How to Cut a Sluice

Find a fallen tree with a width of at least 18 inches. Cut the log on both ends with a buck saw 48 inches long. Pull the cut log away from the rest of the tree and stand on end in a clear area.

Cut timbers from the first log with it standing on end. Hit a froe with a hammer hard enough to sink the froe blade into the top of the log. Pull the froe handle toward you to twist the blade. This splits the wood down its side. Work the froe blade farther down the log and continue to pry away a new timber from the log. Cut six timbers from the log using the froe-and-hammer method of timber cutting from rough logs.

Cut riffles from one timber using the froe and hammer. Hit the froe bade into the timber so you have a 2-inch strip of wood that is as long as the original log. Cut as many strips as you can from that one timber. You should end up with about six 2-inch strips.

Cut the 2-inch strips as wide as the widest timber. Screw these cut riffles onto the bottom of the sluice. Cut the riffles and space them out along the length of the widest timber.

Use two or three screws to secure the riffles depending on the width of your timbers. Screw two timbers to each side of the sluice to create the sluice box. Avoid gaps in the timbers by using the draw knife to shape the timber to fit together before screwing them together.

Reinforce the box at both ends and in the middle by using 2-inch strips to connect the top of the open box. Cut the strips out of a new timber or have enough to frame the box in three places along its length.