How do you build a gold sluice?
To build your own sluice box follow these simple steps:
- 1) Choose your Materials.
- 2) Plan and Design your Sluice Box.
- 3) Build the Frame.
- 4) Choose the Riffles.
- 5) Adding the Matting and Mesh.
- 6) Testing the Sluice Box.
- 7) Possibly Upgrade to a Recirculating Sluice.
- Summary.
How do you set the angle on a sluice box?
A sluice box should be set up in a creek or river with a steady flow of water, so that the lighter materials can get flushed out of the sluice box, while the heavier gold and black sands are trapped. As a general rule of thumb, it should slope around 5-7 degrees to function efficiently.
How much water is in a sluice?
You should have 1 inch of drop per each foot of sluice . Water should have a nice V shape when it enters the sluice. You may have to channel the water into the sluice with rocks if the water is slow. Have a 1/4 inch classifier.
What is sluicing for gold?
Sluicing is the use of a “sluice box” in a creek or river to separate gold from gravel. A sluice box is a metal, wood, or plastic channel that has “riffles” and other devices in it to catch gold.
Why do you put gold in a sluice box?
The principal behind the sluice box is the same no matter what design is used. Water carries gold laden gravels down the box and gravity ultimately separates the gold from the lighter rock and sand. In theory, it sounds simple, in practice, there is a little more to it.
What should be the slope of a gold sluice?
As a rule, a long narrow sluice is more efficient than a short wide one. The sluice should slope 4 to 18 inches per 12 feet, usually 1-1/8 to 1 -¾ inches per foot, depending on the amount of available water, the size of material processed, and the size of the gold particles.
What did Gold Diggers use to make sluice boxes?
Of course these gold diggers made and used their own homemade gold sluice box based on earlier old designs. Wooden planks were the most common construction material used. Obviously it was a “build your own” environment. But a dollar is still a dollar and all gold is still valuable.
Why did the pioneer use a sluice box?
The pioneer prospectors found that a rough wooden sluice with raised wooden slats worked best and was easy to build. The principal behind the sluice box is the same no matter what design is used. Water carries gold laden gravels down the box and gravity ultimately separates the gold from the lighter rock and sand.