How Do You Build A Portable Sluice?
Panning for gold—sifting water beds in search of gold nuggets—is a fun old-fashioned pastime. In addition to being a relaxing way to spend an afternoon, panning can be a financially rewarding endeavor. Building your own sluice is a cheap alternative to purchasing a commercial one, and an easy craft to complete. Cut the wood down to size. Cut the beam in half to make two 3-foot-long pieces. Cut the plank into two pieces: a 3-foot-long section and a 2-inch-long section. Glue the ribbed matting to the top of the 3-foot-long plank, starting at one end so that the matting covers half the surface. Create the riffles. Riffles are the parallel grooves that will catch the gold as you feed silt through the sluice. These grooves should extend across the full width of the plank. Approximately 2 inches from the end of the rubber matting, make a 1/2-inch-deep, 1/4-inch-wide groove. Make a larger groove—1/2-inch deep and 1-inch wide—approximately 2 inches in from the end of the plank not cove
