Creekboy

Gold fever has been particularly bad as I am not able to get up into the mountains until the end of the month, so I decided to give the park a try. I found as expected, tons of trash but near the end of my search I came across a small 925 charm. Not worth much but it really drove home the point that I need to start thinking outside the box. 

10 hours ago, rexhavoc said:

Here's a picture from August of my son and a Thingiverse sluice I printed of PLA. It's not going to stand up to a lot of abuse in the real world that's for sure. I've used the Keene flares; this is much more of a toy, and I doubt it will see use twice. 

That’s really great! Yes, PLA tends to be very brittle and does not like to be left in hot cars but this is awesome, I’m glad there are others out there wanting to print their own gear. 

@LipCa Thanks, I’m just trying to help people avoid paying outrageous amounts for China’s overpriced plastic. 

21 minutes ago, M1dn1ghtN1nj4 said:

Very nice.  You can tell the bowl is printed because of the form of the top layer around the rim, and the layer lines down the side.  Do you have an STL for it?  I might try to make that, but adapt my 120LPH pumps to it (it's what I have, so it's what I'll use).  This could be a neat integration.

My sluice box, for the next version, will change to be used with a 5 gallon bucket.  MUCH more capacity and runtime.  Seems you already have little brackets that go on the bucket, so that's a pretty nice start.

How long did this take you to design?

This took me a day or so to rough out but i’d say three or four more to troubleshoot and refine. Here is the link I just made https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3082273  Make sure to print with supports. Let me know if you run into any issues! 

46 minutes ago, LipCa said:

Nice for a DYI....  How much of the "3D printed blue bowl" is "3D"?  Looks like maybe only the brackets? 

The whole bowl is 3D printed as one piece as well as the brackets. It’s like a 1/3 scale of any regular blue bowl, with the lip around the rim and everything. Only the hardware, pump and tubs are store bought! 

This is a 3D printed blue bowl version 1, it worked amazing for doing my last big clean up and sucked the sand away very quickly. I didn’t want to pay an arm and a leg so I built my own, leave an e-mail if you want the file. The whole project cost me less than 30 bucks or so. 

Parts:

-172 GPH Pump 

-3/8 Tubing 

-On/Off Valve 

-12  #10-24x1in Screws 

-9 #10 Washers 

-Rectangle Tub 

-Small Bucket 

-Printed Parts 

12 hours ago, M1dn1ghtN1nj4 said:

@Creekboy Not necessarily to cross-promote, but have you seen my 3D printed sluice box?I just posted an update today.  Finished my near-final design a few days ago.  Maybe it could spark an idea for something you could design?  I can help a little with suggestions and advice/tips if you need help.

Yea man it is pretty sweet,  perfect for cleanups! We must have similar minds and hobbies. I actually just finished a quick project you might like. I will post in a sec. 

Thanks Gerry! 

12 hours ago, oldmancoyote1 said:

Looks like sand encrusted with gold.  This sort of thing might form when gold-bearing fluids are reduced on reaching a water table low in oxygen.  For a more complete discussion see my post on this forum here:  https://www.detectorprospector.com/forums/topic/717-finding-pocket-gold/?page=4

 

This gold was taken from an area with a BUNCH of springs next to old adits. Would that make sense for what you are talking about. 

Yea I just plucked them out of some cons so it is likely black sand. Thanks for the insight, and that is a mighty fine nugget there! 

Has anybody seen anything like these? Is it just iron staining or something? 

Huh,could be! Although it is likely just quartz. Any simple way to differentiate? 

Sometimes you go out looking for gold and come home with other treasures! I just happened to stumble on a bunch of this stuff when I was bent over trying to catch my breath near the top of a local peak. 

Thank you all for the responses and info, ill message you when I get some time Gary. This is the second time I have heard about quartzville so I’ll check it out. Would you say the wolf creek area is a good place to start down south? 

Hi there folks, I have been prospecting for the better part of two years now (I’m 23) and have for the most part stuck to my grandparents property in California finding pickers and occasional small nuggets. I’m now living in Eugene going to school at the university and trying to find the time to get out and put my SDC to work. From what I have heard there is pretty great gold in Southern Oregon and I’m just putting the feelers out to see if anyone might have some useful advise or resources that could point me in the right direction. I’d also like to start making connections with folks in the community so feel free to let me know if you would like to let a young guy tag along or if you have a need for a big truck 

-Hayden 

The pseudo flare is more to keep the design simple and less bulky. Printers are available in almost every price range from $150 and up. Like most things in life the really cheap ones are more hassle than they are worth usually but you can get a nice printer like the CR-10 for less than 500 bucks. 

It is actually really simple, I printed out the crossbar mounts and the hardware to hold just standard matting that I took off an old Keene sluice. I have been experimenting with printed riffles but they have not been to my liking. The material I used is Nylon with chopped carbon fiber(NylonX). I will post the files when I get the design to my standards, if you are interested. 

Just finished this project, figured somebody might like it around here. 

Thank you Steve! I appreciate the very thorough and helpful response. Keene seemed to be my initial pick, something like in your picture there is ideal. Just trying to get a gauge of what the community thinks. 

Looking to pick up a 4in in the next bit here. Keene? Proline? Or will the difference even matter for a novice? All opinions appreciated. 

Thank you for sharing! These resources are A+, they answered more than a few of the questions I have. 

Very true Fred. It is very much so first and foremost about fun and enjoying nature for me , it's a great way for my brother and I to keep in contact. I'm lucky to have a wife that loves prospecting and is a jeweler so our interests line up quite nicely. She will be right there in the creek with me haha 

Thank you both, I will have to get out there and do some sniping. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures but the area has quite a bit of exposed bedrock I believe limestone and lots of mining history (hydraulic pits on the hills,random digs and mines). I have  already done a bit of sluicing and have done some VERY rough calculations that put me somewhere around a pennyweight per yard not counting fines. For me this is a hobby but I most definitely want a nice return if I invest in a dredge(It would really make the wife happy haha) . Thanks for the book recommendation I love new info. 

I have been doing a little sampling on the banks of a creek and have found there to be quite a bit of fine gold and a few  nuggets around. What amount of gold found sampling would prompt you bring in a dredge? And do gold concentrations on the banks usually correlate with gold in the creek? I appreciate all the help I can get!