Dryblower, Drywasher

[God's Money]

Whats can I say, I am at home in my shed more than anything else!
I have never seriously prospected or fossicked but I am gearing up to hit the tracks once my wife retires.
I am far from completing this little project however its well under way. My wife said copy a plan but no I must reinvent the wheel, well not quite. if anyone has any ideas i am all ears. I must add watch vid to near the end as there is an interesting twist to this project, it converts very quickly to hand operated.

Well it turns out I have to post 10 more before I can share

You could find it at https:// youtu.be/zNnWXTncA5Q you need to get rid of some spaces!

 

[Goldfreak]

I cant find it. Have you got a title I can search by instead ?

 

[Nightjar]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNnWXTncA5Q

 

[God's Money]

Nightjar, I have tried several different cam arrangements now, all work well but a bit noisy, I think I will try your wheel setup.

 

[God's Money]

The penny dropped last night, some of the noise is coming from the bellow arm when dropping it is hitting the cam, i suspect if i drop the motor/cam lower it might stop the hammering noise.
I am quite chuffed how easy it is to remove the motor/cam for transporting or hand operated.

 

[Nightjar]

Very neat job there GM.
At the last segment where you set it up for hand operation does it show the riffles are not pressed down tight on the cloth?
Your gold will escape under the riffles if it isn't!
Maybe if you remove the spring the bellows will glide over the cam. ie: Will be in contact with the cam full time and you won't get any hammering?

Digressing slightly, my mates home built dry blower has a distinct "whop, whop, whop" sound when the bellows are filling and emptying. Another mate who gets lost in the dunny had gone for an emu bob and became disorientated during his walk. Fortunately my mate started his dryblower and the other mate homed in on the sound and made a very relieved return to the camp.

Looking forward to seeing yours puffing some dirt and end result.

 

[God's Money]

Nightjar, Thats not cloth under the riffle tray, I just stuck a piece of boat carpet underneath to give it a little pressure to test the workings. Tonight I have played with it for a few hours, have it working a little better I think. I have gone for wheels, will post some more pics tomorrow. The spring was definitely helping but I have discarded it now with the wheels. Yeah, I am sure if I get lost on the slops at night the wife will be able to start it up for me.

 

[God's Money]

Bloody hell I been around the cape of Good Hope on this one but I have finally settled on this.

 

[God's Money]

I have finally finished all I need is some dirt to try it out, I don't think our local red desert sand is really the stuff to try it out on.
I changed my mind on this job more than any other, I finally went for wheels on the cam. and I settled on calico for the riffle tray. Calico in Australia is the same as what they call muslin in the USA.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWUm9xYl8ls

 

[RM Outback]

Excellent work GM :clap: :clap: :clap: I'm keen to see your results after running some paydirt. As a trial maybe salt a metre or two with a know quantity and weight, could even use a bit of shot :Y: I don't doubt it's ability just might be a confidence booster for when you do run it out in the field :beer:

 

[Jaros]

Nice piece of work GM. erfect:

 

[Decoy]

Is there a reason a bellows is used over a fan/blower?

 

[God's Money]

Long time since I been here, and a long time since I used the dry washer, I am heading to Vic in a few weeks, with luck it might be dry around Ararat, Can I use the dry washer in Vic

 

[grubstake]

Long time since I been here, and a long time since I used the dry washer, I am heading to Vic in a few weeks, with luck it might be dry around Ararat, Can I use the dry washer in Vic

Yes, you can:
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/threads/prospecting-in-golden-triangle.41241/https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/threads/a-video-i-saw-on-yt.40612/post-660975

 

[God's Money]

Yes, you can:
https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/threads/prospecting-in-golden-triangle.41241/https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/threads/a-video-i-saw-on-yt.40612/post-660975

Thank you, I did a search and that never came up, must have used wrong key words, Sorry!

 

[lostandfound]

Is there a reason a bellows is used over a fan/blower?

I like the bellows style because it is very portable as it does not require a compressor or blower. It can be rather quiet depending on the build, and can even be hand operated.

 

[Moneybox]

The bellows is very efficient. I have a little Honda running my entire machine with four bellows a conveyor and wobble shaft for the classifier. It does about 3.5hrs on a tank of fuel after processing 60-80 tonnes of dirt. I have no idea how it compares to constant air because I've never tried it.