ITS ALIVE ! IT PUFFS! IT BLOWS , nearly

just finished the prototype blower , just need to wait on a PWM speed controller as the motors a bit fast and I can't gear it down enough , ordered a good quality speed controller so I will be able to fine tune the puffs per minute

took a bit of tinkering being first build , never seen one in the flesh and made it up all out of what I had at hand

the screening box is made out of an upturned base off a chop saw that died
the legs are supports off an old pop top that I stripped for trailer base

motor from a car heater, pullys from garage sales

dearest items are the 2 heavy clampdowns at $9.00 ea and Pwm speed controller at $38.00, ( i oredered a lot cheaper one from china but decided I couldn't wait the extra cple of weeks) so a princely sum off $56.00 plus a few bucks for material
no I didn't find the gold with it ,I just wanted to see the green and gold ,sure is purty
won't sleep till the speed controller arrives
cheers , flash

Very nice!.

Make another one, sell it to me .. haha

Aren't you the clever one. Can't wait to see the gold it collects for you as it certainly looks the goods. Are you from an engineering background?

I'll take the next one after LazyTrommel.

aww shucks thanks guys
no not engineering background , was furniture maker now mostly sculptor
flash

being made up of mostly steel it has blown out a bit in the weight department and adding in the battery also I dont think I''ll be carrying it too far , better that than falling apart in the field I guess , the blower that is not me

thats brilliant flashinthepan.....really good.

You have done what most of the old timers did and made an effective prospecting tool out of what was on hand. What a bargain.

The only other way to slow it down would be to put a larger pulley on the bellows.

I have nearly finished my blower style dry blower, I just need some legs and we are away. By far the most pricey bit for me was the decent leaf blower I bought on the weekend...$264....wow....but it will last.

Can't wait to see a vid of yours in action. We are going to need to organise a mass dry blowing weekend for sure.

Where abouts are you?

Cheers,
Matt

I built a trommel last year, had the same problem, needed an excavator to move it..

thanks mjb , tried a fair bit bigger pully on bellows and smaller on motor also ,still a bit quick and getting out of proportion , this motor is pretty high revving being off a car heater , I think in the long run having the variable speed will be good ,otherwise I'd be guessing the ratio of the pullys for optimum puffs p/m
gotta chuckle at the thought of lots of duelling drywashers with the dust cloud seen for miles :lol:
I'm sth of Ballarat mate
cheers , flash

Congratulations Flash brilliant job!

cheers gcause , I did study the old one you were given pretty hard ,I like the way the top riffle box and bellows both easily attach to the flat surface of a good solid centre , easy to seal and sturdy.

That's good flash,

There may be a few of us get together when things dry out a little. Goldigg@ is pretty keen for a catch up too, the more the merrier.

Good call with the variable speed, unless you know the formula to work out pulley sizes for certain speeds its just a matter of trial and error...and who knows what the optimum RPM for your blower is?

That dust cloud would be a sight to behold......bring it on!

Cheers

Looks good' I was always going to buy one but have been saving up bits for months to start on one my self' mine may turn out a bit heavy too but At least you can throw dirt into it without it falling over.

thats a ripper!! good job and its already holding gold!!!!! lol cant to catchup and see her in action

cheers mate , must be a gold magnet ,just appeared overnight it did
won't bloody sleep till controller comes now

great work well done cant wait to see a video of it working