Ok so here is my basic frame design for the drywasher
I want it to be made out of canvas and wood as much as possible, so the only metal on the unit would be around the top frame of the hopper to protect the wood, the classifier screen itself, the hopper regulator, the main pulley with handle and the slick plate inside.
I want it to fold up completely like this chair does for easy transport and setup. The idea being you just unfold it and it all swings into place ready to start processing dirt.
I would just take the canvas off and have the base chair frame as a starting point.
I would reuse the canvas for the hopper and the bellows.
If you've ever used one of these deck chairs the frame itself is very sturdy and hard to knock over because of the wide base. You just have to make sure they cut the notches deep enough or it will jump out of the notch and fold flat on you.
I'm thinking I can attach the feeder to the top with some support arms to hold it in place and the sluice itself can rest on top of the bottom rails. The support arms for the hooper would be made like the main support a U shape and would fold up from the front of the chair where the bolt is in the base. i.e. the base has the notches in it. Think main support just reversed and pointing up at the front as the hopper holder.
I would add an extra support rail across the middle of the main support i.e. the one that sits in the notches on the base. The extra support rail would hold the base of the sluice box with the top attached to front of the chair frame. I can add extra notches into the base board to get the angle of the sluice just right.
The bellows would sit directly under the sluice box and it is already designed to fold up but it would probably sit down a bit. I anticipate that this would be the tallest piece on it when it is folded flat i.e. the sluice box and bellows combined would be the total height of the unit when folded flat on the ground.
The electric motor would be attached to the right front of the base of the chair to drive the bellows.
I want to make the hopper big enough to take a 20lt bucket of material in one go with the flow to the sluice regulated by a feeder which would initially drop into a slick plate before hitting the first riffle of the sluice.
What do you fellows think?