My attempt at a Bunnings Sluice

Hi Guys,
I didn't want to hijack the other thread on the Bunnings Sluice.

Heres my effort of my Bunnings Sluice.........



I cut the grating out except for the frame where the top clips into the bottom channel, I used a woven mat, just like the miners moss for 1st section, and some V-Matting (Both from Clarke Rubber $20 for both) for the 2nd section. The riffles are made from some stainless steel banding (Band-it) its stiff but can be bent to shape and slotted into the remaining frame of the top grating.



Now I intend on making a stand, spray-bar and getting a pump and recycle the water, I have an idea of how to let water into the bucket, and not debris, will have to see if it works, and post pics as I progress.

Cheers,
Paul

Looks good Paul,

I would turn those clamps the other way to a make a few riffles - or maybe leave the top one that way and turn the others around so you have a reverse riffle and 2 regular ones.

\Cheers, V_8

Thanks for your feedback V_8 that's the beauty of this one, things like that can easily be turned around as they are only slotted in.

Cheers
Paul

Hi paul mac
To me the rifles look a bit large, and in my opinion aren't needed if you run the same setup as mine.
If you are keen on keeping them i would atleast swap the order of matting so the rubber is first. My guess is they will block up with gravel very quickly.

Try not to over-complicate it mate
Being so narrow it is so easy to dam up a small creek to get the required water flowing through it.
Cheers
Reeko

Thanks for that reeks, yeah, wasn't sure about the order of matting, I could always put a full run of one or the other as I have plenty left.
Let me know what you think.

Cheers,
Paul

Reeks said:

Hi paul mac
To me the rifles look a bit large, and in my opinion aren't needed if you run the same setup as mine.

Try not to over-complicate it mate

Cheers
Reeko

Click to expand...

Yes I agree need to make same or nearly the same as Reeks its seems to work. As you seen I have 2 now I never find any gold in the second when I run the 2 together

Hi Guys,

Heres an update.....I have made a stand for my Sluice and added a plastic header part to hold the spray bar in place, and added some felt tabs to the start of the sluice, as seen on another discussion.



I have used V matting after the felt tabs, now heres the interesting part..... I cut a hole in the bottom at the end of the sluice and covered it with aluminium fly mesh, so the purpose of this being the rocks get pushed over the end of the sluice and the water goes through the hole, not allowing rocks to fall into the bucket, I also drilled 2 x 25mm holes in the top of the bucket and put pump filter media over the holes, thus cutting down on soil going into the main water container.

The legs fold flat for transporting and the header unscrews as not to damage it.



I got some rock samples from The Flinders when I went there last week and put them through the sluice, it worked well, but no gold, unfortunately.
BUT we did find a disused gold mine thats not on any maps, and its on my mates land, it goes down to beyond the bedrock, so next time we go, we are taking ropes and going for a look as to where it goes, its all shored up with logs lining the shaft, so will be taking the sluice and picks and shovels and see whats down there.

Does the sluice look ok to you guys or do I need bigger riffles?

Cheers,
Paul

Mate be careful down that shaft. Oxygen can often get depleted if it's deep and you'll pass out.

Make sure you tell someone your in there. I'd love to do that stuff

crazyk said:

Mate be careful down that shaft. Oxygen can often get depleted if it's deep and you'll pass out.

Make sure you tell someone your in there. I'd love to do that stuff

Click to expand...

Hi crazyk,
Thanks for your concerns, we will be careful, and there will be 4 of us there, so all should be ok.
We were looking down it last week, and its about 10-12 feet deep, but it just looks square, so we want to get down there and see if there are any tunnels heading anywhere, but its not looking likely at the moment. Cant wait to get down it tho, the land owner reckons someone was drilling shafts a long time agoa nd looking for gold, way before he owned the property.

Cheers,
Paul

Nice one. Good luck. Would love to see photos of down there.

Would be interesting to see the changes in soil types as the sunk the shaft and different layers of soil

crazyk said:

Nice one. Good luck. Would love to see photos of down there.

Would be interesting to see the changes in soil types as the sunk the shaft and different layers of soil

Click to expand...

Thanks for the good luck wish, I'll post some pics on the forum. We go the weekend after Easter as I'm working Easter long weekend.

Cheers,
Paul

I was so impressed with your efforts I trotted off to Bunnings and came home laden. Here is my attempt. Certainly not as neat as yours but I don't have all the tools and expertise of you clever men, so mine is a ladies version, lol.
Cheers Bernadette

that looks great, hope it gets the yellow for you.

Nice work, looks good, no reason why it wouldn't work.
Keep us updated on how you go with it
Cheers
Paul

Thank you so much, got everything crossed so tight I can barely move. Heading off to Nundle as soon as my brand new camper is working again, the water pump went on holidays without me, so as soon as that is back I will be off for a week or so.
Cheers
Bernadette

Whoops! Hope it all goes well for you over there

Bernsey said:

I was so impressed with your efforts I trotted off to Bunnings and came home laden. Here is my attempt. Certainly not as neat as yours but I don't have all the tools and expertise of you clever men, so mine is a ladies version, lol.
Cheers Bernadette
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/2685/1396142225_sluice_1.jpg
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/2685/1396142225_sluice_2.jpg

Click to expand...

Looks just like the original
Meaning it will work!

Keep it low and try to get an inch of medium-fast water flowing through it and you should be able to trowel feed it flat out.
Keep an eye on the black sands building up if its a heavy black sand area.
Try to keep rocks bigger than a matchbox out of it.
Good luck
Reeko

Thanks for the advice Reeko, will certainly heed it. Doesn't matter if I don't catch anything as long as I have a giggle trying and I am sure I will.
Cheers
Bernadette

I was in bunnings and saw all that stuff and would have bought it too but, I already have a small river Sluice.

What I was really looking for was a 12v water pump. All of Bunnings were plug ins.

I ended up in all places...a boat shop and they had a bunch of them ranging from $35 to $250. I started talking to one of the staff and telling him what I was going to try and make and I got concerned from his feedback.

(Firstly I'm not a handyman) but, I've did all the tech stuff in school and thought it wouldn't be too hard. Just connect a battery and hose? He started saying that I need to water proof the connection, which made sense as the unit would be close to the water. Then he calculated that the pumps would only last 3-6 hrs...when everyone says they last 8hrs.

Something doesn't seem right. Everyone says you "just" hook up a pump to your sluice. It sounds a bit more full on. I also couldn't find any how to videos on youtube which is weird.

I'll be buying a HB some time in the future but, looks as if Ill need to pay for a pre-set up 12v water pump and have to pay alot more.

Just hook it up it is 12v. His calculations may have been correct dependent on current draw and battery size, that is something you will have to work out.