Build Your Own Gold Prospecting Equipment
Last summer, for the very first time, a friend and I developed a passion for gold prospecting. But it wasn't just the finding of the gold that we loved, it was more the understanding of the methods used in finding it, of the engineering of how pans and sluice boxes work. We chose to build our own equipment (for the most part), veering away from the spendy stuff found online. Don't get me wrong. I'm sure that stuff works great. But we wanted the excitement of doing it all ourselves. So how did we build our own gold prospecting equipment? It was simple.
The most common types of gold prospecting equipment pieces are the sluice box and the gold pan. Your average gold pan is very cheap, usually about $10. Black plastic is what I prefer. The gold shows up perfectly against the black. Sluice boxes, on the other hand, can get a bit pricey. Building a sluice is actually a lot simpler than it sounds. Using pieces of plastic cut into simple geometric shapes (squares and rectangles) we build a very lightweight sluice box from plastic simply by gluing the pieces together with plastic cement and waiting 24 hours. For plans on building your own sluice box, one simply has to type in "sluice box plans" into google and they'll find dozens of step by step instructions on how to build their very own gold catching contraption. A sluice box is simple, it's a box, for crying out loud. Who can't build a box? Some outfitters try and sell you on lightweight airplane aluminum and other nonsense, charging hundreds of dollars for a sluice box, but why pay the money when you can literally build most of the gold prospecting equipment you'll need for a matter of a few dollars in materials.
But back to the sluice box for a moment. Lightweight plastic is easy to work with. As long as one doesn't buy sheets more than a quarter inch thick, it can be reasonably cut with an exacto blade. Add the cost of a can of plastic cement and you'll quickly have a homemade sluice box in a matter of hours.
The only thing left to do is find a river that has a reasonable amount of gold still hiding away. In California, that's pretty easy to do. Gold infested rivers are scattered all throughout southern and northern California. Other places might have less abundance, but hopefully if you're reading this, it's because you already know of a place you want to check out.
The most common types of gold prospecting equipment pieces are the sluice box and the gold pan. Your average gold pan is very cheap, usually about $10. Black plastic is what I prefer. The gold shows up perfectly against the black. Sluice boxes, on the other hand, can get a bit pricey. Building a sluice is actually a lot simpler than it sounds. Using pieces of plastic cut into simple geometric shapes (squares and rectangles) we build a very lightweight sluice box from plastic simply by gluing the pieces together with plastic cement and waiting 24 hours. For plans on building your own sluice box, one simply has to type in "sluice box plans" into google and they'll find dozens of step by step instructions on how to build their very own gold catching contraption. A sluice box is simple, it's a box, for crying out loud. Who can't build a box? Some outfitters try and sell you on lightweight airplane aluminum and other nonsense, charging hundreds of dollars for a sluice box, but why pay the money when you can literally build most of the gold prospecting equipment you'll need for a matter of a few dollars in materials.
But back to the sluice box for a moment. Lightweight plastic is easy to work with. As long as one doesn't buy sheets more than a quarter inch thick, it can be reasonably cut with an exacto blade. Add the cost of a can of plastic cement and you'll quickly have a homemade sluice box in a matter of hours.
The only thing left to do is find a river that has a reasonable amount of gold still hiding away. In California, that's pretty easy to do. Gold infested rivers are scattered all throughout southern and northern California. Other places might have less abundance, but hopefully if you're reading this, it's because you already know of a place you want to check out.
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