I would like to construct a small autofeed system which I can attach to my Blue Bowl recirculating system.
Currently, the only autofeed system I have ever seen which 'appears' to work well for a Blue Bowl is attached to the $1000 Gold Lab System (which incorporates a Blue Bowl).
I'm obviously not interested in spending $1000 on a cleanup tool but would like to construct an effective and precise autofeed device for my Blue Bowl.
This autofeeder would need to process three different classification sizes respectively: -30 to -50, -50 to -100, and -100 to -200 (these 3 classifications) separately. Thus.... it will need three settings to accomplish this with any accuracy.
I often read russau recommending an autofeeder (here and elsewhere) regardless of which recovery equipment is being discussed. I think that the logic of this suggestion is prudent and wise.
So, if russau or anyone else could share detailed plans for a DIY autofeeder specifically small enough to run classes -30 to -50, -50 to -100, and -100 to -200 (each separate) and situate itself easily and snug next to a Blue Bowl, I'd be most appreciative.
I already own a small 12V vibration motor if necessary to incorporate.
Does such an autofeeder or plans even exist (outside of the Gold Lab's hamster bottle with interchangeable autofeed nozzle setup)?
I currently do very well slowly feeding the Bowl (pre-classified separated material of course) by hand with a teaspoon and don't mind doing it that way but would like to see an actual set of plans for a device that will autofeed these small classes as accurately and efficiently without fuss.
I am skeptical that there is or ever was such a device or design available (outside of the Gold Lab's intricate component) specifically designed to feed these three sizes of classifications to a Blue Bowl. Does the Gold Lab guy sell this autofeed component separately?
I truly have my doubts, but...
Does anyone have an example of an autofeeder SPECIFICALLY designed for the Blue Bowl and these three mesh sizes? If it is not accurate and simple to use for each of these smaller mesh sizes - there is absolutely no point to waste my time constructing or incorporating it into my system which is now working well and efficient. Teaspoon by teaspoon, I can easily feed at the slow processing speed which the Bowl requires... while watching TV and petting the dog.
Personally, I don't think that an autofeed is essential to have great success with the Bowl but maybe I'm missing something. Maybe there really IS a magic autofeeder out there for the Bowl that is more accurate than feeding it slowly with a spoon. It would have to be a fairly intricate feeder for this smaller stuff IMHO.
Well? russau?

well i dont have anything specifically for the bowl. the auto feeder i made is similar to what Gat has. i can hold maybe +20 lbs of cons on my autofeeder. i screen everything and run it like that. my AF dosent screen/feed as you work your cons.my AF is adjustable in its height/tilt/and its flow of water to feed the cons into what ever device your feeding screened cons into. what ive learned to like about AF is that it helps keep everything consistant and that leads to a better recovery of your fines. once this is setup and running i can walk away from it and do other things a old guy like me can still do! Dan has pictures of Gats autofeeder (its here somewhere)and thats where i got my idea to make one.i even use this to feed my Miller table.and i also think you are correct in saying that a autofeeder isnt necessary in doing a good job getting all the gold from your cons. its just easier and more effeceint for me todo it this way!i hate spooning cons! the goldlab to me is a well thoughtout final cleanup device.great for at home/shop to prevent it from getting beatup.

Hi Russ,
Thanks for the great reply! I recall us discussing Gat's autofeed in another thread. Although it's an excellently devised autofeed system, it's a bit large for my purposes with the Blue Bowl.
Here are a couple of pics I gathered of Gat's creation:



To give you a better idea of what I'm looking for please watch this demonstration of The Gold Lab below. In my opinion creator Steve Gribble's design of The Gold Lab is a bit of engineering genius. His autofeed is small, precise, and well placed. It also incorporates a small vibration motor and he uses a different size feed tip for each classification of concentrate.

In this presentation.... fast forward to minute 13:30 where the Lab demonstration begins and you will see exactly what I'm talking about: Link To Gold Lab Demo

Most of my recovered gold is relatively fine so Steve's Gold Lab system would be of great benefit to me, however $995 is out of the ballpark for my budget in terms of recovery equipment. If I pause the linked video enough times it appears possible that I may be able to construct a feeder of that nature with some basic hardware store materials and a small vibration motor. Of course, it's going to require hours of R&D work to eventually come remotely close to what Steve has devised as an autofeeder. I'm not interested in trying to fabricate anything else related to his design or re-invent his mousetrap... but a similar autofeed would be great for my indoor system. I wish Steve (or anyone) sold a feeder system like this as a Blue Bowl (or similar centrifuge) accessory, but I think I can construct one.

yep ive watched his video several times before and he really did his homework on this device.

Absolutely.
My only suggestion to Steve would be to create a better web page devoted to The Gold Lab and offer components and accessories separately as well, much like other manufacturers of mining products. If you go to his site now, it shows a tiny picture of his machine and has a link to Prospectorchannel.com (same link I provided), contact and purchasing information, and an elaborate site visitor counter. That's pretty much it.
Perhaps the system sells very well as a complete package and there is no reason to to change anything, which is fine. As a small business owner, I can relate to limited resources to devote toward advertising and seemingly low priority pet projects like selling accessories or even taking time to figure out what the pricing would be for such things. Website creation is no easy task either and from what I gather Steve is a very busy man touring his product and working hard to put it out there. His entrepreneurial tenacity speaks volumes for the free enterprise system and I applaud him.
There are many small scale miners such as myself who already own and operate centrifuge bowl systems (like Blue Bowl) for fines. When I and other small scalers look at his system and drool, we're also saying to ourselves: "I already own a Blue Bowl, pump motors, vibrators, and several other of the components of Steves Lab". For miners like us it is hard to justify such a purchase when we already own most of the mechanical components and thus feel it's nonsensical to re-purchase equipment, especially the Bowl component, pumps, and recirculation tub. The magic of the Lab (in my opinion) is in the configuration, framework, and clean electrical layout which Steve has innovated which I'm sure required hours and hours or R&D. I (and others) can only hope that Steve's product is a great success and he is willing or able to expand his product line in the direction of components sold separately in the future.
Meanwhile...... I have some R&D of my own to conduct.
As we all know: "necessity is the mother of invention"

Still open to suggestion folks.

I too have been looking for the funnel that the gold lab was using and have spent hours searching the internet and I think I finally found it!

I believe it was originally used to mix radiator fluid and is called "Hopkins FloTool 10704 Spill Saver Measu-Funnel"

http://autorepair.about.com/od/tools/fr/funnel-mixer.htm

Unfortunatly I haven't found any place that sells it. Yet.

Looks like amazon sells it:
http://www.amazon.com/Hopkins-FloTool-1070...l/dp/B000EH4V0Y

yep that does look like it. but why couldnt you use the top of a clear plastic bottel cut in half? their cut for this tool is really cheap enough,and you do get the hose adaptor nozzel with it. good eye there!!!

winterstick,
Thanks for the great find and welcome to CP!
I think that bottle will work excellent. All I need after that is to find three nozzle tips that will fit its thread pattern so that I can customize the feed speed for each classification, cutting or drilling each nozzle tip per class size (which will require some experimentation). I can easily construct an aluminum frame to house the Bowl and mount the feeder... and vibe motor to help 30 class cons move.
Not sure when I can start assembling and experimenting but a plan is coming together now.
Thanks!!!!

Swizz,
I know you didn't say much about the vibrator, but after watching that video the thing that stood out to me was what he probably using as his vibrator on his blue bowl and also his small sluice. I had seen that before which is a 110v fan. It works like a ceiling fan or floorstand type fan, if one of the blades is trimmed a little it throws it out of balance and causes vibration. in his video he said it took a slight vibration. I believe this fan is something like a cooling fan out of a pc computer tower and could be picked up for a little of nothing at a computer parts store or maybe even get a used one free. Not quite sure how he attached it to his blue bowl tho.
TY98

Hi TY!
Good thinking! You might be on the right track, but I'm not sure that a PC fan (processor or other) would be the proper one. Definitely the right size but there are a couple of potential problems I foresee.
1. Need 12V.... not sure what Voltage the PC fans run on
2. Fan Speed - I've messed with PC fans a bit and they can run ridiculously fast. This can be controlled with a manual device but the next potential problem is obtaining proper vibration from a fan that is well toleranced and designed to run very smooth. One could offset the balance as you suggested by clipping a blade. This however opens the door for new problems involving consistency and most importantly wear. It ain't pretty when an extremely high RPM fan starts to get bearing damage. First it will start whistling, then screaming, then....... nothing.
I think we're narrowing the motor down though. I seem to recall searching eBay for mining equipment a while back and can't remember the key words I used. Small vibrators like the Lab incorporates kept coming up because their title was linked to whatever I was searching (sluice, dredge, mining??, I can't remember!). I'm thinking that there are actually specific small 12V vibrator motors out there available for various industrial uses, dare I guess what they might be used for?
no

Swizz
Your right they need to be 12V. I just read a review on the GOLD LAB and it said the vibrators were modified fans. The fan on the mini sluice was mounted horizontal with the sluice and the fan on the blue bowl was mounted vertical to work the most efficiently for each. The guy has been working on the unit for 6 years so he has learned how to modify the fans. Maybe they are of a lower RPM, perhaps because they are 12V.
TY98

to make a 120 vac fan run on 12vdc you need to use a resistor to reduce the voltage to 12 and then use a full wave bridge to change the ac to dc... then a rehostadt so you can raise lower the speed of the fan. also a biggie when playing around with voltage changes is that you need to know the watage of the finnal product so it wont burn itself up when using it.i always try to double the applied wattage and wire size to prevent this. the device is doable if you just think through it and it looks like your doing just that!

Swizz,

I will admit, the Gold Lab system would definitely work here in Colorado, as we have some of the finest gold around, other than what they seem to have in Oregon. However, as you say, $995.00 is a steep price to pay , but for a person such as me, who doesn't have any creativity /manufacturing experience at all, or patience to do so, $995.00 isn't a bad price to pay; that has seemingly had most, if not all, the bugs worked out . The saying "necessity is the mother of invention," fits you to a tee. My hat is off to you!

h20

if your using a fan from a computer you can just use a prebuilt speed controller with the standard molex connector for around $5. http://www.directron.com/speedcontrol.html

if I was to use the computer fans. I would just use an old AT computer power supply (not the newer atx) that has the correct molex connectors for hooking up the fans. The AT power supplies are found in pentium 1 era computers.

Just found this source for small DC vibration motors: Precision

I think it would be reasonably simple to attach one (or more) of these motors to my hopper mount post (or elsewhere on my device) and they should be easy to regulate if needed (with a small rheostat). The voltage's for these are low and I could rig them to run on the appropriate voltage/amp battery, no problem.
This company is based on England but I'm pretty sure I can find an American vendor with similar products.

... and down the river again?


(sorry, I couldn't resist!)

Good one Swizz, that hat was dang fast too! Several of us walked for quite a ways down the river trying to find it but no luck.

Another idea for a vibration unit that would work for 12v might be one of those small spring loaded relays with a spring tensioner to adjust the vibration?
Just a thought.

CP

Hi Dan, hope you guys are staying warm on the prairie. It's been brutally cold up here for sure and looks like it was down there also. I think I've already gone through more wood than I did during all of last winter. Down to about 1/2 cord now... so fingers crossed that winter turns the corner soon!

I just remembered that I have this nifty vibrator which came with my Micro Sluice. It was designed for use while running fine mesh cons through the Micro Sluice... but I never attached it since I use the Blue Bowl for processing cons that are classed smaller than #30. Therefore, it would only make sense to adapt it to my Bowl feeder. I can easily attach a rheostat/potentiometer if I need to. It'll only be used to assist hopper feed on the smallest of concentrates entering the Bowl. The vibrator already has two wingnut thread posts so it will be easy to attach to my hopper mount post.

See what happens when you don't check the site daily! Yes, I miss that hat, but would rather lose it instead of my glasses. That would have been $500 plus to replace those.

Word has it that the nice & warm weather we've had here is due to change in a few days. Supposed to be a series of storms moving in and dump on us again.

20' of snow! Gimme 20'!

Thanks again winterstick!
My local Ace ordered them and I received them today. I bought 4 and plan on using 3 of them for the autofeed (one for each bowl class). I picked up another for a spare but it's such a nice tool I think I'm going to use it for oil changes on my dredge motor. They cost a total of UNDER $5 each and I believe they are the exact same hoppers used on the $1000 Lab. Next step is to locate nozzle tips for them and begin experimenting with tip sizes for each classification. I believe that the nozzle tips are similar to those found on common plastic restaurant-style catsup/mustard bottles. These can be purchased (very inexpensive) at many places... just need to go and match the thread pattern and purchase a few.

I'm pretty sure after studying the video it is the exact same. I searched alot of sites and it was the only one that even came close.

As for the nozzle, to me it looked like the tips used on honey bottles.

Swizz over on www.goldprospectors.org there is several threads talking about the gold laband theres also several youtube videos on what the have. one guy even has a list of components for it.youve probly already seen this but i thought id pass it along to you just incase you didnt!

russ,
Thanks, yes I'm familiar with the related threads on GPAA forums. There is some good information there regarding operation and parts but mostly bickering, fighting, and sarcasm back & forth between members and Steve in those particular discussions. It's almost like there's a contest going on over there to see who can make the best copy of Steve's machine first. I do believe that Steve's machine is a bit overpriced entering the market but probably doesn't deserve ALL of the flack he's getting over there... some of those guys are out of line and just plain mean. Bet-ya that when Steve dropped his worm and bobber into that pond he didn't know it was full of piranhas. Says he's already sold "100s" of them which would translate to 100s of $1000 sales.... so it's hard to feel TOO sorry for him. If he's cyin'... it's all the way to the bank and he's wiping his tears with $100 bills.

winterstick,
You are correct again about the honey bottle cap. I have a large honey bottle in the cupboard and tried the cap, fits perfectly but need one with a finer tip. That style of cap/tip is referred to as "Yorker" in the food/chemical/lotion/etc industries which purchase and use them in bulk. Rather than buying a large lot of them, which is how they are typically sold, I'm going to shop for a few items that I can use which have the right sized Yorkers and liberate the caps.

AFAIC the guys I first met on GPAA forums were totally cool beans. Then I left for a couple years, came back, found they went their own way and a new bunch came there. The new bunch are, at best, recreational miners that think they're God's gift to mankind. I have met a few rip offs & crooks there, but since I first joined the good guys, very few are still around. Dredger-TX, Arizonac, Wally69, and a few others I can't remember the nicks to, they were cool.

As for Steve, it could be overpriced. I havn't looked into it. Hey, if anything it's lab equipment. That's nice to have for analytical purposes, otherwise it's too technical. IMO.

And AFAIC if Steve did get it patented, people best honor that patent. Not doing so can get very expensive quick.

Wouldn't effect me if he attained a patent or not.... I have no plans to copy his product or use his ideas for financial gain.
I am looking for ideas to fabricate an auto-feeder for my Blue Bowl which is manufactured by D.A.M. Industries. His system is an unnecessarily overcomplicated compliment to Bowl systems (in my opinion) and has many bells and whistles that I'm not interested in. I can see how the Gold Lab may be of benefit to someone who is new to centrifuge recovery and doesn't want to endure the Blue Bowl learning curve. A vortex centrifuge which is properly run by a skilled operator should not require a safety sluice below it, nor should it's final tailings need to be run twice through the Bowl as seen in Steve's extended video during final process. Steve's approach in terms of auto-feeding the Blue Bowl in his Gold Lab is genius, and that is the feature I'm most interested in.
His machine may have its place and I hope he does well with it. With gold prices so high, many more entry level miners are exploring the market and may see it as a worthwhile investment. I respect what Steve has done but there is no way I could ever justify it. The entire Gold Lab is fabricated from a collection over-the-counter parts found at electronic, hardware, automotive stores, and... the D.A.M Industries Blue Bowl.
My goal remains simple - fabricate and attach an effective auto feed system to my existing Blue Bowl.

a friend of mine attached a clean up sluice to his blue bowl, and he finds micron sized gold in it, he cut the bottom out of a 2 litter pop bottle to make a long funnel than put it under the hole in the blue bowl, than a hose goes from the bottle to the sluice

Thanks for the info au.
I haven't assembled anything yet and am still considering adding a sluice. I own a Micro Sluice 1 and it would be very easy for me to mount it directly below the Blue Bowl outlet. The exiting Blue Bowl material could simply feed itself into the built-in hopper of the Micro Sluice. If need-be, I could easily attach a fitting to the Blue Bowl exit and use vinyl tubing for a smoother material transfer into the hopper. The Micro Sluice 1 has a nice tailings bag attached which filters water and collects all waste concentrate for easy disposal or re-running for testing purposes. I will have to configure my aluminum framework to allow each primary component (Blue Bowl and MS 1) to run independently as they will each have separate vibration, pump, and water control components.

Do it I want to see a picture of this

Swizz, have you made any progress on this?

I just got done making the frame I'll be using to hold the blue bowl, and now I'm starting on the plumbing and auto-feeder.

No, unfortunately I have not. With spring approaching I have put it on hold for now as life is getting really busy all of a sudden. I will definitely continue on it as time and finances permit, but probably not for a little bit. I'd love to see your progress!