3D Printed Sluice Prototype

[V_8]

Hey Guys,

Been toying with the idea of a modular sluice that can be printed, knocked up a 3D render of it - Dimensions - 200 mm Wide x 120 mm Deep x 75 mm High. I can 3D print the riffles or you could use GH matting in them. Idea is to clip together as many bits to get the desired length. Was thinking i could make the depth the same as the GH matting for a very customisable sluice setup in being able to change the order and length of the sluice. I could design some sort of cleanup setup with some sort of classification so i can clean out the High Banker and then run it straight through this. Basically want to streamline from cons to clean gold. Will be printing it tonight and will post pics.

 

[Ramjet]

Damn that's impressive V_8.
The next innovation in sluices seems the variations are endless. Built in riffles like the AM sluices could be good.
Good luck with it. Maybe you should take out a patent

 

[Teemore]

Looks an awesome concept just haven't quite got my head around the 3D printing stuff, know you can buy the plastic (?) think it comes in rolls to feed the 'printer'.
Love to see how it turns out .... wouldn't mind seeing how it goes replicating the Angus MacKirk ripple set-up, these are acknowledged 'gold catchers'.
keep us posted.
Cheers Tom

 

[G0lddigg@]

cant wait to see this one mate

 

[aushunter]

Gudday V8,
Looks impressive and I have toyed around with this idea for a while, just the 3D printing side of things. But the cost was really expensive.
The company I was working with had the only 2 3d printers in Oz that could print up to 1 metre cubed.
I used for printing out scaled models of the Dragline and Excavator bkts I had designed and sent them to customers.
I painted them up and fully logo and decal them too.
We printed out a train bogie with springs and all of the brake components in one hint and when complete it all worked.
I think that model was 600mm long.
Just check to see if the plastic can handle the pounding of material being loaded into the sluice.
I would be interested to see the outcome.
What 3d package are you using, I was using Unigraphics, Solidworks and Inventor.
Good luck.
Cheers
Brad

 

[TenOunce Tone]

Great job V8. Very interested to see some riffles in a section. If you can do 300 mm sections it would be more adaptable as most people work in a 300 slick p;ate then multiples of 300 for riffled section. Plus i think the GH mat comes in this length or multiples as well

3d printing is the way of the future.

Cheers Tone

 

[trenchfighter]

Mr Burns - "exxxcelent"

 

[Outback]

Wow ! well done .

Anyone know the limitations of these 3D printers please ?

 

[blayke]

there is almost no limit in terms of 3D printers....The only limit is the size of the machine and the only limit there is the size of your wallet lol

 

[aushunter]

Gudday Outback,
The limits are endless on a top of the range models. The machines that Bradken had where 1/2 million dollars each.
As I said about the train bogie everything worked.
It printed out a solid block but with 2 types of plastic, the hard final plastic and a support plastic that filled all of the spaces that needed support during the printing.
Both plastics hardened at the same rate. When finished we just put the solid block into a dissolving solution which melted away the support plastic and left the final product.
We printed out mainly full scale Excavator adapters and tips also the wear parts, just to make sure they fitted with the correct tolerances, big dollars when it comes to GET Ground Engaging Tools for big Excavators.
I loved the job but a lot of people were made redundant last year and I was one of the many.
Cheers
Brad.....

 

[Outback]

Thanks Blayke & Aushunter for information , the thing I'm making is time consuming with all he welding , bending , cutting , drilling & fitting .
Not sure if tough plastics could handle the pounding but maybe that's possible :/

 

[aushunter]

I think I would be worried if it was dropped or knock over the plastic would and will fracture, I think injection mould type production would be better off.
I must admit we tested a lump of the printed stuff by slamming it hard on the concrete and it bounced up and hit the ceiling of the shed, but that was a fair lump not one made of thin walls.
I reckon the Alloy is the way to go.
I hope this will help.
Cheers
Brad

 

[blayke]

at officeworks we sell small scale retail versions as the first retail 3D machine in Aus I have to say even the thin sections of less than 5 mm thickness are reasonably strong....they have some give but don't split or cracked unless some strong force is applied....

 

[Outback]

Thanks Guys , for your expertise , love to know if the plastics could handle the rough material without spending the bucks to find out

Cheers for your help .

 

[V_8]

G'Day all,

I reckon the plastic will be fine strength wise, i had a go at printing 3 sections at a small scale to see if the concept will work and i have to make a few tolerance adjustments so everything fits snug. The small scale the circular clips need more tolerance so full scale it may be ok. I'll put some riffles in the next print Tone and show you how they turn out. Sorry was busy on the weekend and could only manage 1 test print. You can set how solid you want the parts to print and i have had no drama strength wise. Was looking at small vibration motors on the fleabay and may incorporate some sort of small vibrating classifier to feed the little sluice, all 3d printed of course apart from the mesh screen. I have been using Sketchup for most of the stuff, whilst i have Solidworks also, Sketchup is a bit quicker for workflow. Solidworks is more powerful software for sure. I really need a bigger print area to do 300mm as at the moment im limited to 250 x 250 x 200 mm cubed. Will get a photo up this evening of a finished print. Cheers!

 

[blayke]

a thought aswell V8 make then slightly taper out toward the top....if you can sort it so they can stack relatively easy to make shipping cheap there would be a few people interested depending on how you buy the plastic they can be reasonably priced too

 

[kleinman98]

My printer should be coming wednesday or thursday this week. Cant wait. The great thing about printing parts with ABS is you just glue it all together with acetone and if you break a bit off its easy to repair

 

[kleinman98]

Which 3d printer have you got?

Hey Guys,

Been toying with the idea of a modular sluice that can be printed, knocked up a 3D render of it - Dimensions - 200 mm Wide x 120 mm Deep x 75 mm High. I can 3D print the riffles or you could use GH matting in them. Idea is to clip together as many bits to get the desired length. Was thinking i could make the depth the same as the GH matting for a very customisable sluice setup in being able to change the order and length of the sluice. I could design some sort of cleanup setup with some sort of classification so i can clean out the High Banker and then run it straight through this. Basically want to streamline from cons to clean gold. Will be printing it tonight and will post pics. https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/2099/1395893178_sluice_1.jpg

 

[Diggertom]

Any news on this?

Tom

 

[Guest]

available on thingyverse?