Posted by Rick Hepburn on April 16, 2009 at 11:45am
what are the thoughts on usage under the riffles? I know on my highbanker it allows light to come thru and I am wondering if losing fines this way.
is this a way to keep the riffles from loading up too much.
I find some very fine gold still with it in there but still wondering if I will get more without it.
I have read discussions both ways and hoping for thought here
rick
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either use expanded or the riffles ... any space under a riffle renders them useless as gold will blow out. i use a plastic grate as riffles which creates a low energy vortice that catches very fine gold. check out youtube for a sluice called popandsons, they will catch down to 300 mesh gold
I hope to be able to offer Robin's book for sale very soon, not sure what the price tag is gonna be on it yet, but i have been in contact and i believe we can all do some learning when it comes out!
I went to prescott today to try to find some of the toolbox matting, didn't find any that would work (they were all foam). but what I did find was some shelf liner for rv's. rubberized material and I brought it home to see if it would seal under my tray. It did and it looks good, I will be able to try it out this weekend.
It makes more sense to use this stuff rather than expanded metal as the ex metal left spaces under the riffles.
The liner I found is more like dots fused together and has holes alittle less than 1/4". I will post on how it works. the place where we go is pretty consistant as to the amount and size that we find. (not alot and small). lol.
Rick
Scott is correct. Never use expanded under angle iron riffles. In fact, when you do use expanded, make sure it is the 'raised' kind and not 'flat'. You want to make sure that the expanded is held down tight to the undermatting or else excessive scouring will take place. Same thing for angle riffles.
Rick....I tried something totally new, and it is simply killer. I like it so much ...I started putting it in the sluices that I make. Get you some rubber tool box matting from your local walmart or harbor freight. Put it over the grooved carpeting. It does 3 awesome things. 1st thing is...it allows the fine gold to go down through it as it has little square boxes, and keeps the gold from coming up out. It allows the gravel to travel over it...easier, and you can also see any big pieces very easy because it is black. The put your regular expanded metal over it....but I don't even have two....I have increased my gold take big time with higher profile ripple trays.....you can view them www.coloradogoldsticks.com or at ebay under Super Catch Sluice take care now ....Teddy Martin angeladver@bresnan.net
use expanded metal before the riffles or instead of, not under, for the riffles will no seal and you will lose the effect you are trying to achieve.
for a true test, mix a gram of gold flake similar in size to what you are finding, in with a halfto full bucket of sands/gravel that you have run and know your machine is handling, place a bucket/tub under the sluice for panning out, and do a run with the rifles in place, then with the expanded metal only and then with the riffles on top the expanded metal.... i concurr that you dont need to re-invent the whell, but seeing is believing to a lot more people than reading about it.... if you really want to re-invent your machine, get rid of the sluice and replace it with a Le Trap or a Angus Mackirk plastic sluice and clean up more often and with a lot less troubles..... most folks are surprised at the recovery those sluices actually ar capable of, and the micro fines they have been losing with their regular aluminum boxes.
If your riffles are loading up try feeding the materials more slowly and allow your machine to clean it self out between shovel loads. Always classify close to the size of gold you are finding. Your machine riffles might not clamp down properly if you had expanded metal on top of the miners moss or carpet. you might let material slip under the riffle from the top side and thus remove the use of the riffle all together. If you are already finding fine gold dont try to reinvent the wheel. Maybe try putting a tub below the higbanker and run some material ,then check you highbanker for how much gold you have and then check the tub and see how much you are missing. Hope this helps, Scott
Replies
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzBlL95Y5P0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMRQ5ZLsBPQ&feature=related
http://www.mine.mn/Robin_Grayson_gold_recovery_method_38.pdf
William
Idaho
It makes more sense to use this stuff rather than expanded metal as the ex metal left spaces under the riffles.
The liner I found is more like dots fused together and has holes alittle less than 1/4". I will post on how it works. the place where we go is pretty consistant as to the amount and size that we find. (not alot and small). lol.
Rick
Here is some good info on sluice boxes and the use of expanded metal for recovering fine gold.
http://www.49ermike.com/dc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=181&...
Gramps
for a true test, mix a gram of gold flake similar in size to what you are finding, in with a halfto full bucket of sands/gravel that you have run and know your machine is handling, place a bucket/tub under the sluice for panning out, and do a run with the rifles in place, then with the expanded metal only and then with the riffles on top the expanded metal.... i concurr that you dont need to re-invent the whell, but seeing is believing to a lot more people than reading about it.... if you really want to re-invent your machine, get rid of the sluice and replace it with a Le Trap or a Angus Mackirk plastic sluice and clean up more often and with a lot less troubles..... most folks are surprised at the recovery those sluices actually ar capable of, and the micro fines they have been losing with their regular aluminum boxes.
William
North Central Idaho