How To Make A Mold For Silicone Sluice Box Mats 

from one tinkerer to another, I like the way you work. I really appreciate your videos, please keep them coming !

You are the reality Tool Time Tim, thank you Alan

Thank you for this demo, that was awesome. I am just getting started with gold prospecting and am on a tight budget. Cant wait to buy these supplies and attempt to make some.

Pam non-stop spray worked well for me to stop the clay from sticking to pvc or other molding substances. Good luck,I really liked the design,am working on a new set for myself.

Thank you sir. My Silicone stock just went up a couple more cents. :-D One thing I would like to add to this if I may, is that if these get a hole or tear or any damage, they are very easy to repair. Just squirt a little Silicone in the hole or tear and smooth it over with the dish soap water and put it back in the mold til it sets up. These things are really surprisingly durable. Keep 'em coming.

Possibilities are endless! Pinecones.... false teeth.... you name it lol I’m gonna come up with something special👍 Thanks for sharing Alan

Looking at those baking trays and thinking I'm gonna make me a light weight sluice that'll fit in a small back pack

Great Idea!🤙🏻

Thank you for sharing.

Very interesting eye swirl design is popular

awesome vid!!! thank you sir!!

Awesome video thanks for sharing

Awesome

Awesome info for making the mats. I hope that they work as good as they look. Thanxsomuch

Perfect 👌🏾 surprised nobody has knocked on your door about making you money for this. And I was totally just writing an email about this very thing. And you answered 😎 before I could even send it. Cool. Was even gonna ask how you kept em together. Right in. Good to know. Thanks for sharing friend. Have a great night

Good job. Have a great day.

I like it very clever I've wondering how to improve the mat I bought from Amazon...perfect price too.. Thank you

Thank You Sir!

Really good video thanks for sharing have a great night and prospect on.

Nice video and instructions !

VERY, VERY, VERY INTELLIGENT!

top job again Alan i make most of my gear as well mate keep it up

Gracias por el video!!!!!!! 💪💪💪💪🇨🇱👏👏👏👏🙏

That works real good thanks for the lesson. TANK

thank you alan looking forward to trying this style

Great Job ! Thank You for shering of your exprience !

Thanks for the lesson Teach! Can't wait to try it out!

Thank you Alan! I was racking my brain trying to figure how you did that! Lol I was think a cookie cutter

Thank you for this great instructional!

Nice video thanks for posting it.

That was awesome to share thanks alan

Brilliant thanks for the idea ☺️

ok, just i mdae it. Good work, my freind. Greteings Tom

Awesome idea!!!

Great video Mr!! 😁✅👍🏴‍☠️I've been watching you for a long time and I've never seen this one?? Who knows? 🙂

Thanks again Alan!

I love this. The pattern you have here sorta reminds me of a dream mat on youtube. I wonder if a guy painted the soapy water on the mold then squirt the silicone direct on then use a flat wide ice cube to flatten the backside could be a bit less waste? maybe less to trim off? i dunno its just a fun fact ice is the only thing i know silicone won't stick to at all even a little. love these mats your making.

Here's a good idea for you.try using rubber car mats as a mould.I was thinking of making mats just by trimming the car mats to size because you can get all sorts of patterns and some are perfect v matting.👍🌟 I haven't got any further with the trommel but have got another one and I'm thinking of using it flat with a centrifugal motion also.when I start to feel less pain I will get round to doing something with them.Great video😉👍

Great video good job

Very clever.

Interesting project. I wonder though if you are really saving anything when its all done compared to buying a finished product.

send me some mats to Germany :) I love your videos , you are awesome!!

Hay Alan, you need to make a video of you BURNING THE BOX that you think/work outside of.....lol God bless & keep thinkerin' !

Thanks for taking the time to show us how you made your mold and mat. Very informative. I have been messing around with 3D printing different mats and even though they are hard plastic they work great. Next step will be to 3D print a mold to see how that would work. If I print out a beach sand sawtooth mat mold would you like to test it out? Might work fantastic for your next trip to Benson Beach.

I was wondering how dime sized washers would work ? With the extra little stem in the centre I believe ( speaking with no experience) that it would help in catching more of that lovely yellow.

Truly amazingkts big al ..😁

Does the soapy water just serve as a release agent? You dont mix anything under water, do you? How do you make the punch shape? Is there another video on that?

I'm going to try and make one with a deep grove traction mat at walmart and see how it will turn out.

I was thinking out that stocch gard stuff that repels water for fabic and upholstery too

Very Good , How long do they last ? Does sunlight destroy them ? And is wet area silicon best , like for fish tanks ? Thanks.

what keeps silicon from sticking to your mold?

That is a pretty good way of doing it. I wonder if liquid latex would work?

Thank you Mr. Robertson for sharing an outstanding video how you make your silicone molds with the rest of us out here. I will be making one now and then see how it will workout, just need to pick up the clay and some silicone tubes this weekend and see what happens. Mr. Robertson I know it's not been too long since you started making these molds, but how durable do you think this silicone mold is, since you added the dawn dishwater soap to the silicone? Just a rough idea would good enough for me. I was just wondering if the silicone is as tough as the straight silicone that is a pain in the rear when you clean areas that straight silicone caulk has been used before. Thank you again for sharing another excellent video with the rest of us. dd

After using these and other silicon mats. Would you go back to miners moss?

Thanks

Allan i want to make a wooden sluice mat(honey comb).Can it capture gold???Exactly the same design which you made in your this very video by makking some holes by a drill machine

Great videos Alan. Since you had good luck with these mats in both directions, why not combine both directions in one mat - just alternate your u shape facing up then down when you press the pvc into the sculpey. You could either make alternating rows along the long dimension, or alternate each u shape within each row. I have a friend in Ekalaka - any gold near that part of MT?

Looks good have you ever tried to make a taller riffle or something a little more aggressive i still haven't tried it yet

Hi Alan, Started on my first silicone matt today, could not find dawn dish soap over here Aust' so I had to use a different brand, added the soap to the water squirted the silicone in 2 tubes, mixed it up into a ball, layed it out on the mould pressed it down into the grooves I had made I rolled the access off, then I waited, and I waited, it did not dry as yours do. It has been in the mould all day and it is still tacky. The silicone I used was your every day type, the water soap mixture felt okay the silicone wasn't sticking to my hands, it felt a bit slippery on the silicone if anything, the silicone I had I was able to put pieces back on the ball and they would mix back in. We may have different type of silicone over here or I chose the wrong type, nearly all our hard ware store had was the roof and gutter type, I was lucky enough to find just a plain multi purpose type of silicone. Wondering if you could offer any advice on what I may be doing wrong? I have been through your video on how too make it. Cheers Robert Aust'

What material did you use for your templet the white sheet

Loved your video yet again I'm always learning something new from you :-) got a question though what is your favorite silicone to use save from Home Depot? There's so many choices I don't know which one to get?

thenk you granddady!

Did u mean 50% of the entire bottle of soap into the water well almost around that amount

Hi. Thanks for the video! When, if you want to, would I add the color to the silicone? Thanks.

Im thinking you would be an interesting man to know

Love it, How did you know about the soap and silicone mix acting that way? I didn't know that would make that do that.

So which way is the backward way that works best?

you should invest in a plastic mold vacuum love this mat ,,, your take on the dream mat ,, id buy a pad or 2 from ya even made the way you make them ,,, how much would you charge for 2 of them bad boys ?

Could you just use silicone? Without the soap water

Alan, HOW ABOUT A SILICONE GOLD PAN?

Hi. Forgot to ask. Does any dish soap work or should I use Dawn? Thanks!

“But honey! Alan said I could use your old cookie sheet!” Lol tee hee Just kidding man! Lol Great video as per usual. Did you find using the pvc pipe to smooth the silicone in the mould was unnecessary and better to just use your hand? Probably can force it into the small crevices more efficiently?

WHY WOULDN'T YOU COAT YOUR PVC PIPE WITH DAWN SOAP AND RUN IT ACROSS THE SILICONE FOR A PERFECT FLAT BOTTOM?

ROLLING OUT THE CLAY WAS THE HARD PART AND YOU DID NOT SHOW THAT!

Dime you mean a metallic coin????

So why does it need to be even?? A river or a creek is not perfect, right? My mats are not perfect and they all mimic a creek. For example, a log, a boulder, natural Ripple's. I used to buy mats pre-made now I don't. I found making a mat oddly catches more gold than a mat made by a machine. Just saying a mat never has to be perfect.

LE TRAP slice box