wasted 300 mile trip

[1637]

wow that title sound like a 1960s road trip. anyway i made new bellows out of duck canvas.it bleeds way to much air though the canvas,i put water on it and it worked for a little while.so is there a spray that will seal it and still move.maybe a water proofing.
thanks brad

 

[arizau]

I think that you may be able to tighten the porosity of the duck by just throughly wetting it with hot water then let it dry in the hot sun. That may shrink the cotton fiber that it is made of and close the pores. You may also increase the effectiveness of the bellows by increasing the stroke speed so the bellows snaps a little faster forcing the air up through the riffle cloth. I might also run the washer a little steep so there is not too much of a dirt load on the cloth between riffles.

Good luck.

 

[arizau]

Maybe a hare brained idea but a sprayed on thin coat of latex paint might work as a sealer.

 

[1637]

before i used a heavy duty air mattress it work good for about 10 trips then it tore.i read that this stuff would work,i only have 3/8 riffles in this tray,so there not much dirt.i turned it up all the way and dropped the tray tell the dirt almost fell out.this is all glued and riveted so iam going to try some different coating for i take it apart.what makes me mad is i always test everything.but i was trying to beat the rain, oh well brad

 

[russau]

Why not try some heated wax or just rub some wax on the material ! water proof , flexible an shouldn't dry out! Also it don't hurt to be cheap in price either !

 

[1637]

i found some fabric spray paint for cars make my duplicolor .i will try that first.
thanks for the input guys.
brad

 

[mike(swWash)]

Maybe flex seal...or camp dry tent sealer spray

 

[mike(swWash)]

As far as a wasted trip....it never happens. Some are just better and more productive than others and they're always educational.
In my area I'm the best there is at finding places that don't have any gold and/or having equipment failures that sooner or later I'll have them all eliminated and it'll probably be just before I die.
However, it's always a good time, frustrating...yes, but it's always a good story to add the memory bank.

 

[Jason in Enid]

soak it in melted parafin wax. Let it cool then scrape and flex off the excess.

 

[1637]

yea.me and the dog hiked all over the claim looking for the next place to dig,you always have to have plan b,c,and d.
brad

 

[russau]

I'm off topic a little BUT I've never had a wasted trip................Maybe I never got much gold or what ever I set out to get BUT there again I ALWAYS enjoyed my trip with friends!! And most of my trips were 16 or so hours drive by myself until I got older!