New sluice

[NJnuggetpirate]

Island_Hunter, really like the design of that hopper.. awesome..

Did you weld with the regular MIG welder?

 

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[Island_Hunter]

Hey guys, Thank you for all the comments! Each section will be connected with a thumb screw and wing nut on each side. As well as a rounded-head bolt going down through the the GHM and will have a wing nut on the bottom side. The sections are a specific length so that the bolt will go through the GHM where they are joined (and flat) That way the bolt head wont be squishing any of the riffles. I figure a full setup shouldn't take more than 10-15 max and will only get shorter each time.

I have been working on legs and have used a set from a surveyor's tripod. They slide really nicely! The header box has been welded now by a friend of mine. I'm not sure if a mig was used or not. All I know is that it is made for welding aluminum.

As you can tell I want it light and compact so that I can hike for longer distances. That meant no pumps, fuel or batteries. That is why it is a cross between a stream sluice and a high banker. The majority of the flow will be forced in by the flair. The gravity flow system is made for lower pressure. Just enough to wash the gravels in the header box. I expect that some of the larger rocks might get stalled on the exit chute and a quick hand swipe will get them out. I needed to figure out a way to keep them from falling into the flare and end up going down the sluice anyways.

My GHM have been sitting in a Miami processing centre for a week now. Once I get them and have it all together and running I will post a video.

 

[KevinInColorado]

Well, for the most part I agree with PMGsourdough but that is really impressive work! Nice looking grizzly especially.


One tip...drill a couple holes on the sluice somewhere out of the way to hold spare fastening hardware so losing a nut or bolt doesn't make your prospecting trip frustrating.

 

[charlotte49er]

Mostly stream and river use I'd like to have one easily carried in my pack

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[dcolljr]

Nice highbanker. Wish I had the tools to make my own equipment.you should try and sell them on the side. Well good luck with it.I started out with 4ft piece of corrugated pipe cut in half lol it worked for a cheap sluice but finally bought two real ones rdh mini power sluice and a keene A52 they both work good for me anyway good luck with your sluice island

 

[NJnuggetpirate]

im making a Henry Henry sluice out of aeragation pipe

 

[Island_Hunter]

Mats are in.

 

[63bkpkr]

I am Still Sooooooooooo liking your project! Once it is complete I would really like to know the full weight of the entire unit. I am also looking forward to a full feature length movie of you and your unit in use! I would pay the $7.00 to go watch it or the $15 to purchase the DVD! Popcorn is included isn't it?.......................63bkpkr

 

[Island_Hunter]

Header box finished other than doing a final grind to smooth a few welds and get the water supply hooked up. I will have a couple of hours tonight to test the "pumpless water" system and the overall unit at the river. Im pretty excited and will shoot some quick video for ya 63. The leg system is still in progress, but you are able to see the beginning of the tall set welded up.











When it is all said and done I will weigh it and post the results.

 

[Terrible - One]

Looks good. Time to get some yellow in those matts!

 

[Island_Hunter]

Well here we go! The pumpless water system was a total failure and after I shot part of the video I started to use my folding shovel and was able to move the dirt even faster. I will be building a spray system for the bilge pump to hook up to and then it will just be dig and wash. I figure that with the combination of a 1200 GPH pump and river pressure, I should have more than enough to run the GH mats.

The header box with the side exit worked better than I had expected! Without the camera in my hand, I was getting almost no rocks hung up at all. With the shallow ground I was working, roots were much more of a problem.

The sluice worked amazing other than not having the stand set up to give it stability and a steeper drop. It was being held in place by the flair which kept tilting causing the whole thing to go off level. I know that I lost some of the gravels that were in the mats when this happened each of the 4 times.

Like everything there will be some fine tuning, but all and all I am very very happy with the results.

 

[63bkpkr]

Well bummer Island_Hunter that the header box water would not flow! However your design works very well and you should feel really good about that and the fact that with its first use you found gold! It sets up and takes down very quickly and it all goes into one compact unit, really nice! I settled for some roasted almonds, just did not feel like messing with making the popcorn. Nice country and good flick!.........................63bkpkr

 

[Island_Hunter]

So after getting a half melted bilge pump and a battery that wouldn't hold a charge from my boss, I decided to get some better gear. We headed out yesterday morning and set up the sluice with a fully charged, deep cycle battery and a new 1100 GPH pump. It ran for a solid 6 hours and showed no signs of letting up anytime soon. The PVC wash system worked quite well, but could use a little modifying.

During the 6 hours we ran about 60-80 gallons of material that we dug out of some bedrock channels where there was a quartz vein. We found some nice gold, just not a lot of it which is to be expected from this river. The amount of lead buck shot that we amassed was quite amazing though!


Cheers,
IH

 

[Alex Burke]

Nice the header box is great, it has a lot of water going thru but you need a lot for those mats right? And you'll be able to work a lot of material I wish my Gcubes high banker was a little more like a real high banker like this one. I need to be able to work unclassified material then switch to cube later. Thanks for posting video.

 

[Island_Hunter]

Hey Meteor, yes the Gold Hog mats need a fair amount of velocity to be able to exchange out the lighter materials and avoid flat boarding. The important thing is ensuring that the sluice has enough pitch to increase the speed of the water over the Scrubber mat's large riffle. I have found that the combination of the 1100 GPH bilge pump and the flow of the river that I am able to achieve the 3000+ GPH needed.

The reason I designed it was to be portable. Combining a high banker with a stream sluice I have the water flow to be able to run a header box, eliminating classifying without a loud, heavy gas pump. The battery is still pretty heavy, but I am able to fit everything I need in a backpack and go. It's literally a mine on my back! It will run all day and am looking into a lightweight solar panel to recharge as I work for multiple day excursions.

There are a few things that need tweaking, but when I feel that it is more or less complete I will post a video of everything that fits in 1 pack with a total weight. Expect it next week sometime.

So far I am VERY happy with the results that I have had with it. It is light, compact, fast setup and teardown and I can run material almost as fast as I can shovel it in. Not to mention the quality of the cons that I get out of the Gold Hog mats at the end...and really that is what it is all about, that beautiful shine in my pan!

 

[Alex Burke]

Cool thanks for the reply, looks like a great setup I like the fact its light, fast setup/down and stacks well to carry hopefully. Good Job looking forward to the next phase of it.

 

[MattnEve]

This is just my opinion, but why does it seem like everyone is trying to reinvent the wheel? Purchase a keene, jobe, gold hog, proline, .....etc. get your a** out there and dig a crater!!! Stop wasting your precious time. Maybe i am wrong....

Well, we often make our own or modify existing equipment or manufactured due to the fact that when Keene, Proline, Jobe, and all the others, make "generic" models that are good for mostly alaska gold and course larger nuggets. We do this due to the fact that most the "stock" dredges and highbankers are not made to capture the finer flakes and specks.

As a gold-prospector(full-time, small-scale) there are thousands more flakes then nuggets, and when we make our own or modify existing equipment, for us that have the metal skills and understanding of what our machine (sluicebox, pump) is doing, why pay someone else to make a custom unit when we are full able to do it cheaper, more timely, and to our exact specs. I don't have full use of a metal shop, but do come from a background w/ millwrighting, machining, and mechanical experience. I am able to do the full lay-out for any larger metal work and do complete assembly of all my equipment from a box w/out instructions. So, I only have to "piece-out" a few things.

If you are more comforatable leaving the "thoughts" of what some guy in Arizona "thinks" might be the best way to set-up "your" dredge for use in Washington State or Alaska, and offers all the same cheap carpet in every model, and doesn't offer Miner's Moss, by all means GO FOR IT ! ! ! !