HOW TO BUILD THE DEEP WELL MILLER TABLE
Вставка
- Опубліковано 14 гру 2024
- This table is the most enjoyable table I have worked on so far and so I made this video for those who would like to try to build one themselves. Sorry it's a little long but I wanted to give as much detail as I could for those folks who aren't used to building these types of projects. I hope it will be of use to some of you. Check my introduction video on this to see it in operation. There will also be a couple of videos on fine gold sluices using the same design for those who are interested.
I had to laugh. You apoligized for the length of the video. I could have happily watched all week. May you always find gold on your table!
adriaan nikken
Thank you Adriaan and thanks for watching. Most people have a short attention span but as I have a number of people who want/are building this, I wanted to give them as much info as I could to make the job easier.
@Rex Abdullah I dont think that is a cool thing to do, and this is not the place to talk about that.
It's very relaxing to hear this man speaks
Thank you Mike. I wish it had stayed that way but after 3 rounds of Covid and 2 of pneumonia it’s going through some changes. 😖
@@utahavalanch
I started your Miller table, adding it to a sluice, a year ago.... the wife and I got long covid in November, almost died, the wife hospital 7 days...
An extreme ordeal. Got covid last month, not as bad, but still kicked me down....
A year later and I'm just getting able to get this thing finished....
First fire up today.... I hope all is better with you, these are some crazy times of life.
@@marksexton1340
Hi Mark, it’s bad stuff isn’t it? I caught it from a relative a year and a half ago and then got it again at thanksgiving. Then I also ended up in the hospital for 11 days over Christmas and New Years with the Pneumonia end of it. Then I got a round of shedding from a vaxxed friend and then a round of the Omicron variant. To top things off I got the Pneumonia again. Just no end to it. 😖😖 I can hardly wait for the Monkeypox to get here.😝
Congratulations on your build. I hope you like it. If you have any questions feel free to ask. I’m right now finishing up a new Miller Sluice which is my combination of sluice and Miller Table combined into 1. Fast water to sluice the material fast and then slow water flow to run the cons to separate the gold. No more swapping units.👍
@@utahavalanch
I'm so glad to hear you made it through... it is scary stuff, when you're older, and can't take it.
And just when you get through it, you get nailed again...
Be safe, and thank you for all you do.
I have made every project you have on the net, to follow your instructions is perfect, so complete with info on building. You are impressive from A to Z. Thank You for your videos.
Hi Skip. Wow!! I’m certainly impressed. I hope they work well for you. I’d like to hear how you like them. I’m constantly upgrading all my equipment but medical problems have been preventing me from getting out videos on them in a timely manner.
I have a new Miller Table and a fine gold highbanker you may be interested in building.
I have 6 pans, 2 classifiers, and made some of my own crevicing tools. I got my panning down pretty good, I can find gold in the pay dirt I buy 😀. Trying to teach my girlfriend to pan has been a challenge. Doesn't leave much time to really prospect but we do have fun hiking and being outside. Its just a matter time time and we will find the right spot. We also joined a prospecting club in our area and they have a few claims we can work we just haven't made it to one yet. I'm going to check some stuff around town now that I saw your grandsons great luck. Thanks for the info.
It sounds like you are off to a good start. Keep at it. One big thing I learned from my grandson (guess we're never to old to learn LOL) was to just take small samples that you can process quickly. I carry a couple of 1 gallon buckets with me in the truck and if I see a pile off to the side of the road or in the gutter, I grab some of it to test. All you need is about half a gallon and if gold shows up then you go back. If no gold then you aren't out of a lot of time and you look for another spot. Don't waste time on non productive spots hoping that gold will show. Take many samples.
We also found that the gravel they use to build roads is from crushed quartz rock that has a lot of gold in it. Best of luck to you both.
Glad to hear that you’re having a good time working on different projects.😁
Utahavalanche, you will go down in the annals of mining history as the pioneer of the deep sump Miller table. Thanks for taking the time to make longer videos which make replicating your projects so much easier. I'm making mine out of PVC lumber so it will be waterproof but won't be a work of art like your wood tables. I'm sorry to hear that you're no longer able to get out and prospect but wanted to thank you for passing on so much that you have learned to those of us just starting out. I know that gold prospecting here in Utah doesn't produce much gold but being out in nature and working along a cool stream sounds like an enjoyable way to spend some of my retired years when the wife doesn't have a list of jobs lined up for me! Wishing you the best and thanks for your wonderful channel.
twotwentyswift
Well, I hope that it will be beneficial to some folks. It’s been a long time in development and that work continues.i have a new modification I’m trying out.
Well your table doesn’t have to be pretty, just functional. 😄 I was on a prospecting trip up American Fork Canyon a couple of years back and needed a Miller Table which I left home. I needed a couple more buckets and headed down to the AF Homey D for them. I saw a 2x2 foot sheet of 3/4” styrofoam as I was passing through and grabbed it and a can of Chalkboard paint and a bottle of Titebond III glue. It only took about an hour to cut out and build a deep well Miller Table that saved the day. So it doesn’t have to be pretty. 😁
Yippers, our gold is very small and that is where the Miller Table really shines. I use my Tables more than anything else.
One thing I’m learning is that 80% of the gold is not in the streams. I’m finding it all around me. Pulled .10 gm out of the flower bed this summer. Check out my urban prospecting video with my grandson. We got 3/4 oz. out of just the gutter dirt in several neighborhoods.👍 also that dirt they put on the roads in the winter has gold in it. When the snow melts it gets washed to the edge of the road and into the gutters. Roads to ski resorts are great roads to work.
@@utahavalanch Thanks for the great reply. I have watched the video of you and your grandson running his gutter dirt on the Miller table and really got a kick out of it. I called my wife over to watch it again with me, haha! You're awfully lucky to have something that brings you and your grandson together for some great times.
Your story of building a Miller table on the fly shows just how innovative a guy can be. Good on ya! I was in American Fork Canyon above Tibble Fork the other day but with the fall leaves out and the pay booth gone from the canyon for repaving, the number of people driving through the area was overwhelming. And that was on a Monday afternoon before most people got off work!
I live in Sandy not too far from the mouths of Big and Little Cottonwood canyons so I may have to give that a try. Right now I'm just getting rolling, ordered a used Keene Super Mini sluice of eBay yesterday to start my equipment collection, and will be building my Miller table tomorrow when Amazon delivers my chalkboard paint. I hope it adheres to the PVC lumber but we shall see. I read that you had issues with the bonding primer in one of your comments so I'll avoid that. Thanks again, you're an awesome source of knowledge and we greatly appreciate your videos!
twotwentyswift
Yea, I got caught totally off base with that video. My grandson wanted to come over and run some dirt on the Miller Table but I didn’t have anything to run. He said “I do” and brought out a small sandwitch bag with some dirt in it. I watched for a minute to make sure he was doing it right and sprung my jaw when I saw the gold drop out. After 5 minutes of nonstop gold I ran for a camera. The rest was just point and shoot as it happens. He ended up with about 2 grams of gold. I thought he was playing a trick on me and told him so. He said, no, I’ll show you and walked out to my gutter, swept up a half gallon of gravel and classified it. We ran that on the table and you can see what he got. I called BS a second time and he went across the street and cleaned out the gutter over there and we had a repeat performance. Over 3 grams for the weekend.
He has a real nose for finding the stuff. I left him in camp while I hit the AF river for the day with the Gold Hog and when I got back, he had been running road gravel and dirt from around the campground through my mini recirculating sluice. He had little over a gram to my less than quarter gram. 😢 The Hog is now in storage and I now use his techniques.👍
Yep, we didn’t go down to camp this year due to the crowds. Maybe next summer.
The Keene is a good little sluice and should work well for you. There is good gold in the big Cottonwood as well. Also where they had the big mud slides in the canyon, check the dirt from the slide. There is gold in it as well.
@@utahavalanch I recall in the video you saying you thought your grandson might be playing a prank on you. How nice to find that wasn't the case at all! About the time we think we're starting to get things figured out something like that happens and we have to step back and reaccess things.
I appreciate your tips and advice which will no doubt save me some time on the learning curve as I get more serious about all this. I reckon the old saying is true..."The gold is where you find it" : ))
Stay safe in these crazy times my friend and I hope you can get out and enjoy some of this beautiful fall weather prospecting with your grandson if you're feeling up to it!
i have seen countless videos of miller tables. i dont believe i have seen one that works as well as your design. your testing, research and craftsmanship have led to an innovation with that deep well, that i think is a quantum leap in miller table design. i will be starting one of these for myself following your design exactly, as i dont think it can even be improved upon at this point. have enjoyed your videos for years. thank you.
Thanks Dennis and thanks for watching. Miller Tables have always been my favorite tool to work with and I have built about 40 of them now trying to find the best design and so far this is the one is my all time favorite. It has by far the smoothest water flow of any table I have ever worked on.
I am still looking but so far I really like all the features of this one. You can spoon your material into the deep well and use it like a fluid bed to catch the gold in there or you can use the table. I'm a big fan of the gold hole but I find myself just sweeping the gold over into the deep well most of the time and snuffering it up. However the gold hole is nice for the final cleanup and bottling. I hope you get yours made and enjoy it as much as I do. let me know how you like it.
Been wanting to build one, seen alot of videos, but yours by far is the best design with competent construction methods. I will do a little experimenting of my own but intend to use most of what you demonstrated. Good Job!
Hi Jon thanks and thanks for watching. The Miller Table is one of my favorite tools for getting that very fine gold and I have spent a number of years building and testing different designs and so far this one is the best. Best of Luck with the build.
Never heard of a miller table before, now i know how to build one. Thanks for a great DIY video, much appreciated.
Hi Maritimer and thanks for watching. Yippers, some great old technology. Been around for about 150 years. One of the greatest gold recovery machines on the market.
@@utahavalanch The chalk paint made me realize something about gold that i sort of knew but didn't comprehend fully, , golds density, it.s ability to anchor itself on a seemingly smooth surface, changes eveything. Thank you again, and i am on to your videos.
@@MrAllan9
Yes, it can. The chalkboard paint has something in it that makes it more sticky to gold than any other paints and it really works well. We are also working with new Silicone Calking gold mats that really work well due to the gold really sticks to the Silicone for some reason. If you watch my latest 2 sluice videos, you can see how it sticks to both the non slick plate and the Silicone mat. It's like having a gold magnet. It's really hard for the gold to get blown out of the sluice like with other sluices.
@@utahavalanch Already watched them, if it's with the Dawn soap video, saw that process on the tube for making molds a few years ago and kept it in the back of my head, now it's in the front, for gold recovery, another great video by the way.
@@MrAllan9
Yes, that is the process and a gentleman by the name of Alan Robertson decided to try making mats out of it. Seems it works very well. You can check out his channel here:
ua-cam.com/channels/q2tap0uNZmPLhs0JqrQOlw.html
He has a number of videos out on how the process developed.
I have made a number of molds for all my sluices and I love the mats. The gold sticks right to the silicone making their recovery ability much better than the rubber mats. I have been doing a lot of testing with them and I'm trying to get some videos up as fast as I can.
Hi Utah, I made 3 of these (1 for me, 1 for my sister-in-law, and 1 for a prospecting friend) using your instructions. All 3 work well enough to capture even the smallest specs of gold. Thanks for the great instructional video, very easy to follow. Cheers! Grant.
Grant L
Hi Grant. That's great to hear. Thank you for the feedback. It's nice to know if some of these projects work for other folks as well as they do for me. I really like these Miller Tables. My Deep Well Combination sluice has really kept me busy this year and so I have ended up using the Miller Table on it most of the time. You might want to give it a try as well because you build it the very same way you do the Miller Table except it has a shorter top deck and a mat to catch any that get away or if you want to use it as a sluice. The Silicone mat is really a gold catcher. The gold just sticks to it when it touches it.
I love this Miller table even though I have not built one yet. I see it works very well and I have a parts list and most of the materials needed for the build. Thank you for the great information and the time you spend making these awesome videos.
Hi William and thanks for watching. I love Miller Tables and have spent many years testing different ideas and designs. So far this one is one of the better ones I have come up with so far. I have a little newer version if you saw my last video that has a mat at the bottom to catch runaway gold. That has been handy.
@@utahavalanch I have thought about the silicone mat version as well. I like watching Alan Robertson and love the idea. I like your version of the miller table. Thank you.
@@williamtbaird8457
I love the Silicone mats. I think my favorite unit is my combination unit as you can see immediately if there is any gold in the dirt you are running. And it is a Miller Table when it comes to cleaning up the cons. Not a lot of cleanup though as it catches and cleans up most of the gold in the first riffle.
Yes, I live in northern Wisconsin... we have flower gold here...get a bit of Lake Superior black sands from time to time
It’s a challenge to clean that stuff.
Thanks again love your video... good stuff!!!
Hi Dave. Sounds maybe like you may hang out in the Flower Gold Wizard country? Beautiful country. Yippers, I have had some folks send me some samples from up there to test for gold. Just got through testing a gallon of it a week ago. size wise about like we have here but yours has a lot more black sand. This particular table has recovered a lot of gold from those sands and Washington Beach and several beaches in Alaska. You can see some of it in the introduction video on this table.
The problem with the beach sand is that the black sand is heavier than the gold and so you can only get about 20% of it with a sluice. The biggest percentage of gold has to be recovered with either a Miller Table or panning. If you spread out the material on the table, the gold will stick to it but the black sand won't and will get washed off. There is really a lot of gold in that sand. I estimate up to 1/2 oz. per 6 - 5 gallon buckets according to some of the samples I'm getting.
Hello Utah
Yes I’ve been trying all kinds of contraptions trying to get Thru that nasty black sands....well I have all winter to play around with it.
Thanks again for excellent videos!!!😀
I wonder if you put a pice of pvc pipeunderneath a blue bowl hole into one of your deep well miller tables or a combination of silicone mat and miller table...🤔
@@David_Lee_33
Well I can guarantee that if you set it up properly, this unit will do the job. That black sand is what I spent years trying to develop something to work with it and the small gold we have around here. It isn't that hard to build either. I have the video showing how to do it. I'm working on another one for the Deep Well Sluice. Actually you build both the same way. The sluice just has a shorter deck on it. Try it, You'll like it. :-D
@@David_Lee_33
Dumping the output of the Blue Bowl won't work I'm afraid. You would have to use a sluice underneath. The problem with the Blue Bowl is that you have to have a very strong current flow to move the heavy sand up and out. That is way, way, too much water for a Miller Table. Also the Blue Bowl is designed to wash everything of a certain weight out of the Bowl. There is a lot of the gold that is actually the same weight and lighter than the black sands they are getting rid of and so the gold goes out as well.
Everyone keeps harping that black sand is lighter than gold. Yes it is but if you compare a 1 gram piece of gold and a 2 gram piece of black sand..Which is heavier? And so it is. Any mixture of dirt will have black sand that is heavier than the gold and if you set up your equipment to wash out the black sand, the gold goes with it. That is why I keep all my black sand and separate it and the gold on the Miller Table. The black sand no matter what size will wash off. The gold no matter what size will stick. Hang on to all your black sand. I have a video I'm trying to get finished on how to work black sand. There is quite a bit of gold still trapped inside of it.
Great video. I started panning just a couple yrs ago and don't get to pan often (living in New Orleans and traveling to Tenn). But when I do, all I generally get is stuff that looks like fairy dust. It's even too small for my sluices to catch so this table seems to be the right way to go. I'm glad you took your time and went through all the steps. Very helpful and informative video.
Hi John and thanks for watching. Sorry so slow answering but I was in the hospital with pneumonia and had no access to my channel.
Most of the gold I work with is very small pixie dust as well and that is why I designed this Miller Table. If you put a control valve on the hose, you can turn the water way down for the very tiny gold and then turn it up for running coarser material. I now use a battery powered pump and I have a PWM motor speed controller for it. You can buy them on EBay cheap. This allows you to fine tune the water flow very easily by adjusting the pump motor speed. The very best of luck on your build.
@@utahavalanch Hope you're feeling well. Nearly finished my build, just looking at some different mats/surfaces. Thanks again for all the help.
@@jcass1970
Hi John. Yea, still got the pneumonia and I guess I will for some time yet. They figure 2 months at least. 1 month into it so far. Getting old.
You can use this video to build both my Miller Table and sluices. You might want to try making some Silicone mats for your sluices. There is a bit of a learning curve to make But they make a huuuge difference when it comes to catching gold. Best of luck on the build.
I just came across your channel last night and I am really enjoying it. I am new to prospecting and have been out a couple of times without much luck so far. I am definitely going to build this Miller table if I ever find any gold. LOL. The video with you grandson and gutter gold just blew me away. Thank you for your awesome builds.
Hi Shane and thanks for watching. I would suggest you get a gold pan and learn how to pan well and then go out and sample everywhere. Learning how to pan well is a big step. As you saw with my grandson, he found gold in many places. We don't have access to any streams and so we have learned to sample any dirt we come across. My neighbor even found gold in his flower bed this past summer. So keep at it and you will find it.
This was a very informative and well taught. You were either a teacher or you should have been. Keep up the great work.
Hi Gary and thanks for watching. No, I wasn’t a teacher although I came from a big family of teachers. Maybe a little rubbed off. 😝 I try to make these as understandable as I can as a lot of my projects are being built in about 9 different countries where prospecting gear is hard to come by and some of the folks don’t speak English so I hope my on screen work can be understood.
I'm making a miller table like this one except using glue and clamps only, so far it's looking good 👍 Thanks for all the ideas.
Good. Deal. I hope you like it. It’s the best design I’ve come up with so far and really beats it the commercial versions. One thing, keep the bottom of the spraybar close to the bottom. I’m setting mine about 3/16” up off the bottom. Make the deep well 3” from the head board to the edge of the Miller Deck. This will smooth the water better.
You might want to also make a 2” space at the bottom so you can put in a catch mat for the runaway pieces. You can see the latest version in my last video where I show all the latest versions. You can also put a 1/4” bead of silicone across the bottom of this version to catch them so you can sweep them back up to the top again. Only downside is the silicone is hard to remove if you don’t like it. But you could run a strip of Duct tape across the end and put the silicone on it to try it.
I’m currently working on a modified version of my Miller Sluice that will make it a little better Miller Table so it will work very well as a sluice and then you can run the concentrates over the Miller deck to get the finer gold. Plus it will have a built in catch mat. Maybe your next build?😁
Trying to get some videos out but too much snow. 😝 but it will make for a great urban prospecting year.👍
@@utahavalanch My glue and clamp miller table turned out great 👍 Thanks
@@johnnytoy5487 you’re welcome. I hope it works well for you.
It’s funny, I started corresponding with another person at the same time I’ve been corresponding with you on the Miller Table. He got his built and grabbed some mud out of his gutter to test it with and found gold. He got some gutter dirt from his aunts house and got gold out of it. He got some from his parents house and yep.😄
His little project to play with his kids occasionally has gone crazy. Ive spent all week helping him with building a large fine gold high banker. So you just never know what your project may turn into. 😁
some of the best 36 min. I've spent on YT with worth while info... Thanks for you time and efforts and for sharing your design... This weekend will be the start of my table build too.....
I hope it has been of interest. If you get one built I'd be interested in knowing how you like it.
This is incredible! My prospecting buddy and I will be using this video to make our own. Thank you so much for sharing, really a great piece of work! Two thumbs up for craftsmanship!
Jack Sulateskee
Thanks Jack and thanks for watching. I really like working on this table. I'm really loving the fact I can just sweep the gold over the edge into the Well to hold it til I'm through and then just suck it up with my sniffer bottle. I hardly use the gold vial hole on it any more.
@@utahavalanch The well was a brilliant addition to the table. We will be incorporating the well as well. It seems more feasible than the hole for the gold vile. Really a great unit, well done!
@@MtnManJack
The main reason for the Well was to smooth the water much more than you can get with the regular design. If you work with very tiny gold like -100 like I do, you will really enjoy it.
It turns out it has other handy uses as well.
Great work! Thanks for sharing and the effort to explain details is much appreciated.
Thank you River. My grandson and I have really gotten a lot of use out of these over the past year and I hope that others may find them of use as well.
Great videos! That's a really good miller table! All my equipment is homemade- sluice, gold cube, silicone mats etc. Will be happy to add this to my arsenal of tools!
Hi Dan thanks and thanks for watching. Miller Tables are my favorite tool for fine gold. I’ve spent 12 years building and experimenting with them trying to find the best one and this is the second best design I’ve come up with yet. I have a new version I’m liking even better that has a little runaway silicone mat at the bottom to catch any rollers or flyers. I’m trying to get a video out on it. You might be interested in my combination sluice/MillerTable as well. It’s the same basic design but has a fluid bed, Miller Table and regular sluice altogether in one unit. It is where I got the idea for my new Miller Table. I ran this unit all summer and have yet to find a spec of gold in the tailings.
Great build video. I will certainly be building one this summer. Thank you!
Thanks again for watching. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I have mine.
Great video, and very detailed. Thanks for sharing
Thank you and thanks for watching.
Thanks for sharing great video you have some nice tools in your shop.
Hi Alan. Thanks for stopping by. I mostly just have the basics but I enjoy them. I wish I was a better woodworker and could build some nice things, but I guess that's the way of life. :-) Actually all of my projects are designed to be built with a hand saw, a drill and a few bits.
Am a professional teacher but to be honest you are the best teacher I have ever met,very detailed can just get everything the first round,I watched the deep riffles mat video and was able to make mine as well, initially I wanted to order from Amazon which would cost me more than 100 dollars for a small size,thanks alot,my question is can I use MDF for the boards for the miller table? also what sizes of gold can I separate using the same?
Hi Stephen and thank you. I try to make things as easy to understand as I can. Yes you can use MDF. Just be sure to seal the wood with many coats of spar varnish or paint so that no water can get to the wood. I usually use at least 6. If you put a valve on your pump hose so you can control the water flow so you can turn it way down to almost a trickle, you can easily separate gold down to minus 100 and I have been able to separate down to 200 mesh which is the smallest you can see with good naked eyes.
Glad you were able to make the mat. It will catch gold way better than the commercial mats. Very best of luck with your projects.
Thanks 👍 I've got my wood and all supplies 🤔, I'm ready to get started. I'm also making one with the silicone at the lower end 👍 WISH ME LUCK 🤞.
Good deal and best of luck. Definitely make the one with the mat at the end. It will catch a lot of runaways that you didn’t see roll down the deck.
Excellent work, thank you for sharing. Looks like I will be building one.
Paul Domalo
Thanks Paul and thanks for watching. I think you will like it. I have built about 36 Miller Tables of different designs and this is by far my favorite. This one works especially well for very fine gold
In reply to your answer, each and every item we have built that you put on the net works great right from the start. They are fun to work with and see the results, looking for more in the coming years.
I’m glad you like them. I build a lot of different things just to see how well they work and the ones I like, I put up here in hopes they will work for others. My Combination sluice has been my favorite due to its versatility and gold catching abilities but I now have a fine gold highbanker that is running some serious competition. My goal has been to build a piece of equipment that catches all the gold no matter how small. With these Silicone mats, and this new design, I’m finally getting there. The new highbanker has 3 very strong gold traps that doesn’t let anything out. I’m working on a small cleanup sluice that has the 3 traps in it as well. I hope to have a short video out this week on a couple of new Miller Table modifications and a quick look at a slapped together prototype of my highbanker.
Beautiful craftsmanship!!!!
Dave B
Hi Dave and thanks for watching. I really like these Miller Tables. Sure make separating the gold from the rest of the material a lot easier.
Terrific job hope you are well!
Thank you Dirt and thanks for watching. Still trying to make it through some medical problems but also still working on some projects.
Really great video my friend. I have watched before. Just refreshing my thoughts. Thanks for sharing your project.😎⛏⛏🔥🔥
Thanks for stopping buy again Chuck. I have certainly been enjoying all of your videos. I really like your new furnaces. I have been looking at that electric one myself.
I have been working on a mat for the bottom of my tables that really helps catch runaway gold. I have 2 new sluices using the Deep Well design that has 3 very good gold traps that makes it very hard for any gold to escape. I just put up a new video last night showing one of them. I’m hoping the medical problems will let me give them a good workout this year.
What a wonderful channel you have, Very informative. I subscribed i enjoy the content. Have you considered doing a video on making a rocker box? I am also in Utah..
Thank you and thanks for watching. Health issues have slowed me down some but hope to get more videos out later on.
I have but as I haven’t had anywhere to run one I didn’t ever get around to making one. I do mostly Urban prospecting nowdays as there is far more gold than working streams. However, I did run across a young lady who had a mini rocker she was running in a wide shallow tote. It was portable and could be set up anywhere. She filled the tote with water and used that to dip her water out of. The water ran through the rocker box and back into the tote. I have some plans drawn up to make something similar but more up to date for a recirculating type unit that you could set up anywhere. Like your garage.
I am currently finishing up on a new update of my Miller Sluice that will probably be my main tool for awhile and when I get finished with that I’ll start on the rocker box. So stay tuned and I’ll try to get to it.
Very detailed, nice job. Thanks for the video, enjoyed it.
William Gipson
Thank you William and thanks for watching.
Amazing work mate great video
Thank you and thanks for watching. This is one of my most favorite tools for prospecting.
Once again, excellent video. If I lived closer I would have you build me one. My work isn't as nice as yours. Keep them coming.
Hi Doublenot, I think you could do just as well. You just have to take it one step at a time and it may take a couple of them before you get the hang of it but I think you could make it. I made 3 prototypes before I decided on how I wanted it. Just make the individual parts and then just glue or screw them all together.
Great video!
Hi Gold Hound. Thank you and thanks for watching.
Great job - I’m keen to have a go at making one. :)
Hi Neville and thanks for watching. I hope you like it. I spent years testing every design on the market and many others and this one I liked the best.
I also have a video or two on my Miller Sluice that is a combination if a sluice and Miller Table that I really like as well. You build it the same as this one except with a shorter top deck. You can run any kind of mat in it to sluice the dirt and then reduce the water flow to run the cons on the Miller deck to separate the gold from the black sands and others.
@@utahavalanch - thank you for the reply. I’ll definitely take a look at your other videos. I can buy a new one for $280 but I think building one will make it more enjoyable to use. Also have to convert your measurements to centimetres but that’s not too difficult to do. Many thanks for taking the time to share your builds.
@@nevillegriffiths8681
If you decide to buy one, definitely paint the top with Rustoleum Chalkboard paint. None of the commercial units have the right material to make them work. I and another person spent much time and money testing different materials and the Chalkboard paint worked the best. I put about 3 good coats on the deck.
Don’t worry about measurements as you can make it to any size you want. I have made many different sizes and they all work well. This one I made to fit the tote it’s sitting on.
The one measurement that is the most important is the distance from the back wall to the edge of the top Miller deck. It should be about 3”, 7.62 cm, 76 mm. This allows the turbulence in the water to slow down and make a nice smooth flow over the Miller deck.
If you have any problems/questions, feel free to ask.
@@utahavalanch - thanks for the tips mate, its much appreciated. I’ve got some holidays coming up so I’ll build one and then get some more material to test it with. I’ll let you know how we go. :)
@@nevillegriffiths8681 very best of luck👍👍
Good tutorial for the build! Thanks for showing us.
Thanks, and thanks for watching J. This has really been a great tool for me.
you are truly a craftsman sir and I really love your videos.Have you considered putting together an "instructable" with a material and cut list, diagrams etc? I would love to download something like that, or just copy it down. Never apologize for a mere 36 minute video. Love it!
Thank you Dani and I appreciate you taking the time to watch. I usually leave it to folks to make these units the size they need. But I will try to do a cut list for a basic size unit. I don't have a website where I could post any information but I will try to include more information in the Description or video.
nice deep well table i built one of your water miller hobbico mat tables works great
Thanks for watching scottie. If you liked that one, you would love this one. It has a much smoother water flow.
as always i enjoy your fine work,,very well build,,relaying and i gess that will be my next project..thank you so mutch
Yep good video going to have to try to build one of myself
Thank you and thanks for watching. Go for it. 😁. I think you will like it.
Building one now, thanks for the video
Steve Wiles
Hi Steve. Thanks for watching and best of luck on the build. I think you will really like it.
Have you thought about coating the deck with the titebond III with a paint roller? It'll give you a texture similar to the ABS plastic used on the commercial miller tables.
Commented too soon. See you're using that method now with the chalkboard paint lol
@@megacab109
Hi Adam and thanks for watching. Yep you sure can, but as I have a brush that I use for spreading glue and out of habit, I just use it. I sand the coating of glue so that it is level and then I apply the paint with the roller. After 3 coats of paint it will leave some slight texture if you like that. I usually sand it smooth and then put on one more coat of paint.
Very nice i enjoyed very much thank you
Jim Smith
Thank you Jim and thanks for watching.
the deep well idea is great for the recovery the bottle through the table is great but it also is a pain when mounting when you dont want leaks splashes or losses anywhere.
Hi Chehyst and thanks for watching. Yea, it’s not for everyone and so you can brush your gold off into the deep well for safe keeping instead and then snuffer it up later. I use a bit of epoxy putty in the bottom of the bottle hole and then press the cap into it so the putty seals everything. Then I drill the hole in the epoxy and lid. If you screw a bottle into the lid, that will seal any water or dirt escaping. Some folks like the bottle and some don’t but I built this table showing how you can see how to do the bottle.
excellent video thanks for sharing
Hi Frederick. Sorry, UA-cam didn't notify me you had posted. Thank you and thanks for watching.
Thank you for taking the time to produce this video, the step by step guide is more than helpful and not too long at all! I have my board 'painted' with the two coats of our favorite glue, and am at the point that I am going to paint the top with the chalkboard paint. Our local Home Depot only has black chalkboard paint, and I was wondering, have you ever tried painting the top with black? Would that make the gold stand out better but too hard to see the black sand? I'm tempted to try it (because I can buy it today and not have to order it) but wanted to know if you have tried black chalkboard paint on any of your miller tables and how that worked out for you?
HiJuneau Gold and thanks for watching. I hope you like your table. My eyes are not in very good shape so I have trouble with black so I painted mine with Teal. However other people like the black as like you said they can see the gold better. I would give it a try and see how you like it. If you don’t like it then you can always order in the other and repaint it.
@@utahavalanch Thank you for your response. I decided to go ahead with Black - Mainly because I can't find any other color in town, but I think it will be easier to spot the gold. This is my first attempt at making this so maybe my second one I'll do either green or blue, that way a friend can go through some gold at the same time. I'll put a video up on my channel (I know, I know, I finally have a computer powerful enough to edit) when I get it finished so we can see how it works out! Thanks!
@@juneaugoldprospecting4255
I would go ahead and use the black and see how you like it. The different colored Chalkboard paint comes in a pint can and they have to mix it to the color you want. Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart, and most paint stores carry it. Rustoleum is the company that makes it. Be sure to put a valve in your water hose so you can reduce the water flow when working the very small gold. Home Depot has a gas valve and 3/4” nylon hose fittings that works very well. Very best of luck with your build.
EXCELLENT, Thankyou So Much !!! Again !
Hi Darrell, I didn't get the notification you had stopped by. Thanks and thanks for watching.
Super helpful.thank you!
Hi Jennifer, thank you and thanks for watching.
Love you so much bro. God bless you🙏🙏🙏
Thank you and thanks for watching.🙏🙏🙏
Brilliant stuff thanks for sharing your experience and knowledge with us . cheers ☠👍👍👍💙
You're welcome. I hope it will be of interest to some people.
Your builds are always really cool and I bet they work great and last a lifetime. Just wish I had your skills .cheers arrrrr ☠👍👍👍💙
Well, after a number of prototypes, they usually work quite well. They usually don't last long though as I get more ideas and I'm off working on a new one. LOL. I'm sure you know how that goes. :-)
Very Nice Instructional video, I didn't even know about these, can you provide the overall sizes of your miller table, I would like to try and build one, Thanks in advance
Hi Marty and thanks for watching. I’ve spent 15 years trying to find the best design for a Miller Table as they are my favorite prospecting tool. They really do a great job of catching the gold. You can make it to any size that fits your needs. I have a variety of sizes but my favorite size is:
Base Board: 9” to 10” wide x 18” long. I like to use 5/8” cedar fence board to reduce weight. Glue several pieces together for width.
Head board: 10” x 2”. I use 2 pieces of 2 x 3 pine furring strips for the header board cut down to about 2”high. 1 sitting on top of baseboard and 1 sitting behind it. Glue together. Trim to 2” high. Makes a good water seal.
Top Deck: leave a 3” space from the header board to the edge of the top deck for the Deep Well. Make deck 10” wide x to the end of the base board. 3/4” pine. The Deep well smooths the water flow so turbulence doesn’t carry fine gold out of the sluice.
Side rails 2” high to go from header to end of sluice. You can cut them even with end of sluice or let them extend out for several inches for looks.
If you saw my later videos, I have a combination Miller Table and sluice that is very popular around the world right now. You can run higher water levels and run more dirt and catch the gold in a mat and then slow the water level way down and run the cons from the mat over the Miller deck to separate the finer gold from the black sand. If you run as a sluice, the gold sticks to the Miller deck for a short time so you can tell if there is any gold in it.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Outstanding.
Got everything in the shed... With the acception of the chalkboard paint 🎨...
Congratulations. I think you will really like this table. One thing, don’t use the primer paint that it shows here. Just spray about 4 coats of Spar varnish on the deck and when it dries then put on about 4 - 6 coats of the Chalkboard paint. If you have questions as you go just ask. Very best of luck.
@@utahavalanch thank you
@@LittleBudd13
👍👍
@@utahavalanch good afternoon do u use Matte or a gloss chalkboard paint
@@johnrowe2007
Hi John. Thanks for watching. I use the matt Chalkboard paint as it seems to work the best.
Great video and Thanks for sharing your idea . I am wondering if you can use an actual chalkboard for the top as i have an old one that was never used
Hi Irish and thanks for watching. Yes you can. It would be best if it’s about 3/4” thick so it will make a well deep enough to smooth out the water flow. If it has a wood base, be sure to waterproof the base well with paint or Helmsman spar varnish.
@@utahavalanch thank you for your reply I'm look forward to making it as i have 3 buckets of cons that i know has sub 300 mesh gold in it.
@@IrishAndy001 Miller Tables have long been my favorite tools. I spent 10 years designing them and so far this one is the best design.
For that very small gold, you need a small pump with a valve in the hose as you need the water turned way down to where it’s barely flowing. Screen your material down to at least minus 100. Set the table angle to about 3 degrees.
Also you might want to check out Hardrock University’s channel. He has videos on how to pan the super fine gold. Good luck with the build and if I can answer any questions, just let me know.
@@utahavalanch .
Thanks again for the info I have all the stuff to make it i am going to start it in the the morning. I am writing down everything you said so I can have it to hand . As for panning it that's not a problem it just takes all day as it's that fine I have to start making video of my day's out .
@@IrishAndy001 yippers, you ought to put your build up on your channel.👍👍
Great videos you have. I'm building a miller table like this one. How big is that spacer you use for the water bar? (Depth) thank you.
Hi Tim and thanks for watching. I usually use a board that is between 3/16" - 1/4" thick. One of those paint stirring sticks you can get from the paint store or Home Depot works pretty well. Hope you like the table. I have half a dozen of them and I use them a lot.
Can you use a recirculating pump powered by a battery? Thank you for a great video.
Doug Cain
Hi Doug and thanks for watching. Yes, a small one. It only needs about 150 GPH to run it. I use a 264 GPH pump from Harbor Freight around home because it has a good dirt filter and it's cheap. It allows me to use a 3/4" hose and I have a 3/4" home gas line valve from Home Depot mounted in the hose to control the water flow. It's an AC pump but for out in the field I use a 500 GPH battery powered pump so I can use the same hose and valve on it and a small sluice as well. This unit really works well.
Show !!! Rio/Brasil . 👍👍👍
vag.comment
Thank you and thanks for watching.
Great tutorial.
Thanks Shawn and thanks for stopping by.
Excellent build, starting to get the timber cut out for mine, just had to go back through the video to double check a few dimensions etc, got the base board ready to glue up, head board is made, side boards are ready to be sized up, I will get the plumbing organised tomorrow, and then it will be ready to paint seal the timber. How do you think a rounded end on the top board would go? I have a rounded router bit that I could route a rounded end on it? other than that its coming along slowly. I spent some of the day playing with the silicone matt that I am trying to make, I think it may be a try again, the silicone is not drying like Alan shows in his videos, I will get in touch with him to pick his brain on the subject. Cheers Robert
NewBee101
Hi NewBee. Sounds like things are going well for you. Yep, it takes a little time on the first one. Chances are you will be building more of them to try different ideas. I have built about 30 of them so far.
Yes you can put a rounded edge on the end to help the water as it exits. I do on mine now.
On the Silicone, be sure it is clear 100% silicone and not the white paintable caulk. Also if the Silicone is around 1/4" - 6mm thick or more it will take longer to dry. If you knead it longer in the soapy water that will help to speed it up as water is what helps it dry. Also be sure you brush some soapy water down inside the mold to help it dry and release. And some brands of Silicone take much longer to dry. They aren't all the same.
Hi Utahavalanch, Thanks for all the tips, all the points you mentioned on the silicone I carried them out but one, I used wax as a release agent, I spent a few years in the fibre glass industry, that's were I got the idea for the wax. I went into the shed before I retired for the night and the silicone was still tacky, it was a clear silicone that I used. I will have wait till a bit later to check it, I am not usually up at this time. Cheers Robert
Hi Utah, All timber cut and sanded ready for varnish, got to put the vile hole in the base board tomorrow, spray bar tried and tested ready to fit after varnishing is done, it's going to take a while to dry the weather has cooled off a lot, the paint- primmer I put on the base board Tuesday afternoon is still tacky. May have to stoke the fire up in the shed to speed things up lol lol.
NewBee101
The longest part on the project is waiting for the waterproofing to dry. 😄
I can put one of these together in a day but it takes about a week to apply the waterproofing. Miller Tables are my favorite Prospecting tool and once you learn how to work them, you can easily get gold out of any material. I used one for a whole season once. I may have a new design coming up that will allow you to use your Silicone mat on your Miller Table. I am making Deep V mats out of cardboard boxes that really work well.
Great project. Thanks for the video. Do you glue the vile cap in place to create a seal? I’m assuming you do as the cap wouldn’t have much use with a big hole in it.
Hi David and thanks for watching. Yes, I do glue it. I use an epoxy putty that can be molded and push it up into the hole and then push the cap into it. This surrounds the cap with a nice waterproof seal. When the putty dries, I then drill the hole from the top of the board down.
@@utahavalanch thanks again
@@dfazzini
You are welcome. If I can be of any help just let me know.
So awesome! Thank you! I LOVE your videos!! I've just finished up this exact Miller Table the way you taught, and there is no way I could've done this on my own. But now I'm trying to find the best way to attach it to my tote box, and it's a little wobbly adjusting it. How exactly have you got your tables attached so you can pop them off quickly and still have the ability to adjust them and keep them sturdy?
Hi Chandler and thanks for watching. Congratulations on your build. I think you will really like it. To address your questions, If you go to my Deep well fine gold sluice intro and go to about 2:22 and 11:19 and about 12:57, you can see a little of how I have my sluice and Miller Tables set up. There is a bar about 1-1/2" - 2" wide across the front and one that is about 3” wide across the back. they have holes drilled in the ends 1/4” in diameter that line up with the edges of the tote. The tote has holes drilled in the edge that line up with these holes. I use a 3” long 1/4” x 20 thread bolt that goes through the end of those boards with a nut on the bottom side to keep them in the board. It also has a 1/4” hole in the center of the back board for a bolt mounted to the bottom of the Miller Table. The bolts on the ends have nuts or I use these camera Hotshoe bracket screws to allow you to raise and lower the board.
If you go to my Video “Building a Miller Table” and at 20:05 you can see what I am talking about. On the bottom of the sluice I have a board that goes across the bottom with a hole in the center. I drilled a hole in the center and ran a 3” 1/4” x 20 bolt through it with a nut on the bottom to keep it from falling out. The screw you see can be just a nut and that adjusts the elevation of the miller table. This goes through the hole in the center of the back board on the tote. You can do this in two ways, 1 - you can lower the tote bar all the way down to where it is flat and then use that bolt on the bottom of the Miller Table to raise and lower the back of the table. This can be a very fine adjustment when used this way. The leveling of the table will be by the bar at the front of the tote.
2 - You can bolt the bottom of the Miller Table solidly to the back bar on the tote and then use the 2 end bolts to adjust the elevation and the leveling both.
You are right, it is kind of a floppy back and forth arrangement but it is plenty stable and allows the table to self adjust to the angle it’s adjusted to so it’s nothing to worry about.
You can also remove the back bar and just drill a hole in the center top edge of the tote for the adjustment bolt if you would like. That will make it much more stable.
I hope this helps some. If not, let me know.
@@coyotecanyon5801
You are in a good area for gold. I'm not. I'm up in Ogden. Lots of mines not too far from you. Hit the canyons that have streams in them and check the banks where the road cuts through. look for rounded rocks that were once in a stream. Also the roads are built on a base of crushed quartz that has gold in it. Check the turnoffs alongside the roads going up canyons and sample the gravels. The salt and sand they put on the roads has gold in it and it gets washed to the gutters and edge of the roads with these heavy rains. Check right on the edge of the asphalt. The Sand and gravel pits are loaded with gold so if you can get samples from or around them do so. A lot of times they just dump the gravel in piles alongside the roads. Check them out. We just take 1 gallon buckets and a whisk broom, dust pan, garden spade and take 1/2 or 1 gallon samples and either pan them or run them over the mini sluice or miller table to check for gold. If there is gold, go back if no gold then look elsewhere. With the small samples you don't waste a lot of time on non productive ones. My Gold Hog sluice is in storage because I get 6 - 8 times more gold using these small sluices and Miller Tables to process dirt samples than I ever did with it on the streams. You can even make a tote setup like i do and take it on the road. Just sample everything you run across. flower beds, driveways, gutters, gravel in intersections of roads, (watch out for traffic) road turnoffs etc. Any dirt has potential. Large sagebrush plants grow in the presence of minerals associated with gold. Look for them. I think you'll find lots of gold around you. You should be able to get at least 3/4 of an ounce of gold or more a year doing so. We do. Happy Prospecting.
@@coyotecanyon5801
Yippers, Gold is closer to you than you think. One more thing. Be sure to have a valve in your water line that you can adjust the water flow for the different sizes of gold. It needs to be at least a foot from where it goes into the Table in order to reduce the turbulence when you adjust the water pressure. On excellent one I have found is a 3/4" gas valve from Home Depot. They also carry the 3/4" nylon hose to MIP adapters. You can buy the flexible Bilge Pump hose at any boating store or on Ebay. I am now working on a sluice video I just built that was kind of a mind blower to me. The gold just drops out on the slick plate and sticks there while your dumping the dirt on it. You then just push it over into the Deep Well for storage. Kind of a combination Miller Table and Sluice.
I would very much like to hear how your adventures turn out. Golden Pans.
@@utahavalanch yes sir, I bought that exact one. That sounds like a great sluice! It might have to be the next one I build.
Excellent video. Im currently building this table right now. What length & width of the base board do you recommend?
Hi Matthew and thanks for watching. I think you will really like one of these tables. I run 3 of these tables in a Rubbermaid Roughneck 10 gallon tote that you can buy from Home Depot. I use one of their Plastic Shoe Boxes to catch the dirt in. I think my favorite size is a baseboard 10" - 11" wide X 15" long. This will give you a good sized table that will allow you to spread a lot of material across it. These don't need to be very long as if your water flow is set properly, the gold will stay where you dump your dirt. If you watched my video on the introduction of these tables you can see the pump, valve and hose set up I recommend. The pump is a 264 gph but you only need about 100 gph to run the table and so you need the valve to reduce the water flow. I like this pump as it has a larger filter on it than most fountain pumps have. Good luck on your build and if I can answer any questions on it, just let me know.
Hi Utah,
great video, thanks for sharing.
I am making plans to build one and have questions about pump capacity and table width;
- planed table width is 16 inch and pump I plan to use it is 350 gph, will this pump do the job for width 16 inch?
Thanks.
gonefishing140
Hi gonefishing. I think that size pump will work well for you. You can put a valve on your hose to control the water flow for the size gold you are working with. I find a gas valve from Home Depot works very well for that. I run a 350 on my 9" table and dial the water flow down to about 150 GPH for the -100 gold.
I am now using a PWN motor speed controller on my pumps so that I can fine tune the flow without stressing the pump. You can buy these on EBay for under $10.00.
A 16" table will be a very nice size to run a lot of material.
@@utahavalanch
Thanks for quick answer,
I have made some calculations gallon per inch: your 9'' table with 150 GPH makes 16,6 GPH per inch, some ebay table have 20GPH per inch. So, comparable for 16'' I need 265 - 320 GPH. As in my area is only flower gold (150+) I think that water flow needs to be even smaller.
Regarding PWM controler, it seems like a good idea, but my electrical knowledge at this time is
insufficiently. I think I will go with 300 GPH (or liitle less) and control water flow with gas valve for start. PWM pump upgrade can be done later when I learn (friends or google).
Cheers.
gonefishing140
Sounds like you have it down pretty well. A few notes if I may, if you watched my video on the introduction to this table, you can see how I have my valve set up. It's a 3/4" gas valve, 1/4 turn to full off/on. Gives a nice smooth fine adjustment. The 3/4" hose barbs need to have an MIP thread on them. You can find them at Home Depot as well. Mount the valve at least 1 foot back from the connection to the Miller Table as when you turn the water flow down it causes a pressurized spray that causes turbulence in the water coming out of the spray bar and mounting it at least a foot away prevents that. When you are through running for the day, put a couple of drops of oil down inside the valve on the ball and turn it back and fourth a couple of times.
The valve will let you use a larger pump and then reduce the flow to what you need for the fine gold.
I usually classify my material and then sprinkle a little black sand from it on the table and then adjust the water flow till it just starts running off.
Harbor Freight either online or store has a 264 GPH pump with a good dirt filter if you want an AC power pump. That's what I use. Also remember the Deep Well on this table can be used as a fluid bed. You can see how that works in my last video on running the 10" Silicone mat. Best of luck on your build. I think you will like the table.
@@utahavalanch
Thanks for pump system explanation. I did watch almost all your videos, also went one more time through this video and made sketches and list of material. Hope to find time next week for shopping and to start with project. Harbor Freight, as also Home Depot are unreachable for me (I live in Europe), but I will find all materials in local shops. Regarding pump, i have found one 300 GPH which has build in switch with 6 position for water flow regulation. This pump and valve should enable fine water flow regulation. Thanks again for your time.
gonefishing140
It sounds like you are on your way. Very best of luck on the build and I'd be interested in how it works for you. If you have any more questions just let me know.
Sport for asking many questions,we don't have time bond or any gjlue which can waterproof the word,what options do I have to water proof the boards?
If you don’t have any waterproof glue, don’t worry about it. If you have some white glue or any kind of wood glue, you can use that to glue the top deck to the base. If not, then you can use screws to attach the top deck to the base. Screw the screws in from the bottom. If you don’t have any waterproof spar varnish, it’s used to waterproof boats. To waterproof the wood you can use outdoor house paint or even your Chalkboard paint to waterproof the wood. If it’s spray on paint, put at least 6 coats on. If it’s brush on paint then brush on at least 3 good coats. Be sure all the wood is covered with the paint. Hope this helps.
Excellent!! Do you prefer the deep well model over the adjustable gate model? Or would you say they both have their own quality's?
Hi Brandon, Yes I do prefer the Deep Well but any of my earlier versions work just as well and will catch just as fine a gold. The key to a Miller Table is in the running. My larger Cutting board Miller table you can make in a weekend out of off the shelf boards does just as good a job but the water flow isn't quite as smooth. The key to a Fine Gold Sluice and Miller Table is in being able to control the water flow. Less water, more gold. The setup in my Miller Table Introduction with the pump and tote is a good place to start. Where others are running 500 - 800 GPH pumps, I am running a 200 GPH at about 50 - 80 GPH. I may have to do a video on how to run one. :-)
what are you using for a water pump?
Hi and thanks for watching. I use 2 pumps. A 264 GPH AC fountain pump from Harbor freight for home use and a 500 GPH 12 volt pump for out in the field. These will both take a 3/4” hose. You only need about 150 GPH to run this so I put a ball valve in the connecting hose to reduce the water flow down. This way I can run the pumps on my sluices as well. You can also buy a 12 volt motor controller on Ebay for around $10.00 that you can use to control the 12 volt pump.
Hi utahavalanch! I just finished my Miller table build following your instructions to a T, and went with your suggested hardware (Home depot gas valve, Harbor Freight 264 gph water pump, bilge pump hose, etc.) and it came out functioning flawlessly. Thank you for doing the heavy lifting and figuring all this out and being kind enough to share it with the rest of us. I'm not sure if the chalkboard paint will hold up long term painted directly on the PVC lumber I used but time will tell. My Keene mini sluice arrived today and I'm getting excited to go out and give it a try. In looking online contemplating what I may buy in the future I saw a nice Keene subsurface 4" suction gold dredge on a local website. And the hand in one of the pictures looked awfully familiar having watched so many of your videos lately. I think I know, but by any chance are your initials B.L.? If so and you still have that dredge in a few months I may be paying you a visit. I already own scuba gear so that might be a logical addition to the gear collection if I'm able to find any color which hopefully happens soon. Take care!
twotwentyswift
Congratulations!!!. I hope the table works out to your satisfaction. I think you will find that that setup will give you a great deal of control when you are dealing with the very fine material. Now you’ll have to get a bag of Cape Disappointment sand from Washington Beach Mining to really test it out. 😁
The Chalkboard paint is some pretty tough stuff and it holds up way better than I thought it would. But you can remove the side rails if you used screws or mask them off if you glued and apply a couple more coats periodically. I do it at least once a year.
One thing, be sure to empty all the water out and let it dry after running it. I am finding that if. Let water stand in it for a day or two, then it seems to find a way into the wood.
Nope, sorry, afraid not my hands. I had them rented out to someone else that day. 😁 I’m an L S. I’d like to have a nice little dredge. If you get into the dredging you will need a finishing sluice. You might try my combination now that you have mastered the building.
One more thing that really helps me find the gold. Make a black sand probe like my walking stick or staff probe or small black sand probe. I find my best gold just walking on hiking trails or testing dirt piles people dump. If you get half the head or more covered in black sand, then take samples. Check the area in the stream you want to work before digging. No black sand, no gold. They go together. Dirt scattered around Construction areas are good places to hit.
Very best of luck to you.👍
@@utahavalanch Darn I would have bet my bottom dollar you were the one selling the dredge!
I watched your video of the Cape Disappointment sand on the Miller table and that was impressive. That was some tiny stuff! I need to get some finer classifers since all I have are the 2 in the "Nugget Bucket" and they're both fairly course. Do you have any favorites?
Thanks for all the great tips. Unfortunately for me I live in Sandy and the city does a great job with their street sweepers keeping the roads and gutters clean, haha!
The black sand probe sounds like a winner. I'll rewatch that video and probably build one today. Thanks again LS, you're awesome, and have a great day!
twotwentyswift
Well, I am a gemni and dual personality. Could be my other half was out moonlighting without me. 😝😄😁
Yes, I have 2 favorite classifiers. One set you an buy on Ebay either individually or in a set. They are 6” in diameter and great for small batches. Search for “6” mini classifier” my regular set you have to build yourself but are my all time favorites. It’s made from a gallon bucket and they will process as much material as the 5 gallon size but are more compact and versatile. I can wet screen 2 gallons of dirt into a 2 gallon bucket with one gallon of water. Great for dry areas. You can see what they look like in my urban prospecting video at about 0:24. Wish I could post pics here to show you a closeup. I buy 6” square heavy duty stainless steel screens from EBay, for the bottom. You can buy the screens in about any mesh you want. Lowes makes a nice powder coated gutter guard that makes for a real beefy 1/4” bottom screen.
Oops, accidentally hit send button so may have double post.
Some people make these from 5 gallon buckets but that’s a waste as you can only process about 2 small shovels full at a time in any of them. So might as well use smaller buckets.
@@utahavalanch Great info and advice. Thanks for going to the trouble of looking up the time that appeared in your Urban Prosecuting video, you're too kind LS! That really does look like a handy size. I've seen some classifiers that are basically a bucket with most of the bottom cut our but with an X of plastic left in the bottom and around the edge to support the mesh. I imagine this is similar to what you have there. I notice Amazon has the white 1-gallon buckets on sale right now for $7.20 each with 1-day delivery so that may be the way to go!
Oh, and on the Miller table, I have mine set at 3.5 degrees slope. I seem to recall in your comments somewhere you liked 3 to 3.5 degrees. Am I recalling correctly?
Again, thank you so much for your expertise and help with all this. I'll have to take you out for a steak dinner some time to pay you back for your kindness!
twotwentyswift
Yippers, that’s what mine are like. I buy 6” square or 6”x12” to make a spare if I need one, heavy duty stainless steel screen off EBay. Buy the buckets from Home Depot or check to see if you have a plastic container store near you. I think there are several in SLC. Home Depot has 3 buckets for $8.37 or 10 for $19.00. You order them online and have them shipped to your store. Takes about a week to get them.
I use a large compass I bought from Harbor Freight to draw a circle on the bottom of the bucket leaving about 1” smaller than the screen. Then I cut it out with a jig saw. The screens are heavy enough you don’t need the X.
Then I find the center of the screen and draw the largest circle on the screen I can and then cut it to shape. Drop the screen in the bucket and tape it to the bucket sides. I get a piece of 2x6 or 2x4 that is about 1” longer than the depth of the bucket and flip the bucket over with the board inside. This will give you some support when you drill your holes. Put the board under where you are drilling.
I bought a cheap hand riveting set from Harbor Freight and I then rivet the screen to the bottom of the bucket. If the bucket gets damaged, you can drill the rivets out and reuse the screen. A friend gave me my first one years ago made from a stainless steel screen you put over frying pans to keep the grease from flying out. I figured it would last for 1 bucket but it has processed a ton of dirt or more and still going strong. I have yet to find a classifier I like as well much less better than these.
I like that you can put a gallon of water in a 2 gallon bucket and wet screen up to about 3” from the top. Wet screening is always better if you can.
You are correct on the angle of the Miller Table. Turn your water on and sprinkle some black sand on the table. Then adjust your water flow so the black sand starts moving on down the table. You can readjust if you have gold moving on down the table.
Wow! I’m here in Ogden but I’d about walk down for a steak dinner. A group of doctors pretty much blinded me so I can’t drive any more. But I’ll sure take a rain check on it. Many thanks.
🤔 what mesh screen do you recommend for flour gold for a millet able.
Hi John. Well, I consider 30 mesh and smaller flour gold and the closer you screen your material to being the same size, the easier it will be to separate. I like to separate a sample starting with a kitchen strainer (12 mesh) then a 30 mesh. You can pan out the larger material or run it on the Table as well. But do it separately as the water flow will wash all the flower gold off the table.
In the 30 and smaller, you can just run it all on the table together, but you have to adjust the water flow so high for the larger material that much of the the finer will wash off. However, you can do this on the first run to see if you have gold in your material at all and how much. If you have gold, then I would screen it through a 60 mesh screen and if you are after the black beach sand gold size, 100 and 150 meshes.
Then run the plus 60, 100 and 150 and reduce the water flow for each one. I like the little 6” screens you can buy on Amazon and EBay. I like the full set, 30, 40, 50, 60 and 100 and I screen through each size to make it easier to separate the gold.
Also, be sure you have a way to control the water flow, either a valve or motor controller. I see too many UA-cam videos with people trying to separate fine gold with a pump wide open and washing everything down the table. Flower gold is extremely light and can wash off with a very light flow.
Also, Walmart has some nice flat synthetic brushes that are perfect for working the gold on the table.
Also you may want to try dirt out of your yard or from a trail on a hike etc. it’s surprising how much gold is in the dirt around us in the smaller meshes.
@@utahavalanch Thank you, I'm looking forward to seeing your next video 👍
@@johnnytoy5487
Now you have the expertise to build the Miller table. You might want to try the Miller Sluice with a Silicon mat. It’s just a little shorter top deck and longer sluice portion. Really catches the fine gold.
Hope to get a new video out soon. Trying to deal with this new Covid Varient. It’s a bad one.
Good man
Thank you and thanks for watching.
Hi very impressed with your design! Just completed my second one I like the deep well without bottle port is much better Do you have to use the paint? Will the glue work as a surface paint?
Hi MrErikm, thanks for watching. Yes, it's much easier to build without the vial hole and we are liking the fact you can just brush the gold into the well and suck it up after you are through. I don't think I would trust the glue to hold up for very long although it is supposed to be waterproof. With the sluice version, we used the Helmsman spar varnish in the Satin finish to waterproof the wood and we found it also works well as a Miller Table finish although it's hard to see the gold on the light wood. I like the paint because the gold sticks to it better and is in a color that makes it easy to see as well. I hope you enjoy your tables.
utahavalanch yes the deep well rocks! I'm finding that I should move the plumbing up about a half inch or so just so the hole isn't below the water line. And what a bout alternating glue, spar glue spar and that tight bond is key great stuff. Thanks for answering great channel . I want to see some urban mining with the grandson!👊🏼
Hi MrErikm, If you put a coat of glue on top of the raw wood and then give it about 4 or 5 good coats of spar varnish will work the best. Also you can leave the hole where it is and take some silicone seal that you can buy at Home depot or lowes and put it around the spraybar to seal it so that the water doesn't leak out around it. It really helps to have the spraybar down inside the well so the bottom of it is only about 1/4" off from the bottom.
We will be having some more videos on Urban Prospecting with my grandson as soon as the weather gets warmer. So stay tuned. Thanks for watching and the very best of luck with the table.
utahavalanch have you ever built a shaker table? Would love to see your design of one.
No, I haven't as of yet. I have thought about building a small one that would be a good size for an individual but it will depend on whether or not I can find all the parts I need. Right now I'm running some tests on the deep well sluice and I think that it may work just as well with much less cost. I'm going to run tests with the -100 and 200 mesh gold this week. It will catch it just fine but I think it will also catch it and clean it just like with a shaker table only much faster. It worked beautifully with -20 mesh gold. That well can be used for several different things. Stay tuned as you have the experience to make one now.
What’s your board angle I think I missed it
Hi rickrn2 and thanks for watching. I find that 3 degrees is about right. Then turn on the water a little and sprinkle a little black sand on the table that is screened to the same mesh as the material you are going to run. You want to adjust the water flow with a valve or motor controller until the black sand just starts to move slowly down the table. You can adjust the water flow and angle for the size of the material you are running. I find that most UA-camrs run water way too fast and lose most of the fine gold. If you can adjust the water down low enough, this table will easily separate 200 mesh gold from the black sand.
Very nice, I agree most videos only show the big stuff for views and the wow factor, but all the gold I deal with is of the flour varieties
@@rickRN77 Yippers, I hear you there. Our nuggets are 50 mesh. The fine gold is what I developed all of my equipment to catch. My Miller Sluice I quite like as it’s a Miller Table with a catch mat for runaways and also a sluice with a little faster water. It’s great for exploring as you can run a sample over it and see immediately if there is gold in it as any gold in the dirt will stick to the Miller deck and the rest runs off. Much quicker than gold panning and far more accurate too. I have a fine gold highbanker that I’m trying to get a video out on, that with a silicone mat, strips out all visible gold out of a sample of dirt and cleans all the garbage out like leaves, grass, twigs, etc. I use it for urban prospecting where you can run into some nasty material. But lots of gold in the urban prospecting.
Very nice
What is the height of the side rails and the head board,I will start making one tomorrow
Hi Stephen. You can make them any height that you would like but I make mine 2-1/2” or 64mm high. If you have access to dimensional lumber there you can use a 1x3 or 25mm x 76mm which is 2-1/2” high. Hope my metric conversion is close.😁
I have one more question, do you sand down the chalk paint at the end?
No problem. The roller leaves a light ripple finish that isn't too bad and you can just leave it like that. I generally put 4 coats of paint on, let it dry overnight and then sand lightly to take down the high spots a bit. Then I put 2 more coats on with the paint slightly watered down. That gives a pretty smooth surface. It's kind of a matter of taste. I haven't found one surface to really be any better than the other. The ripple finish may give a very slight edge to catching the gold due to the slight indentations it leaves.
Lol...Yes I do know Jason when a few time prospecting with him very nice guy.
I keep telling him I'm going to have to come up there and teach him how to prospect so I can get my coffee can filled before I die of old age. :-D
Lol... Yes that would be great if you could make a trip here next year.
That would be a lot of fun no doubt.
Could also meet Ron At the club.
Pike river prospecting
😀
Thx I needed this
Hi Nuke, thanks for watching. Yippers, Miller Tables are my No.1 favorite tool in equipment when it comes to catching gold.
When you put the Head Board and the Side Boards on with screws, did you glue it also at those places...or just screw it together?
Hi Joey and thanks for watching. I have found that if you leave water in it over night that it will eventually soften the glue and allow the side boards to come apart or off. On the Miller Tables you can glue the headboard on but I like to just use the screws on the sideboards so that you can remove them to make re-painting the deck a lot easier. Sometimes with just the screws, there may be a small leak or two which doesn't bother if outdoors but if you use it indoors and it leaks where it can run on the floor then you may want to run a very small bead of Silicone sealer along the cracks. Make it as small as you can though. Also be sure to have a valve on this if you are working fine gold so that you can control the water easily. I found a gas valve at Home Depot works extremely well and you can find the 3/4" x MIP nylon hose adapters there as well. mount the valve in the hose so there is at least 1 foot of hose after the valve. The water coming out of the valve is pressurized and makes a lot of turbulence and having a bit of hose after it takes out all the turbulence. This Table is built for the smoothest flow possible as I use it primarily for the very tiny gold in the -100 to 150 range and this is the best design I have been able to come up with so far.
Am processing about 10 tonnes of ore per day,can you recommend on the size of miller table to do concentrates from such an operation,I commence building the table today
Wow!! That is a lot of ore. How big will depend on how many concentrates you have to process and what size the gold is. If you have a lot of concentrates, you will need to make a larger table or possibly several large tables to handle the load. I think you could make a table up to 2 feet (60 cm) wide and be able to run it. I have run one that was 14 inches (35 cm) wide before with no problems.
The smaller the gold, the slower you have to run the water on the table to avoid losing the gold.
The Miller Table is by far the best tool for collecting fine gold but it does run rather slowly with finer gold.
If you watched my newest video I put up last night, I show a new table that has a mat at the bottom to catch any gold that gets away. You may be interested in building that one.
👍
Thank you and thanks for watching.
Just wondering what the difference is between this Miller table and the other one you made? Is one better than the other or are they for different applications? If not do you favor one over the other?
I like both and plan to build one, I'm not sure which one though.
Thanks for your videos.
Dan Samusevich
Hi Dan and thanks for watching. Yes there is a difference between the two. If you look at the deck on this one you can see that it is elevated 3/4" above the water bar area which creates a kind of well. When this Well fills with water the weight of it keeps the turbulence down when it gets up and flows over the table deck. This makes for a much smoother flow of water down the table which is very important when you are working with very small gold. It just requires 1 additional board in the construction of it but it makes a very big difference in the operation. I much prefer this design over the other by a very wide margin.
@@utahavalanch Great to know. I went panning for the first time and brought home 4 buckets of classified dirt with very fine gold.
Looks like I just figured out what I will make.
Thanks for the reply Utah
@@hockeydad6211
Good deal. I think a Miller Table is one of the most important tools you can have. I spent an entire season using just a Miller Table to catch the gold and I use it now to clean up the cons from sluicing and checking my tailings for any gold that got through. Good luck with your build and if you need any help, just let me know.
@@utahavalanch sure will and thanks again.
Very intelligent!
Rei do garimpo
Thank you sir and thank you for watching.
I'm curious, do you glue your PVC together for the water bar, and the hose adapter outside of the well...??
Hi Mark and thanks for watching. No, I don’t glue any of the PVC as I usually end up changing the tubes out for different spray patterns or rotating them to get a different water flow. Little changes in the water bar can make quite a it of difference so it’s worthwhile to experiment.
@@utahavalanch
Thank you for your diligence. All we have here is really fine gold, so I am building your deep well Miller table to add on to my royal sluice that my son got for me. We are not allowed to prospect in the national forests here, so I will be using the sluice/table at home....again thank you, it gives me hope to separate the black sand from the fine gold...since listening to your info made sense, so i have bought a couple of finer classifiers....
@@marksexton1340
Hi Mark. I think you will really like the table. I mostly work with 40 to minus 100 mesh gold and these tables really work great. A couple of updates, make the Deep well 3 inches wide measuring from the header board to the edge of the top deck. This smooths out the water flow more. Keep the bottom of the spray bar close to the bottom. About 3/16” space is about right. Some folks are putting it too high and it ruins the water flow. Do not use the primer paint on the top deck. Just spray the deck with 4 coats of spar varnish and when it dries put on 4 coats of the Chalkboard paint. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. Best of luck with your build.
Oh, you might check out my last video that has my latest Miller Table in it with the catch mat at the bottom. It catches a lot of runaway gold before it hits the tailings bucket.
Aaahh... no primer, thanks, that was my next step, just in time. I kept the water bar low, and put the 1/4" groove in the bottom. Its been interesting trying to adapt the Miller table to the front of the sluice, but I think it will work well...especially if I classify down to smaller materials.
Thanks again.
@@marksexton1340
Yes, I found that the Chalkboard paint sticks very well to the varnish without the primer. It’s some gooood paint. Yep, screening your material is paramount with this. You can buy those small 6” screens on Ebay for around $10.00. The 20, 30, 40, 60 and 100 mesh are good to have. You can save by buying in a set. Check that super slime -100 material that everyone throws away. Lots of gold in it. You will find it in non stream dirt. That’s where most of the gold is found. Very little gold is found in streams. I quit working them years ago.
Also a good valve or 12 volt speed control for your pump is a necessity. You need to be able to slow the water down to a trickle for the real fine gold. The speed controller you can buy on Ebay for around $8.00 - $20.00.
I am (trying to, anyway) building one. Questions:
1. What ratio do you dilute the glue (approx.) - 5 to 1, 10 to 1?
2.When I coat the top of the "shelf 3/4 board" - the full strength glue doesn't go on very smoothly. Do you sand after every coat? Can I use the (above) diluted glue? The full strength glue tends to get tiny bubbles that end uo tiny craters and (I assume) should be sanded out and, the glue, though somewhat self leveling (sp?), does not dry completely smooth (but HARD, very hard).
3. I am building a unit more than twice your 8" inches and I am worrying about the glue between the "shelf" and the base board not oozing out when I clamp the edges to hold them in place. Can I use dilute glue (in the interior area at least?)? If I do use dilute glue, can I pre-coat the top of the base and bottom of the "shelf" and let dry before I glue?
I am a metal worker/shop teacher (former) but wood is definitely not my forte and I really respect your obvious expertise. I am also retired (and on a chicken plucker's income) and would not like to have spend a bunch (for me) on materials only to screw up because of ignorance. Great videos, by the way! Thanks!
Hi James. On the glue dilution, I had about half an inch in the bottom of an old bottle and I just added water a little at a time and shook it to mix it til it was much more fluid. Maybe half a teaspoon to 1 oz. glue.
You don't have to add much but as you know, the straight glue is a little thick. So I use this thinned glue for waterproofing the deep well and the top deck. Yes, it will dry hard and it makes a nice hard smooth surface for the deck.
I usually put several coats of the thinned glue on the top deck. The first one will raise the grain on the wood a little bit and I take a a cheap Harbor Freight orbital sander and sand it even. Then put another 2 thin coats on and sand both. You want the top deck to be nice and smooth. If you get craters, then just dab a little glue on them to fill them up and sand smooth.
When you apply the Spar Varnish, it will go on to the glue much more smoothly but it will take twice as long to dry. I do it at night before I go to bed and it's usually dry when I get back to it in the morning.
When it dries you should have a really smooth shiny deck. I usually spray a coat of Rustoleum Bonding primer to the deck before I apply the paint. You can try to apply the Chalkboard paint without if you would like. I use a little 3" trim roller I bought at Home Depot to apply the paint. It dries thin so I usually put on 3 coats, lightly sand smooth and then put on 3 more.
That Chalkboard paint is some impressive stuff and it will probably stick without the primer. But I use it just to be sure. That Bonding Primer will stick to just about anything and most everything will stick to it.
Yes, you can pre-treat the bottom of the deck and base with glue before giving it the final gluing. For the final glue down, just take a brush and put a good layer of glue down on the base and then lay the deck on it and clamp it good.
I like a larger table myself and I use about a 12" table. I make small versions for the videos to conserve on money as you know you can tie up a lot of money in these. I doubt that this will be your last table as I found out after my first one, I had all the materials and tools to make another one and I did. About 36 more to be exact. This Version is by far my most favorite and works way better than any of the commercial tables I've tried.
You might even want to try building my latest Miller Sluice. :-D It's probably the funnest sluice I have ever tried. If you lower the water flow, the gold just drops out on the Slick Plate. If you increase the water flow, the gold will slowly work it's way down to the mat. Very easy to tell if you are on the gold or not and it helps to keep the fine gold from blowing out if the water is too fast. Works far better than the Deep V inspection mats.
The next big thing is the pump, valve and hose. If you need help with those or anything else, just let me know. The very best of luck with the build.
@@utahavalanch Thank you so much for the additional info. I bought some prelaminated 3/4 planks for the deck and base - and as you noted - they're pricey - so I didn't want to botch the job if I could help it. I'm using your miller table instructions and the"sluice" design. I think (hope) I can go on from here.
Film at 11:00. (Only old farts will get THAT reference.)
@@bjvoorhies
Well, James, I think it will work out well for you as this is a pretty simple design. The main problem that most people have is not waterproofing everything very well. If there is the slightest crack water can get into, it will. So give everything at least 4-6 coats of spar varnish.
LOL, I certainly do get the reference and it fits me for sure. If it wasn't for me, we wouldn't have dirt. :-D Had to ride my dinosaur to school each day. Uphill both ways in 6 feet of snow.
I've had both feet in the grave for 10 years now and as soon as the gold in the dirt runs out I'll quit digging and lay down. :-D Let me know how the project turns out.
I hope you have a great day as well.
Ben Warren
Thanks Ben. You have a great one as well.
Hi can I get all the measurements for this please
Hi Christine. This is a better Table than the other one and gives a much smoother water flow for the really fine gold. I have one more version that’s similar but has a gold catching mat at the bottom for the runaway pieces. You can see it in my last video where I show my years projects. I don’t have a video out on it yet. Still trying to recover from pneumonia.
Anyway these tables are designed so you can change the size around to fit your needs. But here are the measurements for the table in the video. I made this Table so I could use it on a 10 gallon Husky tote from Home Depot.
Baseboard 9” wide x 3/4” thick x 16”. 17” if you make the header board with one board on top of the baseboard and 1 behind. I used 3/4” pine for the baseboard and the top deck to give me the thickness I needed for the gold vial bottle. If you don’t want to put the gold vial bottle in, and just brush the gold over into the Deep Well for temporary storage, you can use 1/2” cedar fence board for the baseboard to lighten the table. I glued 2 boards together with Tightbond II waterproof glue to get the width.
If you don’t want to glue boards together, you can use an 8” pine board and make a little narrower table or a 10” and make a little larger table.. You can cut the baseboard and the top deck out of the same board and they will be the exact same width so you won’t need a table saw to cut them to width.
Water bar headboard, 9” long x 1-1/2” thick x 2-1/2”high. You can use 1 piece or 2 pieces of 1”x3” pine furring strips glued together. I usually use 2.
Top Deck, 9” wide x 3/4” thick x 13” long pine, including the angle cut. The 3/4” inch height is important. If you don’t have a way to cut the 45 degree angle at the top, you can just round the upper edge off with some sandpaper. I use Tightbond II waterproof glue to glue the top deck down.
Deep Well space between water bar header board and top edge of Deck 3” or just place it even with the end of the baseboard.
Water bar 1/2” PVC 8-3/4” long. 3/16” holes drilled 1/2” apart along the bottom. Keep the space between the bottom of the water bar and the baseboard to no more than 1/8” to 3/16”. Any higher and you lose your smooth water flow. I cut the ends off from PVC caps and glue them to the ends of the water bar. You can just put the regular caps on if you want.
Side Rails 2-1/2” high x 19”. I use a piece of 1/2” cedar fence board for mine. You can use 1x3 furring strips for them if you can’t split a cedar board to size.
You can use 2 - 1x3 pieces for the water bar header board and the side rails and they will all be the same height.
Board across the end of the table to direct the water flow straight down, 1/2” thick x 9” long x 2”. I use a piece of cedar for this as well.
Board on the back for height adjustment, I use a piece of cedar board 1/2” x 2” wide x 9-3/4” long. You can use a piece of 1x3 for this as well. The bolt for the height elevation is 1/4” x 20 thread 2 - 1/2” or 3” long.
Use Minwax Helmsman Spar Varnish, I like the spray but it’s more expensive. Be sure to cover all parts of all the boards with at least 4 good coats.
After you waterproof the top deck, you can paint the top with Rustoleum Chalkboard Paint. You can just paint over the spar varnish without using the primer like in the video.
I hope this helps. If you hav any questions, just ask.
Great !!!
Thx CR
Thank you very much and thanks for watching.
I think I need to change my CB handle from The Boogeyman, to the Wood Butcher 😂🤣👍
The secret to good woodworking is learning how to fix all your screwups and make them look good. 👍😁
The name Wood Butcher has been taken by my exwife 😂
Have applied primer but it has swollen in some parts,I how smooth should the top board be?
I ran into that as well after I did the video and built another one later on. It’s usually some paints don’t mix together. Just let it dry good and then sand it down smooth. The table needs to be very flat and smooth. Try putting on another light coat of primer and if it swells again then re sand it. After you get it smooth, apply a light coat of your Chalkboard paint. If that swells sand it again. The next coats should go on just fine. The bonding primer works on most things but I have found that it causes problems with others. If you make another one you can try skipping the primer and just apply the Chalkboard paint.
The top of the deck needs to be pretty flat and smooth so the black sand moves on down easily. Let me know if you have any more problems.
Did my email make it to you?
How good would the same name brand chalkboard paint in the spray work.
Roosevelt Hunter
Hi Roosevelt and thanks for watching. It works just as well. You have to put about 4 or 5 coats on to get it thick enough.
@@utahavalanch thank you very much im new to prospecting and love how you took the time to show how to make the table. This will be time well spent building. Thank you
Roosevelt Hunter
Welcome to the club. I think you will like this table. I have very tiny gold in my area and this is by far the best piece of equipment for getting it. It's a bit slow but you can get all the gold with this no matter how small.
You may also be interested in building my Combination sluice/Miller Table as the procedures are the same but you can run more material faster and catch the gold in the mat or you can run it slower as a Miller Table.
@@utahavalanch i will take a look at
hello at 27:18 you say your using half inch but the hole bit is one and one sixteenth which i believe means three quarters. Or am i miss understanding what you are talking about?
Hi Scott and thanks for watching. Yes, the 1/2” refers to the basic plumbing tubing which is 1/2” inside diameter but the outside of the “Tee” that you have to drill the hole for is about 1-1/16” diameter. My holesaw is a 1-1/16” diameter but it is just slightly too small so I have to file it a little larger so the “Tee” will fit tightly. If you use a 1-1/8” holesaw, it will make the hole just a little loo large and you will have to seal around it with silicone and that makes it difficult to remove if you need to. Does this make any more sense?
@@utahavalanch the tubing that goes through the header stock is about
1-1/16" OD+ or, 3/4" stock but, the id of same stock is 3/4". are you saying that 3/4 pvc stock id is 1/2"?
@@scottflower6547
No, 3/4” PVC stock is 3/4” ID. 1/2” PVC stock is 1/2” ID. The OD of a 1/2” PVC “Tee” is slightly larger than 1 inch + 1/16” OD or 27mm. So I use a 1-1/16” holesaw to make the hole. Is this any clearer?
@@utahavalanch yes
how do you think the recycled plastic boards would work for this project? its light, water resistant,tough, and works fairly easily. no where near as pretty tho
Hi Frederick and thanks for watching. They would probably work well if the paint will stick to them. I have used Styrofoam sheets before and a cutting board. Might as well give it a try.
What is the name of the bolts you use to change the pitch on your table and where can I buy them please
Hi Christine and thanks for watching. They go by a variety of names but here is an Ebay link to the items I use to adjust the height of my equipment.
www.ebay.com/itm/4Pack-Double-Layers-Pro-1-4-Mount-Adapter-for-Tripod-Screw-to-Flash-Hot-Shoe-/383797781022?_trksid=p2349624.m46890.l49286
Hello Utah. How long between drying times per coat of tight bond? And how long was the total duration roughly for the whole project?
Hi Poizon and thanks for watching. You can usually apply another coat in about 30 minutes or after it hardens. It depends on the temperature and humidity. Give it a light sanding in between coats. I give the Chalkboard paint about an hour to dry in between coats. Give it about 3 or 4 coats. It takes about 3 days for it to totally cure to it's final hardness.
I can cut the wood, sand, drill the spray bar hole and have the edges rounded in a couple of hours. Waiting for things to dry takes the largest amount of time. I don't spray the deck with the primer anymore as it and the Chalkboard paint sometimes have problems. I figure about 3-4 days total build time as it takes the Spar Varnish 3 - 4 hours to harden in between coats and I usually put on at least 6 coats of it. I notice a lot of people on UA-cam don't waterproof their wood. Big mistake as the wood will swell and warp quickly. If you give every inch of it a good coating of spar varnish the wood will last a long time. Good luck on your build.
utahavalanch Yeah cool bud I understand all of that. I was going to ask if the primer and chalkboard paint react. So straight on, No primer? Mine is all cut and sized. Did it on a mitresaw as here in Australia cant get table saws at the moment due to Covid 19. I have taken a slightly diffrent rout with mine. x2 cm boards as the base instead of 3/4 & half inch boards. My outside like I have burnt the pine to give it that burnt wood grain look then using a grey stain then clear to make it pop. Should contrast well up against the chalk board paint. Out of curiousity what degree of angle do you set the table on? I was thinking if 1-4 degree’s?
poizon83
Hi poizon. Yippers, I found out that the two paints don't mix. After I shot the video.😖. Yep, the two thicker boards work just fine. Only difference is a little more weight. The top board can be a little thicker as it will make the well deeper and smooth the water more.
What you have described for your side boards should really look good. The combination of grey and the paint on the deck will really pop. I used some blue pine on one once and I really liked it.
I have a small fountain pump on mine with a valve so I can adjust the flow. I start out at about a 2 degree angle and then turn the water on. I then sprinkle a little black sand on the table and adjust the water flow until the black sand just starts to move down. Or I can set the water flow and then adjust the elevation at the back of the table until it just starts moving. The angle usually ends up at about 3 - 3-1/2 degrees.
I love These Tables. They are slow but you get all the gold. I'm really liking my new combination table and you may also. I can use it as a fluid bed, Miller Table or sluice. You build it the same way you do this one but make room for a mat at the bottom. I made a Silicone mat that really works great. You have everything all in one unit. So far this one hasn't lost a spec of gold.
utahavalanch Nice. Yeah I saw your new silicone mat version. I have been gold hunting for years so I have build sluices, trommels “ Current” & Rock Crushers. My current trommel is a gold fox I have heavily modified. Its so powerfull it has ripped holes in the alloy feeder box with water pressure. Dont stick your hand in there it hurts! So back to the miller table, do you just paint the chalkboard paint directly onto the sanded tight bond board? Im using Gorilla instead of tight bond. Cant get tight bond her in Aus. I dont want a reaction from the glue with the paint or risk the primer do you think? Or straight over the glue?
poizon83
If I was able to get back out in the field again, I would definitely have one of those Gold Foxes. Great piece of kit. I'd love to have one to dump into my Gold Hog sluice.
If you don't have the tightbond III glue, you can spray the wood with Spar Varnish and then paint over that. Don't use the Gorilla glue as it is the wrong type and it foams up which messes things up. The tightbond is water based and will soak into the top surface of the wood and form a hard plastic like surface that is an extra layer layer of protection. You can paint right over it. You want all the wood sealed very well so that no water can sneak in anywhere. You want about 4 - 6 Coates of everything on the wood. While I'm thinking of it, empty all the water out of the table and let it dry out after use. The waterproofing materials now days are not what they used to be and standing water will eventually seep through them. Also my new table has a small 2" mat at the bottom like with my combination sluice to catch any wayward flakes without having to run the tailings again.
is there a reason you don't paint the well in the front the same color as the table?
Randall Fry
Hi Randall and thanks for watching. Yes there is. You can use the well as a fluid bed and dump your material straight into it if you want. The Spar Varnish finish allows the lighter material to slide out easily and down the table and the gold will drop out into the well.The blond sands will just move on down and out the end. Any gold that escapes will stick to the table surface to were you can snuffer it up or move it to the vial hole or just push it back into the well and snuffer it up later.
I know wood is easy to work with but shouldn't you use Marine grade lumber .But I guess you did coat it with the water proof glue . Have you tried a vinyl rubber mud flap for dump trucks and semi trucks for your top . They should come in any color including green .
Darrell Goodman
Hi Darrell and thanks for watching. You can use most any kind as you give everything at least 6 coats of Marine Spar Varnish to waterproof it before you put it together.
Do I need to run it at an angle?
Hi powder and thanks for watching. I have found that an angle of about 3-4 degrees works well to start with. Then I turn on the water and sprinkle a little black sand that is the same mesh size as the dirt you are running. Adjust the water flow so the black sand just starts to move down the table.
How mamy GPH pump is recommended?
It depends on how wide your table is. I use a 300 GPH pump for Tables up to 10” (25. cm). If you have a larger table you may want to use a little larger pump. I put a valve in the hose so I can reduce the flow of the water when I’m separating very fine gold in the 80 - 150 mesh.
I classify my material down to about 4 different sizes and run each size separately. To run, I sprinkle a little bit of black sand on the table and then turn the water on and adjust the flow with the valve until the black sand starts to move down the table. Set the angle of the table to about 3.5 degrees.
What is the diameter of the water bar holes in mm?
Hi Stephen. The holes are 1/4” or 6mm. I space the holes about 1/2” apart on the bar.
How much if I order one? I don't have your kind of tools sir.
Hi Isa and thanks for watching. I'm sorry but I don't have any way to sell these over the internet. That's why I put up the videos on how to build them. They are quite simple to build and you only need a few tools such as a hand saw, drill and a couple of bits. I have a video on making this unit and I am currently working on a video on how to make the sluices.
@@utahavalanch alrighty, thank you sir!
Head board-to-base board and side boards - glue and screw or just screw? You showed only a screw-on joining.
B. James Voorhies
Hi James. It's kind of a personal preference but normally I like to screw and glue the head and sideboards so as to seal them from leaking as I use them indoors quite often. But with the Miller Tables, about once a year I like to put a new coat of paint on the deck and it's easier if you can remove the sideboards to do this. But it's not too bad a job to mask everything off to paint. If you just screw them on and there is a leak, you can just put a tiny bead of silicone on the crack.