I have started to build a sluice after some web research. I have never seen one up close and would appreciate any input. It is 10" wide by 32 long, I may reduce it to 8" wide. I have 5 riffles but am not sure on the spacing, will probably install one and check the flow to see where to space the rest. I plan on using ribbed rubber matting for the first 6-8 inches with the remainder some type of carpet, expanded metal, and riffles. The riffles are for fine gold recovery {Indiana} and are 1/2 by 1/2" and will be installed with a slight negative angle to the flow. I may riffle the expanded metal also, any ideas? Would post pictures if there is interest in improving the design. I only have a couple of weeks before our first attempt in So. Indiana. Will be classifing the material down to 1/4 inch and also have a 14in by 10 flare on the sluice. Am I close to a functional sluice? Looking forward to some input........bj
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I built a small sluice after reading Gary's paper. My riffles may be a little high for the width, but I used what I had. You can see some pictures in my photos.
Joe,
Sorry for the slow reply. I haven't been checking this site as much lately, spending more time on the Central Indiana GPAA Yahoo group. We actually live in northern In. , just went to the outing in Gatesville to try to get some tips from more experienced prospectors. Our home-made sluice performed well considering the slow flow of water there. There is another outing the 17th and 18th of Oct at Morgan-Monroe State Forest.
The outing at Gatesville had about 30 people, I had expected to see more there but the weather was a little iffy. We only stayed Sat, then left early Sun morning. Are you familiar with the Central Indiana GPAA? Will try to make the next outing, maybe we'll see you down there.
bj delorenzo
I would make the box 10 inches. It will handle more material if you want to sample an area and shovel into the box. In So. Indiana you can easily classify down to an eighth and I'd think about a 16th. Riffles are tricky. I'd try to copy the ones on a keene or proline if you can. Post your pictures...doug
Doug,
Thanks for the response, I think I am going with a smaller profile riffle that Gary has tested. It just makes sense for classified material and small gold recovery. I would appreciate any tips you have for so indiana as we have never been. I am guessing that you have to process a lot of material for a small amout of return.
We are just looking for that one peice, the first one. If you are going to Gatesville, we may see you there. ............bj
Douglas Sayre > Brian DelorenzoOctober 2, 2009 at 8:51am
In my experience with building sluice boxes the rate of water flow becomes more critical as you move to lower profile riffles. If you working realy fine/micro gold you might want to consider lengthing the box by at least a foot.
Our little tests this summer indicated that the normal commercial riffles are about the worse that a person could have so I sure wouldn't want to copy them and also keep in mind that a 10" box requires 25% more water volume to work efficiently than an 8" box and both sizes of boxes will easily handle typical number 2 shovel loads of material. 10" boxes are popular for the mass production manufacturers since they better utilize the 18" raw plate blanks most use.
Gary,
I read your article over and over, I wish the pictures were without water, as it makes it very hard to see the riffles. I made the box 10 " wide with sides 2.5 inches high. I think I will narrow that with the sluice frame to 8.5 in. and make the riffles from wood. I am a carpenter and it will be much easier to work with and will be able to shape the riffles more than aluminum.
What I am considering is a cursive letter r tilted into the flow slightly less than 30 degrees.
If I could draw a picture here I would. Do you think this would be a workable design for small gold recovery? If the top of the riffle was 3/4 of an inch should the spacing be between 2 and 3 inches. They would be about 5/8 in. high. Should I make the frame of the riffle higher in case the water flow is slow and I have to slope the sluice more than two to one in the stream. I may drill a second set of holes in the flare so that I can scoop more water.
Enjoyed your article, very helpful......bj
have gold buddy should i change the reffls and add another pump for more flow? seems to load up fast. gravel also does not move well . any suggestions to help me get it to work better. Thanks Chuck
Replies
Sorry for the slow reply. I haven't been checking this site as much lately, spending more time on the Central Indiana GPAA Yahoo group. We actually live in northern In. , just went to the outing in Gatesville to try to get some tips from more experienced prospectors. Our home-made sluice performed well considering the slow flow of water there. There is another outing the 17th and 18th of Oct at Morgan-Monroe State Forest.
The outing at Gatesville had about 30 people, I had expected to see more there but the weather was a little iffy. We only stayed Sat, then left early Sun morning. Are you familiar with the Central Indiana GPAA? Will try to make the next outing, maybe we'll see you down there.
bj delorenzo
Thanks for the response, I think I am going with a smaller profile riffle that Gary has tested. It just makes sense for classified material and small gold recovery. I would appreciate any tips you have for so indiana as we have never been. I am guessing that you have to process a lot of material for a small amout of return.
We are just looking for that one peice, the first one. If you are going to Gatesville, we may see you there. ............bj
I read your article over and over, I wish the pictures were without water, as it makes it very hard to see the riffles. I made the box 10 " wide with sides 2.5 inches high. I think I will narrow that with the sluice frame to 8.5 in. and make the riffles from wood. I am a carpenter and it will be much easier to work with and will be able to shape the riffles more than aluminum.
What I am considering is a cursive letter r tilted into the flow slightly less than 30 degrees.
If I could draw a picture here I would. Do you think this would be a workable design for small gold recovery? If the top of the riffle was 3/4 of an inch should the spacing be between 2 and 3 inches. They would be about 5/8 in. high. Should I make the frame of the riffle higher in case the water flow is slow and I have to slope the sluice more than two to one in the stream. I may drill a second set of holes in the flare so that I can scoop more water.
Enjoyed your article, very helpful......bj
This video shows a sluice I built...hope it helps you.
http://www.goldprospectorsspace.com/video/mother-lode-gold-1
Rick
http://64.172.168.34/neatstuff/sluice-build-partI.pdf
http://64.172.168.34/neatstuff/sluice-build-partII.pdf
http://64.172.168.34/neatstuff/sluice-build-partIII.pdf
Hope these links works as the server was really getting overloaded yesterday.
Gary
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