OK...so I'm in the final stages of completing my prototype, and am waiting for a final piece on special order. I spent several days at HD and Lowe's pawing through the various PVC parts, and figuring out how best to put this thing together, and I came up with a couple of great ideas. This thing is like a tank, and the suction is amazing! The thought occurred to me that there might be others out there who would like a hand dredge of this size, so I'm building a second unit to put up on eBay.
The problem is the weight, so I've decided to sell a kit without the 3" barrel...but everything else. I still need a box 10x10x60, and my wife is giving me the stinkeye over the costs so far. I've been on "box patrol" behind all the major stores in the area, and haven't come up with anything. If I order a pack of 10, that's going to set me back another $70 or so. I've already spent $75 in special tools for fabricating the various pieces, and each kit will contain $82 worth of parts. It takes about 4-5 hours to build each one, and 30 miles round-trip to the Post Office or UPS -- you can see where this is heading!
So, what I'm asking is if you all think this is worthwhile to go ahead with a bit more investment? The kit can be configured three different ways: a 5-foot workhorse with a 2-1/2" excluder nozzle, a 5-foot crevice nozzle (~3-foot barrel) with a see-through collection chamber, and an 8-foot monster for reaching the bottom of deep pools. All parts (other than the barrels) are included, and the expansion plug is interchangeable between the two different plunger rods.
I haven't tested the crevice nozzle setup yet, but I anticipate that the suction is going to be substantial, with the 3" piston pulling suction through a 1/2" PVC nozzle.
This is a completely different animal than the other hand dredges I've seen for sale. Is there enough demand for this sort of thing, given it requires some special tools and puttering around to build them? Are most prospectors DIY-types who wouldn't pay for something pre-made?
Appreciate any and all comments!