Straight through classifier for under 7 bucks

[ncclaymaker]

While sly banking on a North Carolina lake tributary stream, I was watching the rocks and stones being ejected from the classifier. I was thinking... what a waste of kinetic energy. Water, sand and stone hitting the aluminium (aluminum) plate, changing direction, then travelling on the slick plate back to where it originally was... sort of. I was sort of taking a subtle hint from one of our contributors concerning weight. My entire assembly doesn't even weigh in at 1-1/2 pounds or so. I've never been a fan of rather large rocks and stones moving down the sluice, all the while knocking fine gold particles back out into the water. I classify all to eliminate that issue. Some will agree, others not. The idea is straightforward and simple. Shoot the rock, sand and hopefully gold through the pipe, sand and gold fall through the punch plate, rocks will continue on their straight path out of the tube to elsewhere. Adjustment of the tube angle varies up or down. The pipe fits onto my 4" educator tube perfectly. If this works too good, we'll all see some variation of it at your local sluice purveyors' web outlet.

Total materials needed consist of -

• three foot section of non-pressure 4" PVC pipe

• a light weight piece of 12" X 12" thin punch plate (like the stuff automobile customizers favor)

• a handful of small sheet metal screws

Tools -

• 2" and 3" hole borer

View attachment 1229543

Here are some pics of the finished classifier involving 10 to 15 minutes of work and under $7.

Punch plate grill inside of 4" thin wall PVC pipe.

View attachment 1229524

In the center of the pipe there are 3 X 3 inch drilled holes,
on both sides are 2 X 2 inch drill holes.


View attachment 1229523View attachment 1229527
View attachment 1229531

I think that the ease of mounting is also nice... across the sluice.
The image on the left is for left to right positioning.
Image on right is somewhat actual, but needs to move
to the upper part of the sluice with holes facing down.

Water and stuff in from the left... rocks and larger stones are discharged out of the right side.
A straight path.

View attachment 1229537View attachment 1229539

The assembly shown was dismounted from the floatation rig below... usually towed by a 12' jet jon boat on the right.

View attachment 1229542View attachment 1229544


If someone can contribute to a better classifier, I'm all ears. Your critique and ideas are always welcome.

- Sly Banker

 

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[daniel2015]

Wow! What a great idea!

 

[Bonaro]

Could work! You need to make sure the fines are not blowing through with the larger rock. Not sure what kind of volume your pump delivers but your velocities cant be really high. You could angle the classifier to slow the flow.
Be sure to leave a follow up report.

What is the purpose of the sluice flare attached to the transom just below the jet nozzle?

 

[ncclaymaker]

Could work! You need to make sure the fines are not blowing through with the larger rock. Not sure what kind of volume your pump delivers but your velocities cant be really high. You could angle the classifier to slow the flow.
Be sure to leave a follow up report.

What is the purpose of the sluice flare attached to the transom just below the jet nozzle?

A convenient means to keep the jet output from being reintroduced into the intake and cause the pump to cavitate from small air bubbles. It was a leftover/spare part.

Until this season (fifth), I was using the propulsion pump jet... rigged to a 2" high pressure hose to a 4" jet educator. Set at little above 25% throttle, the high pressure and volume ran a 4" dredge. But, the engine died from old age and a partially constricted oil to fuel mix line(sort of like a serious heart attack). So I replaced the old 50hp engine with a newer 70hp one. Gets me to where I need to be rapidly, and in 6 to 9 inches of water. But, I broke down and got a used Keene P195 (175 gallons/min) pump on an eBay auction for chump change and then attached it to a new 6.5hp motor. The whole deal, pump assembly and sluice fit in the boat with no problem at all. The only item I'm adding, is camo netting to keep from drawing attention to myself while operating the sluice and suction dredge. It helps keep tree huggers in the confused state that they're in. Worried about fines blowing through, not really. They have a 10.5 inch pathway X 8.75 inch wide arc to drop through, on the bottom and sides. A rather large area, considering the compact aspect of the classifier. I experimented last month with a flat, square version that worked well, so I figured I'd throw this idea against the wall. Hopefully, others would try it, and perhaps improve upon it. I'm just presenting a thought for others to play around with. I will however, be using it.

 

[russau]

I also try to be as least conspicuous as I could be to help prevent /slowdown the greenies / lookie lous from stopping me and asking questions.

 

[aditemonroe15]

It's really a great idea..Thanks for the share!

 

[63bkpkr]

That is a super cool idea and thank you for sharing.....................63bkpkr

 

[SunshineMiner]

Digging it. Jumping on board the gravy train and see if others chime in.

 

[BagLady]

I like it! Very innovative.

 

[Jimmydolittle]

Seems to be the same strategy as this desert dredge. https://youtu.be/6nXBToLkjBg

 

[johnedoe]

Seems to be the same strategy as this desert dredge. https://youtu.be/6nXBToLkjBg

Which also appears to be a joke.

 

[ncclaymaker]

What you saw here was the first of the prototypes. The final device was simple, but totally different than the original idea... and did I mention now PATENT PENDING. While the vacuum cleaner sluice is what it is, mine is just a straight through classifier that works with fine NC gold.

 

[johnedoe]

Well you don't have to worry about me copying your design.........