2021....

[Moneybox]

Love the bellows mechanism...work of art mate.

Keep in mind I don't run bellows...no air running out the bottom flaps...is that ok?
Are you running a remote air intake for the motor?

Well done...won't be long now.

The bottom flaps are near the hinge of the bellows so don't see much action down there. I only had the engine running about half speed and the bellows are set at absolutely minimum stroke so more air will come if its wound up a bit. This air is delivered into a chamber under the riffles so I expect some distribution although there might be more air at the top but I don't really know at this point :|

Yes the motor is in an enclosure, yet to be enclosed, with a stack and a Donaldson Topspin precleaner feeding through a fan to keep the area lightly pressurised with clean air from above.

 

[Mackka]

As Big Kev used to say, "I'm Excited"
Mackka

 

[Moneybox]

That looks incredible. No matter what the field I am always in awe of quality tradespeople. Hairdressers to construction, people who are good in their field make what they achieve into a work of art. Well done to you and mrs MB. I look forward to working videos. Youll be on goldhunters next. Parker might even want one. :Y: :goldnugget: :goldnugget: :goldnugget: I hope theres plenty of this for you in the future. Cheers Rick

kemjak57, I used to be a good tradesman but those years have long past. I get really frustrated at how it takes me to make a decision, then how long it actually takes to complete a task. This job should have been knocked off months ago because I've spend nearly every day on it since starting out. In a previous life, barely memorable now I used to earn $75k a year on $13 p/hr contract rate. That was motor body building where I could see my next job in my head well before I got to it and never wasted time considering how it could be done and rarely had to rework anything. As I said earlier, those years are long gone and they aren't coming back 8.(

 

[Mackka]

Don't kid yourself Phil, you've STILL GOT IT !!!!!!
Mackka

 

[kemjak57]

Don't kid yourself Phil, you've STILL GOT IT !!!!!!
Mackka

Yes he has. Age can be a bugga. You cant discard knowledge and quality though. The age part of it is inevitable.

 

[Goldtalk Leonora]

Love the bellows mechanism...work of art mate.

Keep in mind I don't run bellows...no air running out the bottom flaps...is that ok?
Are you running a remote air intake for the motor?

Well done...won't be long now.

The bottom flaps are near the hinge of the bellows so don't see much action down there. I only had the engine running about half speed and the bellows are set at absolutely minimum stroke so more air will come if its wound up a bit. This air is delivered into a chamber under the riffles so I expect some distribution although there might be more air at the top but I don't really know at this point :|

Yes the motor is in an enclosure, yet to be enclosed, with a stack and a Donaldson Topspin precleaner feeding through a fan to keep the area lightly pressurised with clean air from above.

I was loosing sleep over your flaps MB!!...I know your got to trial things first...but I had a cunning idea...air...like water takes the path of least resistence...could you weight down the top flaps and maybe even a lesser amount on the middle to balance the air flow out?

 

[Moneybox]

Love the bellows mechanism...work of art mate.

Keep in mind I don't run bellows...no air running out the bottom flaps...is that ok?
Are you running a remote air intake for the motor?

Well done...won't be long now.

The bottom flaps are near the hinge of the bellows so don't see much action down there. I only had the engine running about half speed and the bellows are set at absolutely minimum stroke so more air will come if its wound up a bit. This air is delivered into a chamber under the riffles so I expect some distribution although there might be more air at the top but I don't really know at this point :|

Yes the motor is in an enclosure, yet to be enclosed, with a stack and a Donaldson Topspin precleaner feeding through a fan to keep the area lightly pressurised with clean air from above.

I was loosing sleep over your flaps MB!!...I know your got to trial things first...but I had a cunning idea...air...like water takes the path of least resistence...could you weight down the top flaps and maybe even a lesser amount on the middle to balance the air flow out?

Tony, Don't get in a flap over my flaps at this point. I'll put the next layer on first. I think there's enough room in there for the air to find its place and the flow should be sufficiently restricted by the soil loaded cloth. At least that's what I'm hoping for

 

[Nightjar]

This is the norm with the flaps. It is helpful to have more "puff" where the dirt enters the riffle box. More agitation helps sort the wanted from the discards.
This is where the bellows out classes the constant.

 

[Goldtalk Leonora]

This is the norm with the flaps. It is helpful to have more "puff" where the dirt enters the riffle box. More agitation helps sort the wanted from the discards.
This is where the bellows out classes the constant.

in the interests of keeping the debate alive...constant air does not mean that the airflow is not controlled. I run constant air and have different 'zones' (for the want of a better word????) on the same tray. I can easily control how much air comes through at any given point of a tray.....and I do....thats the key to getting the small stuff.

 

[Moneybox]

This is the norm with the flaps. It is helpful to have more "puff" where the dirt enters the riffle box. More agitation helps sort the wanted from the discards.
This is where the bellows out classes the constant.

in the interests of keeping the debate alive...constant air does not mean that the airflow is not controlled. I run constant air and have different 'zones' (for the want of a better word????) on the same tray. I can easily control how much air comes through at any given point of a tray.....and I do....thats the key to getting the small stuff.

Sounds too sophisticated for this simple mind. Perhaps on the next one....

 

[Nightjar]

MB, you won't need another one, unless of course you wear it out with a massive gold find. erfect:
Do believe you're onto a definite winner with the "inlet/outlet" flap valves.

 

[Goldtalk Leonora]

This is the norm with the flaps. It is helpful to have more "puff" where the dirt enters the riffle box. More agitation helps sort the wanted from the discards.
This is where the bellows out classes the constant.

in the interests of keeping the debate alive...constant air does not mean that the airflow is not controlled. I run constant air and have different 'zones' (for the want of a better word????) on the same tray. I can easily control how much air comes through at any given point of a tray.....and I do....thats the key to getting the small stuff.

Sounds too sophisticated for this simple mind. Perhaps on the next one....

nup...simple as anything MB.....and it keeps you tinkering with your machine...which seems to be the whole point of dryblowers....they are a constant work in progress.

 

[Moneybox]

My neighbour across the road said his son has a very big constant air machine that's fully hydraulic driven so he has infinite adjustment to any speed or airflow throughout the machine. It's no good me trying to build something like that when I don't have the experience behind me to have any idea what production results will be. We might not get enough gold to warrant that sort of expense. Anyway we don't have that type of money behind us to set it up in the first place. Cue used to have a awful lot of surface gold that has been raided over the years by metal detector and other means. I don't even know the historic production from our leases or the type of mining that has gone on there in the past however I know that they definitely had gold and apart from the shafts most of the surface has been worked in some way.

 

[Nightjar]

MB,
Have been going through all the gear in readiness to getting away this year.
Found a small jar of fines in a shed drawer to give you a boost to what you will be finding.
I placed a nobby pin in one of the photos to give comparison but was out of focus when I uploaded and deleted it.
The rat shot right of photo gives you some sort of size comparison.

 

[Moneybox]

MB,
Have been going through all the gear in readiness to getting away this year.
Found a small jar of fines in a shed drawer to give you a boost to what you will be finding.
I placed a nobby pin in one of the photos to give comparison but was out of focus when I uploaded and deleted it.
The rat shot right of photo gives you some sort of size comparison.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/1414/1613205884_dryblower_gold.jpg

Yes Mrs M is going to have to change her ways. Usually anything to small to pickup is discarded but now it might mean throwing out half of our finds :lol:

 

[Moneybox]

We've just returned from a quick trip out to Geraldton for some medical issues. Unfortunately that's going to be a long term problem with no easy fix.

Before leaving I called on the local mechanic to have a tyre changed but the guy lives behind a locked gate and rarely opens it.

I'd spotted the fault on the inside of the tyre on the left last time we were in Perth and was happy to make it the 650km home without trouble. When I tried to fit one of the four spares I found that none fitted because they were actually VW wheels. They looked the same but had a different stud pattern.

Anyway I fired up Zimba and changed that tyre before leaving. The service reminder was coming both from the dash and the LH driver so I had to attend to that as soon as I got home. During the service I found the three other tyres were not much better, they were all looking a bit tired so I've spent the morning manually changing tyres.

It's no fun but when you can't just pop around the corner and have somebody else do it there's not much choice.

 

[Jaros]

Well I don't have the machinery to do it as you have. I've gotta drive 2 mins to the Tyrepower or whatever and sit back having a coffee and a few biscuits and relax after the hard drive.
Very strenuous!!
Cheers.

 

[silver]

I did one a while back with tyre levers and ended up having a hard time.... knocks you up when it's clinging on to its seal. None of the young ones these days will step up (sometimes I'm thinking they may not know how because they are always way too busy to stop and learn).

 

[goody2shoes]

Call road side assistance :lol:

 

[Keitzy]

Or buy a manual tyre changer... I have one. Easy as to use.