Gold concentrator DIY blue bowl

thingiverse

This is a gold concentrator. Either use a cheap $3 oil pan and cut a 90mm hole in it to make your own "black bowl" or print up the whole concentrator on a 250x250 print bed. I use a 180 GPM fountain pump and a brass gate valve to fine tune the flow. Oil Pan: Buy a cheap $3 oil pan from auto parts store and cut a 90mm hole in the center. Use RTV to seal the cone to hole surface. (glues don't stick to the polypropylene oil pan well). Drill a 1"/25mm hole in the side of a pan for the fitting to fit through. Hook up your selected fountain pump and get the center cone LEVEL. I used popsicle sticks though I will be designing leveling adapters soon. Sandpaper the inside of the oil pan to leave a slightly rough finish so gold will stick in place better. Printed Concentrator: The threaded inlet is 1/2" NPT, you'll need to place this on some metal rails or wood across the top of a 5 gal bucket. Level the center cone and let her rip. Tips: Print in green, black or blue to make gold easier to see (or paint it afterwards). You want the concentrated sand to be a uniform size for best results. Classify it down as much as you can. I used a metal mesh kitchen strainer, window screen or actual classifiers work too. Use a tap or cut a perpendicular line in a metal 1/2" pipe and thread it in to clean the threads up and remove residual support material There's a million Youtube videos on DIY blue bowls and blue bowls, check those out if you need more assistance. Good luck!