25 replies to this topic

[helispaz]

Good day everyone,
I'm a long time prospector and metal fabricator (Drywashers, wet recirculators, metal detecting, etc) currently working in Yuma, Az. I believe prospecting is a great way to enjoy the outdoors, but looking around the last few years equipment prices have skyrocketed. I have always built my own equipment and every time I'm out using it people want to buy it, so I figured I'd start manufacturing some to sell at a price people could actually afford. Please have a look at let me know what you think, I'll attach a a few photos and if you like what you see let me know.

Thanks, Chris
www.fabspecialists.com

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[maui]

looks pretty cool, any more pictures?
take care. ron

[3rdgear]

I agree let's see some more

Tom

[helispaz]

Good day everyone,
I'm a long time prospector and metal fabricator (Drywashers, wet recirculators, metal detecting, etc) currently working in Yuma, Az. I believe prospecting is a great way to enjoy the outdoors, but looking around the last few years equipment prices have skyrocketed. I have always built my own equipment and every time I'm out using it people want to buy it, so I figured I'd start manufacturing some to sell at a price people could actually afford. Please have a look at let me know what you think, I'll attach a a few photos and if you like what you see let me know.

Thanks, Chris
www.fabspecialists.com

Ok here's some more pics of the recirculator for everyone.

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[helispaz]

Good day everyone,
I'm a long time prospector and metal fabricator (Drywashers, wet recirculators, metal detecting, etc) currently working in Yuma, Az. I believe prospecting is a great way to enjoy the outdoors, but looking around the last few years equipment prices have skyrocketed. I have always built my own equipment and every time I'm out using it people want to buy it, so I figured I'd start manufacturing some to sell at a price people could actually afford. Please have a look at let me know what you think, I'll attach a a few photos and if you like what you see let me know.

Thanks, Chris
www.fabspecialists.com

Here's some pics of the clean up sluice. It all breaks down and fits in the tote. Works great and 1/3 the price of other clean up sluices and you don't need 2 buckets, pipes, etc.

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[jimb66]

Chris - any pictures of your drywasher? Looking for a puffer
jim

[FrogMick]

Back in my day I would rather work with metal over wood or anything else and you do some very nice clean looking work. Better than I ever did and on par with my Dad's work, he was a Master Sheet Metal Mechanic. If you undercut the greed masters out there selling equipment today you should do more than very well with your excellent workmanship. Nice site too. fabspecialists.com
... FM

[Terry Soloman]

Thanks, Chris
www.fabspecialists.com

Chris, how about a YouTube of the recirculator running material? $380.00 is a good price! - Terry

[extractor]

They sure look good . nice work

[old timer83]

totally agree with frogmick, superior sheet metal work, what i really like is the amount of slick plate on both shown. a decent amount of slick ahead of first riffles allows the heavies to go down and lighter stuff to move on out of the sluice.rough rule of thumb -- 1/3 of length of sluice for a good slick plate. congrats, sell a bunch!!

[helispaz]

Good day folks,
I finally went out this weekend and shot some brief video footage of my recirculator running some material. Please note the amount of debris my screen box keeps out of the tote and the recirculator system. The pile next to the unit was from 4 buckets of dirt we had ran earlier. Don't mind the classifier on top of my hopper. I'm in the testing phases on my design for a highbanker type hopper that doesn't make a huge mess and lose a lot of water during operation. I'm still in the R&D phase on this but will soon be available and will come with my wet washers in the near future. I feel this will make this a more multi purpose unit, yet I want the highbanker hopper to be water efficient, yet still be able to shovel straight from the earth like a drywasher to increase production.

Thanks for looking!
Chris
www.fabspecialists.com

[FrogMick]

Cool, any golden results?

[helispaz]

Good day all,
I just wanted to say Hi and I'm back on the forum. I recently got hurt at work, so I'll be building much more prospecting equipment here in the near future. If anyone needs anything feel free to let me know!
Thanks, Chris

[3rdgear]

Hope you are healing well from your work injury. I know I am looking forward to "good" things to come out of your shop.

Tom

[helispaz]

Good day all,
Thanks for the well wishes. I broke my back and can no longer do my "real" job! haha. I will be producing much more equipment and hopefully get some hand crank and blower drywashers done here soon( this fall most likely). I was pondering making the hand crank drywashers that are able fasten to a rigid back pack frame. I think if I make it all aluminum I can keep the weight down and make it easy to hike into remote spots.Possibly a shovel/pick mount on the frame, etc. Any thought or ideas on this? Anything you folks would like to see in this design? I'm just starting the design and fab so I'm open to any and all input to make this the lightest, most rigid portable bellows drywasher. Any input is much appreciated.

Thanks all and have a great weekend!
Chris

[Red_desert]

I would like to see a dry washer sometime. I'm far away, but might get around to desert dry washing eventually. All the ones I see in ads look small. I've been told a dry washer can be modified to run a lot of buckets. Mostly been around on trips to western Az places like Quartzsite, Yuma. I wished on those trips I'd invested in a dry washer.

[helispaz]

Good day fellow prospectors.
Hopefully in the next month or so the temperatures here in Yuma, Az will cool down a bit so I can get out prospecting myself! Hopefully I can get a drywasher prototype dialed in sooner than later. Also don't forget if anyone needs anything custom built (hoppers, sluice box, whatever) give me a call. I have a well set up metal shop and build whatever you need at a fair price. Come on cool weather I'm tired of the 110+ days! Have a great day my fellow prospectors!

Chris

[Red_desert]

No hurry, does anyone still use those hand cranking dry washers? I'm not sure if I could listen to a leaf blower all day. I once saw a hand cranker being used around Yuma. I suppose how it was constructed would make a big difference, at the end of the day...your back might feel better too!

[helispaz]

Good evening fellow prospectors! I just wanted to let everyone know my back is healing well after surgery and I should be up and running here in about 2 weeks. Also due to the current economy I have lowered the price on the recirculator to $299.99 from $380.00. I have one on ebay now or just give me a yell if you're in the Yuma area and save the shipping charges. Hopefully soon the cool weather will return to Yuma and I can get out prospecting again myself. Have a great week folks!

[helispaz]

Good afternoon all my gold prospecting brothers and sisters. I'm just sending a quick note to let everyone know I just had spinal fusion at L5 and S1 and unfortunately my shop will not be producing any equipment until approximately August 2012. Those pesky surgeons need me to take a FULL 6 months off to ensure bones heal and screws and rods do their job properly. Thanks much for all your folks support over the past few years and by this fall we WILL be shipping belows type drywashers and a maybe a larger blower model.

Happy hunting and be safe out there,
Chris

[helispaz]

Good day folks. I've been out of back fusion surgery for 3 months now and I've convinced my boss (my wife!!) that I can go down to the shop and slowly build some equipment. I've got some equipment done and have it on Ebay for now so I can build at my pace and sell it whenever I get them done. If anyone needs anything feel free to give me a yell and I'll see what I can do for folks. Here is a link to my Ebay page which has my products listed,

http://myworld.ebay.com/helispaz

Thanks for taking the time to look at our products and have a safe summer!

Chris

[Joe Z]

Real nice recirculating sluice on ebay.....quality looks first class.
I've had two back surgeries over the last twenty years the last being in 2003... while i was able to get out and do many things it took me a full year before all the nerves and other things healed properly. I'm really careful now how i pick things up.... have a speedy recovery and if you have any pictures of your drywasher i bet some would like to see it also.
Joe

Question; up on the highbanker section of your sluice as that builds up with any larger items on top of that screen do you just scoop it out with your hand as i couldn't make out in the pictures to see if there was a section it rolled or pushed off of onto the ground?

[helispaz]

Good day folks,

To answer your question Joe Z, the mesh in the hopper lifts out for easy dumping of the larger rocks and debris. The mesh has a lip on the front and back of it so the rocks won't spill off as you remove and dump it. I'll attach a pic so you can see what I'm talking about.

Thanks again for your interest in our products. I do have a recirculator up on Ebay for sale and another unit about done in the shop if anyone is interested in avoiding Ebay.
Have a great week, Chris

[Joe Z]

Chris.....
That's great! When i looked at it and saw the rivets i thought it was riveted to the bottom but this answers my question perfectly....... I need to get one of these down the line somewhere and thanks for the speedy reply.
Joe

[San Diego Gold]

Chris,

Any update on your drywashers?

[helispaz]

Good day,

The drywasher's should be out about October 2012. I still have about 3 months I need to take it easy due to my back fusion surgery, but after that I'll finalize a few things for the drywashers and have them available for retail sales. I'll keep this site up to date on the progress of the drywashers and when the shop is back up to speed with equipment. Right now I'm working a little here and there as my back permits.

Have a great weekend,
Thanks, Chris