Idaho Jim

Jack, the very nature of jaw crushers precludes the ability to crush finer than the jaw movement. If you have any movement at all at the lower end of the jaw, the smallest size you can set the output to is equal to that movement. The problem I had with the first two attempts with mine, was too little movement at the lower end of the jaw. Mine now has about the same movement at the bottom as the top, but the timing on the movements is different. One breaks on the upstroke, and one on the downstroke. The movement is 1/4", so the smallest size I can get is 1/4" minus....maybe slightly bigger as I don't want the moving jaw to strike the fixed jaw at the bottom. It's possible to have the movement at the bottom less than the movement at the top, by varying the angle on the toggle. By making that movement less, you could get a smaller output, but at the expense of lower output rate. IMHO, as long as it crushes to <3/8" that's all that's needed before putting it in the impact crusher. Jim

Yup...I've got a fairly well-equipped shop. Lathe, mill, welders, plasma cutter, etc. The roller crusher would be tough. Need hardened rollers for that. I've thought of building a small one, but always decided I needed something else more...LOL Jim

The next project for me is an impact crusher. Need to reduce the jaw's 1/4 minus output to -30. The impact crusher will be a simpler project, I think. Jim

I think your Chipmunk is a little bigger, though, Jack. Won't they handle 3 x 4 rock, or even a little bigger? They really are nice machine....though spendy, and hard to find. Jim

I appreciate the kind words, guys. I've been wanting one of these for a few years. Noticed on the 'net, several people wondering about how to build one, or wanting plans. So, along with the other equpment plans I offer, I figured I'd tackle this and see what I could do. It does good on the relatively soft rhyolite, but we'll see in the spring how it does on harder rock. The amount of offset on the shaft determines the crushing force. More offset = less force, but faster crushing, and vis-versa. I started with 1/8" offset, and it didn't work. Then changed the toggle, still didn't work. Then, I wrongly thought it was the offset, and went to a new shaft with 1/4" offset. Still didn't work. Finally figured out the problem, and it works fine. Probably would also work fine with 1/8" offset, but would be a little slower, but would handle hard rock better. That treadmill motor would probably do hard rock better with less offset, too Jim

A guy near me is selling one of those, but wants $2,000. WAY outside my budget. Mine cost me about $200. Jim

Took a couple of months, working 3 or 4 hours/day. Didin't work well on the first two iterations, but I kept at it and finally figured out what was required in the design. Not much info out there on the critical details that are required. I'll be selling plans and instructions on building this, or other jaw crushers. Jim's crusher Jim

Guys, you need to identify the problem the jig solves. This was made for prospecting. Prospecting and mining are vastly different. For prospecting, you need a unit that recovers a high percentage of sub-100 gold. Ideally, that unit should work either wet, or dry. It should be easily man-portable. It should be easily maintained, or repaired. It should have low power requirements. The sweep Jig fulfills all of that. Now, that said, I can build a much larger version....no problem. But for now, please show me any other gold prospecting equipment that works wet or dry, other than a pan. And, my little jig even works on damp material, without added water. No drywasher can do that. I was surprised myself at recovering both gold, and black sand from damp clay. I did this at the LDMA Blue Bucket outing last summer. Several people witnessed it. I repeated it at a local club outing in June, near Salmon, Idaho. Sure my recovery went down...that's no surprise, but it still recovered desirable material. And that recovery was extremely small gold. At the Blue Bucket, I was working damp tailings from previous outings. Where else are you going to buy a unit that performs wet or dry, and for less than 1/2 the cost of a decent drywasher? JIm

Thanks, guys! ya know, Jack, this wasn't that bad, in either money, or time.The patent cost me about $700 + what I spent on books, etc to learn how to do it. I did spend 250 hours on the application, but it ended up being in the 5% minority in going through on the first attempt, so it only took 11 months from when I filed the application. Allen, I'm guessing it was one of my videos you saw. Jim

The Patent Office had notified me in October the patent had been "allowed". A week later, they notified me I had left out the page numbering on the Specifications, Claims, and Abstract. I sent in the modified forms within a couple of days, and they then notified me the patent would take effect on Dec. 25th. So, I've been checking the site to see it finally in print. My "net was out for 24 hours, so didn't check yesterday, but today, it was there....Yeehaa! It can be seen here: Sweep Jig Patent

Thanks, guys. I spent the day in the shop. I'm building myself a small jaw crusher. Been needing one for awhile. This is a 2 x 3" model, but built really hefty. Should have it working by Monday. Also waiting for my patent to publish. They told me 3 weeks ago that it will take effect Christmas Day, of all days...LOL I checked, and it still wasn't published as of last night. The number is 10159988. Jim

I'm in...got a few bricks myself. Jim

I read that about toxoplasmosis, Bob scared the crap out of me....LOL I know I'm a victim. When younger, I hated cats. A few years later, I came to like them. Still have one, but it will probably be the last. Just cal me "wormboy"...Ha! Jim

I caught Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever 6 or 7 years ago. Tick bite in Wyoming. I knew I'd been bitten, so was watching for any symptoms. Four days after the bite, I woke up with a horrible headache. Doc gave me doxicyclene, and it cleared up, with no after effects, though I didn't feel good for another 3 weeks. But, when the symptoms first showed, I was weak as a sick cat. took all the will power I had to drive myself to the doctor. Now, I always treat my clothing with Permethrin when going into any area that has ticks. And, spray any bare skin with Picaridin. I DO NOT want a repeat of RMSF! Jim

In the desert races I rode an AJS 370. Super good handling for it's day. For the Elsinore GP, and at Parris, I rode a Yamaha 250. Those Elsinores were good machines, for sure. Malcom Smith, himself, put a new top end on my Yamaha. Hard to believe how many years ago all that was....LOL Jim