Hobbies And Interests
Things You'll Need
Instructions
Cut the top off the 2-liter soda bottle. Measure about three inches down from the top of the bottle and cut it horizontally across with a razor knife. This is the "cut edge." Throw out the bottom portion of bottle and retain the top three inches, which includes the pour spout. Three inches of bottle top is about what you will need if the bowl is four inches deep.
Turn the plastic bowl over so the bottom is facing up. Cut a circular hole in the center of the bowl's bottom that is slightly smaller in diameter than that of the spout on the bottle top. Remove any burrs around the new hole. Turn the bowl over.
Hold the bowl in one hand and push the spout of the bottle through the hole in the bottom of the bowl with the other. The pour spout of the bottle top should protrude out the bottom of the bowl with the bottle's cut edge inside the bowl.
Glue the bottle spout in place and make it waterproof with silicon gasket gel. Tape the neck of the bottom inside of the bowl with duct tape to create a sloped floor of the bowl leading up the side of the bottle spout. Apply the silicon gasket gel on the outside of the bowl and not in the bottom of the bowl. Let the gel dry at least two hours before using the machine to pan for gold.
Cut off an end of a garden hose and tape the cut end so it pours water into the bowl on the down slope of the bowl's walls. When the hose is in the correct position, it will direct water along the bowl wall in a horizontal fashion, creating a whirlpool inside the bowl.
Attach the other end of the hose to a water supply and turn on the water, directing it inside the bowl. Pour gold concentrate into the bowl. The whirlpool motion of water inside the bowl will collect gold at the bowl bottom. The water's action also will remove the lighter materials via the inner spout when the water escapes as more of it is added to the gold panning machine.