Video link to my new device.....

[Jim in Idaho]

Here's a link to a video I did last fall at Bonanza Bar on the Snake. The prototype was built using a cutoff 55 gallon drum. Diameter is about 22". The units I'm selling are 18". They weigh about 11lbs. Made of painted mild steel, with some moving parts made of stainless. Time to let this cat out of the bag...LOL. Looking forward to comments, good or bad. It doesn't look like much, does it? Hard to believe how well it recovers the ultra-fine gold, even fed nearly bank-run material. And very little water for it's size. The bed is 254 sq.inches.
Jim

 

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[Reed Lukens]

Reed, I have no idea how I missed this post! I would really like to come over there. I spent some time in LaGrand when I was a teenager, and have always liked that part of Oregon. Send me a PM with details, if it isn't too much trouble...and Thanks!
Jim

I'll send a pm in a few days, I'm out of state for a week

 

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[CyHawkGold]

There's a downside to too much rotor speed....it starts flinging stuff off the table..;...not good. Optimal speed is about 275 feet/minute at the perimeter.
Jim

Is that speed for the 22.5" or the 18"?

If for the 18" that would be 58.36 rpm or nearly two passes of a blade each second, seems a little fast to me. I couldn't time the passes in your video, but it seemed much slower than that. Was that a typo?

Thanks

 

[Jim in Idaho]

That speed is independent of the diameter...as the diameter goes up, the rpm's need to go down to maintain the same feet/minute. The 18 runs at from 50-60rpm. The 50 gallon drum prototype runs at 45, unless I use the speed control to slow it down. I had the speed control on the prototype to allow changes during testing. On the 22 3/8" proto, 45rpm results in 265'/minute. On the 18" 55 results in 259'/minute. It's not a critical measurement, but the idea is to keep the speed below the point that material is being forced off the table by centrifugal force. The faster it can be run, without doing that, the higher the feed rate.
Jim

 

[CyHawkGold]

Thank You,

Saving my nickels.

CyHawkGold

 

[Duckshot]

Idaho Jim, I'm curious as to what motor you are running in your invention. I'm just a dumb carpenter, but it seems to me you need a decent amount of torque to scoot that gravel around. Is it geared down? And, if so, could you mount the fins on the outside, so that instead of the motor spinning the fin's axle it is pushing on the rim of a wheel? No need for an expensive sounding gear box, maybe.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

Actually, DS, the gearmotor is fairly cheap....about $60. Anything that adds to the labor time is where the real cost is. Finding ready-made parts that can be purchased instead of manufactured saves money. The approach is different than most of the stuff I design...in this case people are buying a completed unit, so they can't use their own labor to save money like they can when buying plans for my jigs, or shaker table. And, this design is complicated enough that most people won't have the equipment to build one even if they had the plans. So, to keep the price down, I have to figure out the labor savings myself. A lifetime in the concrete construction business helps in that regard, but it's still difficult. The gearmotor can be bought on Amazon, or Ebay...it's made by Makermotor.
Jim

 

[63bkpkr]

Jim, with reference to your missing Reed's post about the Blue Bucket Mining Camp demo, just possibly you've been a little busy?! My best wishes for your success with this device as I so appreciate anyone's ability to use their intellect and abilities to invent useful equipment. If you make it out to Blue Bucket maybe you could post some pictures and comments...............63bkpkr

 

[Reed Lukens]

He will get pics taken guaranteed People started showing up last week for the show, and this is going to be a great place to demo it next week because we're going to have at least one trommel, hopefully 2, and we have a few huge piles of high grade dirt to choose from. This place has good gold for being unworked channel. I'm really looking forward to seeing it in action and we have a bunch of good miners here already

 

[russau]

Reed , it sure looks like the event is working it's way up to being one of the "good ones" that I'm again going to miss ! But good luck on the turnout for the event!

 

[Jim in Idaho]

He will get pics taken guaranteed People started showing up last week for the show, and this is going to be a great place to demo it next week because we're going to have at least one trommel, hopefully 2, and we have a few huge piles of high grade dirt to choose from. This place has good gold for being unworked channel. I'm really looking forward to seeing it in action and we have a bunch of good miners here already

Hey Reed! We won't get there until Friday morning. We'll stay in Baker Thursday night. We plan on being there through Sunday. is there water there for running the units? Should I bring garden hose, or will it be pumping out of a creek?
Our local GPAA chapter is having an outing this weekend, about 2 miles from my house. Be looking for SR gold from old gravel pit deposits.
Supposed to rain tomorrow, though. Bummer.
Jim

 

[Reed Lukens]

Hey Reed! We won't get there until Friday morning. We'll stay in Baker Thursday night. We plan on being there through Sunday. is there water there for running the units? Should I bring garden hose, or will it be pumping out of a creek?
Our local GPAA chapter is having an outing this weekend, about 2 miles from my house. Be looking for SR gold from old gravel pit deposits.
Supposed to rain tomorrow, though. Bummer.
Jim

We've got hoses, faucets, and ponds for recirculating also Jim. It actually starts Tuesday and then runs thru until Sunday May 27th but people started coming in last week to claim the best mining spots up on the hill

 

[arizau]

Actually, DS, the gearmotor is fairly cheap....about $60. Anything that adds to the labor time is where the real cost is. Finding ready-made parts that can be purchased instead of manufactured saves money. The approach is different than most of the stuff I design...in this case people are buying a completed unit, so they can't use their own labor to save money like they can when buying plans for my jigs, or shaker table. And, this design is complicated enough that most people won't have the equipment to build one even if they had the plans. So, to keep the price down, I have to figure out the labor savings myself. A lifetime in the concrete construction business helps in that regard, but it's still difficult. The gearmotor can be bought on Amazon, or Ebay...it's made by Makermotor.
Jim

A few questions for you (sorry some of these are redundant..stated in previous posts). What is the amperage for the motor? What are the dimensions for the finished product with and without the funnel mount? Is the finished weight still about 15#? From previous pictures it seems that it would be possible to attach the unit to a pack frame for transport to remote areas; your thoughts? About how fast can it be fed.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

A few questions for you (sorry some of these are redundant..stated in previous posts). What is the amperage for the motor? What are the dimensions for the finished product with and without the funnel mount? Is the finished weight still about 15#? From previous pictures it seems that it would be possible to attach the unit to a pack frame for transport to remote areas; your thoughts? About how fast can it be fed.[/QUOTE
Question are fine. The motor draws a bit over 1 amp. The finished 18" unit, without the funnel mount, is 16" tall x 21" in diameter. Weight, with funnel mount, is about 19lbs. The funnel mount doesn't add all that much...maybe a 1/2lb, so 18 1/2lbs without it. The skeletonized model weighs about 11lbs, but costs an additional $100 to build (most of it extra labor time). Feed rate varies with the material fed, but it can easily handle about 250lbs/hour, and even more with the right material. I haven't done any precise tests on feed rate, but I have easily fed it, when running dry, about 2 5 gallon buckets in less than 10 minutes. Most jigs handle way more than seems likely for the square inches of working surface compared to sluices.
I definitely feel this unit has opened up some new areas for me. I haven't yet figured out fastening it to a pack frame, but don't see it as a big obstacle. It will be getting a workout later this summer, and into the fall. I have two NiCad 10 "D" cell 12v battery packs, and each one will run it for roughly 4 hours. Weight of each pack is about 2 3/4lbs. I designed this unit for easy portability, and for using in places that are difficult to get to. If you have plenty of water, and can drive to your spot, a regular sluice, or highbanker works fine, though the sweep jig will have a higher recovery percentage on micron gold. I've proved that by running tailings from sluices and highbankers. This unit shines in tiny creeks and hillside dry washes....the kind of places we've been forced to bypass in the past.
Jim

 

[iscswaw]

hi Jim,
I saw on another of your post about this device and it’s original intent to separate gem stones. How would it do on garnet sand? I have a beach spot near where I live that gets some good garnet sand mixed with black sands. Nothing like the black sand at long beach, but gold bearing in small quantities of flour. my wife and I are trying to figure out a better way to separate the garnet sand than tweezers. thanks
rb

 

[Jim in Idaho]

RB, I haven't done any testing on that. I can tell you it won't recover them dry. The "Granular Convection" problem prevents that. It may recover them when running wet. Water seems to mitigate the GC problem. Actually, if you have water, the best way to recover gems is one of my mechanical pulse jigs. I used to sell plans for them on Ebay...not sure if they're still on there, or not. I also build them for people. The cost is $600 + shipping. Video link below. I've made some minor changes since the video was made...mostly to improve the water control. these jigs are dynamite for gems, but, of course, they don't work dry.
Jim

 

[johnedoe]

You might also try an elutriation tube kinda like the gold cyclone Goldhog used to sell.

 

[Jim in Idaho]

It seems to me, after re-reading RB's post, that trying to recover garnet sand from black sand would be extremely difficult. If he could get down to nothing but garnet and black sand, it would be easier to pan it, and keep the tails, which would be mostly garnet sand. The black sand would have a higher SG than the garnet sand.
Jim

 

[johnedoe]

Another thought .....
Maybe a grease table. I think garnets are oleophillic where black sand is not.

 

[iscswaw]

Thank you for the suggestions. I may give the panning just black sand and garnet sand idea. Sure would work better than trying to tweeze them out. Thanks again

 

[Blackbeard_O]

Jim,

That is an impressive piece of equipment you've designed! Could it be scaled down for extreme portability? Similar to taking a gold pan to a foot access only, back country stream. I spend a lot of time hunting the mountainsides here in southern AZ and stumble upon spots that scream "GOLD DEPOSIT HERE!". I would love to have a tiny sampling unit paired with an MD20 and return to those spots after hunting season when it gets nice and dry here. I've got an 11" diameter in my head as that is the diameter of a standard 5 gallon bucket.

Thanks
Jay