Expanded metal over deep V matting

[Next1m8]

I was wondering Wal, should I get a bigger piece of flat bar for the first riffle so it touches the bottom of the slick plate but is still level with the rest of them? Or should I just drop that one to the slick plate and roughly level with the top of the expanded under the riffles to be a sort of ramp? i was also going to move the rear mounting bolt and drill a hole in the first riffle to re-mount the riffle assembly and cut the excess bar from behind the first riffle assembly

Sorry one more of probably a thousand more questions still to come, with the 100x40x15 expanded should I run it the whole length of that bare section? P.s that small expanded floating in the bare section will be trimmed 2moro so it sits snugly under the first riffle

P.s thanks again in advance for all of your advice and help

 

[WalnLiz]

Wal just curious bro, with my spray bars should I make them 50mm or 40mm pressure pvc?

And so you suggest no ball valve

What in your experience works best slotted sprayers or drilled holes?

Sorry to keep being a pain but will it still create enough speed to clean the blondes and lights ect over the riffles? I took your advice removed the first riffle, cut the carpet back to the second riffle I'm going to have to adjust height of the first riffle to sit flush on the bottom of the sluice so it does not Underflow atm I'm looking for this expanded 100x40x15 as a nugget trap sort of thing and boiler

I'll upload a picture later of the rear wing nut mounting point I need some advice there to wondering if it will hinder it or not

I'd make them 40mm as you need quite a lot of water pressure to get 50mm working with efficient pressure. I personally prefer slotted spray as they cut the clay/wash into slices rather than the holes version which tends to drill if the pressure is strong enough. Another reason I prefer slotted is you don't get blockages as easily as with holes, and you cover a far wider section of the boiler than holes...even if the holes are multi-directed.

Others may disagree with me but this is my experience and viewpoint only. If using slotted cut the slots with a drop saw as a hack saw or angle grinder will not give you a wide enough slot or enough volume from the slot.

Spray pressure alone is not the key to efficient breakdown of the pay dirt....water volume is just as important, and this is also what you need to regulate and tune the lower sluice. Massive spray with no volume will wash your dirt better but may not give enough flow volume to clear the lower sluice efficiently or enable regulation of flow.

I's no good to exceed slope angle for lack of water volume.....there's a balance you must obtain to be efficient, especially on the finer flour gold recovery.

How you secure the side rails and wing nut is of no great importance, and won't in any way interfere with the working of the sluice. Use which ever is convenient to the set up...whether at the back of the sluice, on top of the first runner, or on the side runners themselves.

If you like Chris you can send me a PM and I can go through all the pros and cons of most set ups with you. Mightn't clog up the forum so much as most of what we are covering is more of a personal viewpoint.

Wal.

 

[G0lddigg@]

100% second above statement, slotted all the way, Ive tested so many different configurations and always go back to slotted with a drop saw. simply you get the best balance between pressure, volume and low blockage

 

[Goldtarget]

If I may gents load up as many questions and answers as you like, I think you guys are covering alot of ground that most newbies are going to ask eventually.
We've covered matting, slick plates, sluice angles, riffles and vortexes, water pressure and speed, slotted vs drilled and more! Not bad at all!
There's not this sort of discussion on most sites, PA definitely leads the way.

 

[WalnLiz]

Just thought the topic was becoming a one sided personal opinion and not of much interest to anyone other than Chris. Assumed most here would have felt it more appropriate to answer via the PM system as the questions are personally directed at myself and my opinions. :|

 

[Goldtarget]

I see what your saying Wal, each area and banker will be unique and there are other opinions out there but even with the things I know I'm following with interest.
No one conversation is going to cover it all but I see the value atm. Obviously you guys can take it offline if you think it the best course.

 

[Next1m8]

Cheers heaps Wal, and I must say golddig I have to agree with Wals theroy on clogging up less with slotted and also allows more water volume to help clear the lower sluice as well, I appreciate all the help and advice. I think this forum is really beneficial for people who could possibly wish to set there highbankers up in different manners, however it's more of a one sided in a way that it's so far just me asking all the questions, but with everything we cover any newbies who do searches in Google will be directed toward many different aspects of this because of keywords and what they wish to do, for example I searched slotted or drilled holes in spray bar and top search was this forum thread and also expanded metal. After feed back I'm going to go with slotted,

Just curious should I run the slot the whole length in the middle of the dotted lines? Because originally I was going to do multi holes until I read this but really wanted slots to allow more volume of water to go through the system

 

[WalnLiz]

Slots need to run across the pipe Chris and not along it. Need to be about 2cm apart and expose about 1cm of the internal pipe wall. It all depend on what size and volume pump you have, as this will determine how many slots you are are capable of running. Send me a PM re Pump size (L/min), hose size, and top hopper size up to the grizzly...ie...total wash zone length, and I'll let you know what ratio I would use for the slots.

 

[dwt]

Keep it up fellas, good read and info, follow that up with N1M8 build as we're going and the threads coming together quite nicely, thanks for the feed back on the sluice box length Wal, I would say that I've been tied up fighting off Zombies with a Map Gas torch and a can of 'Start ya Bastard' but alas the truth is someone's been hogging the iPad with that bloody Facebook rott
Slots over holes gets my vote, (wish I had of learnt that one earlier on though)

 

[Next1m8]

I'm going to deft put slots in it DWT I'll put some videos of it once I've screwed in the bolts and tightened up the nuts

 

[yobskin]

I found out all this info on previous posts from wal n others.. but still good to see wal explain it for the 1000 time you are one pashant man.

 

[BJ Bates]

Hi All

Been following this topic for a while and it's a good to see the positive input where it is required, there are some very basic rules or formulas that need to be used as a guide only but nothing is set in concrete.
If you can engineer something that works and it isn't exactly like joe blogs set up, good on you, as it shows the initiative and ingenuity that most people are good at but require a little encouragement and accolades to go ahead with their ideas.
I have built a high banker which worked extremely well on my trip up nth and with a few suggestions from a couple on this site I will be taking it back north with me this trip with the mods suggested.
So don't feel bound by the holy grail, "there isn't any when it comes to inventiveness", asking questions on this forum is better than reading a book about it as there are many experienced operators here that have "been there done that" and know the pit falls and are quite happy to pass on their knowledge to assit setting up a newbie's high banker or sluice.

BJ

 

[Next1m8]

Totally agree BJ

 

[Next1m8]

This is the best I could find in ballarat I'll try a few more engineering shops, do you think this may be suitable

 

[BJ Bates]

It looks ok and should do the trick, what you should remember is the smaller the expanded mesh the slower your feed rate will have to be, also the smaller the mesh the more likelihood of bogging and losing gold,
Remember if your way out in the woop woops like me carry plenty of spares of everything.
What's your thoughts guys?
Here are a couple of pics I have of the beast and for me it's saves panning, with the new mods I hope to get a lot more time sluicing.
BJ

 

[BJ Bates]

There is one obvious flaw on this design? who can pick it?

BJ

 

[MJB]

What a beast BJ....very nice idea with the hopper and grizzly

 

[DrDuck]

Looks like the hopper would readily become clogged with bigger rocks....

Is that what you had in mind, BJ?

 

[BJ Bates]

Hi DRDuck, no mate I got so carried away with everything and forgot to make adjustable legs on the front, the hopper doesn't clog up with biggies as such, as I classify with 1" mesh first before I feed it, other than that it goes great.
When we were up nth the missus and I retrieved 1.4ozs for the short time out which I am stoked about.
I wish I had the claim to run it in conjunction with a trommel!..I think it would come up with the goods...a mod for it was to run cable tray classifier instead of the punch plate and for good reason as it was pointed out the small stones would stick in the holes and they did, but a piece of wood sorted that issue.
If you look at the pics there are two different sprays, I didn't run the square one that is there but run the nozzles all the time as they worked a treat, and besides the square spray bars inhibit how accurate you need to be when shovelling the material onto the box....Cheers

BJ

 

[Next1m8]

That <- edit expanded isn't small mate the diamond is 90mm width, 40mm up and the rise is 18mm