07-21-2025, 06:40 PM
This post was last modified: 07-21-2025, 06:56 PM by MichSwampbuck.
It has been very dry in the swamp, but a rain a few days ago gave us two inches and that was enough to get the creek racing. I had replaced the sluice mat material with some high traffic carpeting then I ran a 5 gallon bucket through the sluice and only got 4 small flakes. The current was strong and maybe it was too fast, but I believe it has more to do with the mat material. I think that the flakes were embedding in the carpet and weren't coming out when I cleaned it.
Anyway, I cleaned up the vial with the flakes and counted around 20 flakes now. I noticed that the eyedropper I use to pick out the flakes with will occasionally retain flakes and take a good flushing to get them out. I believe I have lost a few flakes like that, but I could use a jar to flush the flakes out with, then dump that in my little pan that is 8 inches in diameter to pick them out from.
I'll pan the creek material until it is black sand and then pick out the flakes as I see them. When I clean up the sluice, I pan out of a plastic bin filled with water at the house. I will also pan at the creek as I load up the sluice with sand. In either case, I stop and pick out the flakes with the eye dropper and put them in the vial. This gets sand in the vial, so I end up cleaning up the vial again. If I use a jar like I mentioned above, I think that will work better.
Now, I avg. at least four flakes per half bucket of sand. That sand is dug up with a post hole digger down two or so feet, that's around 6 scoops with the digger. That goes through two mesh screens that take out the larger rocks and gravel. I have to dump water onto the screens that sit over the 5 gallon bucket. Dragging that bucket around is a little rough, but once I set it by the sluice I can just sit there and run sand though a cup at a time. When I get to the bottom of the bucket, I pan that while I'm sitting there at the creek. All that takes me an hour, so a full 5 gallon bucket will take me two hours. Cleaning and panning up the sluice material is more like three hours, but I blame my home made sluice for that. Wheeling it back from the creek on a wheelbarrow sucks, that is another thing that makes this work.
So, with my homemade equipment and processes, it takes me around five hours to produce as much as 8 flakes. I'm going to invest in some real equipment soon and expect things to improve. It will take some time, but I'm hoping to reach or exceed my goal of 12 flakes per 5 gallon bucket of river sand.
Anyway, I cleaned up the vial with the flakes and counted around 20 flakes now. I noticed that the eyedropper I use to pick out the flakes with will occasionally retain flakes and take a good flushing to get them out. I believe I have lost a few flakes like that, but I could use a jar to flush the flakes out with, then dump that in my little pan that is 8 inches in diameter to pick them out from.
I'll pan the creek material until it is black sand and then pick out the flakes as I see them. When I clean up the sluice, I pan out of a plastic bin filled with water at the house. I will also pan at the creek as I load up the sluice with sand. In either case, I stop and pick out the flakes with the eye dropper and put them in the vial. This gets sand in the vial, so I end up cleaning up the vial again. If I use a jar like I mentioned above, I think that will work better.
Now, I avg. at least four flakes per half bucket of sand. That sand is dug up with a post hole digger down two or so feet, that's around 6 scoops with the digger. That goes through two mesh screens that take out the larger rocks and gravel. I have to dump water onto the screens that sit over the 5 gallon bucket. Dragging that bucket around is a little rough, but once I set it by the sluice I can just sit there and run sand though a cup at a time. When I get to the bottom of the bucket, I pan that while I'm sitting there at the creek. All that takes me an hour, so a full 5 gallon bucket will take me two hours. Cleaning and panning up the sluice material is more like three hours, but I blame my home made sluice for that. Wheeling it back from the creek on a wheelbarrow sucks, that is another thing that makes this work.
So, with my homemade equipment and processes, it takes me around five hours to produce as much as 8 flakes. I'm going to invest in some real equipment soon and expect things to improve. It will take some time, but I'm hoping to reach or exceed my goal of 12 flakes per 5 gallon bucket of river sand.
