My blue bowl build works well enough for the most part but i have been hearing good things about miller tables. I have to admit that they have an appeal. Actually being able to interact with the table / sand as the water does the job is nice for me, just because my ADD kicks in otherwise. Being able to see it work a little better is a plus too. With the bowl, i had a hell of a time seeing through the water vortex since i had to do it outside. A little sun and it just gave me a headache.
So i started looking into the miller table and it seems simple enough. I have formulated a basic plan for what i would use for building materials. The issue that im having now is just the over all design of the table. I have seen so many that i have no idea which is the better one to go with.
My plan is to make it out of wood, and use a Duck Brand easy liner for the surface. http://www.amazon.com/Duck-280211-Non-Adhe...ner+ultra+fresh
One of the perks to that surface is it catches gold pretty well, and i have nothing but good things about it from different google searches i have done. But as far as i understand it, it also means i don't have to worry about paint and sanding the wood. I think it does need to be glued down though.
Now if anyone has made a wooden miller table (with or with out the easy liner surface) I ask that you link a video or a picture of your build so i can see how you guys made them.
I'm a bit stumped on a couple things i have heard about with the tables. For one, the dimensions. Because the mat i plan to use is 20 inch by 8 feet, i plan to at least make the table 20 inches wide so i don't have to cut the mat any. Or at least not cut to be more narrow, which in my house is just begging to be nothing close to straight. But besides width, how long does the table have to be? From the videos i have seen, the gold never seems to move more then a few inches down the table. Does it really need to be 30+ inches long? Is there a perk to making it longer vs shorter?
Another question i had was, i understand the water flow has to be as smooth as possible. Which brought people to using a reservoir type build, so the water flows over the edge and runs smoothly down the table. See the below picture for an example of what i mean.
I have also heard of turning the spray bar upside down so the holes face up. Possibly in conjunction with the reservoir, I'm not sure on that one. And then last, another oddity that heard mentioned, was placing a thin clear plastic sheet a tiny bit above the table so the water runs under it. I have heard that one referenced in two different ways. One was further down the table so any float gold would be forced under the water and not off the end. And the other way, was to place it an inch or so down from the spray bar / reservoir or which ever, so the water goes under it and smooths out more before hitting the sand.
Another and i think the last one i can think of at the moment, is to use a scotch pad (green dish scrubbing pads if I'm thinking of the right item) the length of the reservoir, under the spray bar to kill any bubbles or turbulence as the water hits the wood.
So, now my biggest question is, is it really necessary to do all that stuff?
Of all of that, this is one i would like to add if i can get it to work right. It's a small hole in the table with a glass vial under, so you can just sweep the gold in and keep the sand out.
Anyway thanks for any help you guys can provide.