quick if they build up on one side ore the other you can tell when your box isn't quite level.

You could always just mount a bubble permantly to have a visual reference.

Or just keep a small torpedo level in your pack.

I had a clinometer app on my phone. But my protective case had a bump on one end that made level not really level.

 

[Gold4Mike]

When I first started out, I did use a level to setup my sluices and even drew a reference line on one of them until I had gotten enough experience to do it by eyeballing it. Now I know what I'm looking for and it's easier to just eyeball it. I still use my phone app to setup my piglet to a starting point, and then adjust from there depending on what I see.

 

[Zahal]

Drop it into the water just once, and let's see how level it really is.

 

[Bonaro]

Using a level will place your sluice at the wrong angle 100% of the time.
You need to adjust the angle according to water velocity and correct performance of the riffles.