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Tell us about yourself:“I’m a Civil Technologist working for an engineering firm. I enjoy metal fabrication and woodworking; I have built dozens of metal projects as well as many kitchen cabinets over the last 30 years, and I perform most of the maintenance of our automobiles. I will tackle almost any project and enjoy finding the solution to problems and putting them into practice.”
The search for gold has sure evolved since the Klondike days; finding a source is one thing, extracting it is another matter. This machine looks like it will do an efficient job of smashing ore into fragments and dust, in order to glean any trace of the precious metal hidden inside.
Impressive project, Darrell! Thanks for sharing it with us!
What is it? It’s a gasoline engine driven chain rock pulverizer. Rocks are fed into the top feed hopper and enter the cylindrical crushing drum, and are flailed with rotating chains. They will remain in the chamber until they are less than the size of the exit holes and then drop into a receiving bucket under the crusher. The rotating of the chain creates an air flow; thus, it forces the crushed material out the exit holes and the chamber is therefore self-cleaning. Reduces rocks that can be as large as 100 mm down to the size of 2 mm to dust. The resulting product can be panned or sluiced to recover the gold held within the larger rocks.
What is the main power source for your project? (e.g. electric motor, gas engine etc.) I used a 9 HP gas engine with electric start. Direct engine drive of the flail chains is via a flex coupler. The 1 in. chain support shaft is supported on flanged bearings.
What design/build challenges did you overcome? The body of the crushing chamber had to be strong enough to resist the impact forces of the rocks beating against its surface. A 1/2 in. thick steel pile section was obtained and the ends surfaced on a lathe to get them flat and parallel. There were many hours of fitting and refitting to settle on a frame design, as well as a means to making the unit mobile by use of both easily removable wheels as well as skids.
If you had to build it again, what would you do differently I would probably make a smaller, more portable unit. This one is large and requires an ATV to drag it on its skids if used in a field situation. It is more suited to a fixed location and have the rock brought to the machine.
Which Princess Auto location do you visit most? Dartmouth, N.S.