Bet you didn’t think to see a post in March?  No, we’re not mining yet.  The claim is still snowed in.  Spring is in the air though.  We’re getting more daylight.  I’m seeing puddles here and there and we’re scrambling to get all the routine maintenance and minor repairs done on the equipment.  In this post, wanted to share with you something we’ve been working on over dark days.

Have you ever gone crashing off through the brush to try a pan in an out of the way creek you’ve had your eye on, got the good stuff panned down, and SHOOT- you forgot the black sand magnet? Most black sand magnets are pretty bulky and don’t just fit in your pocket.  This winter, we set out to solve this problem.

Technology is great, in today’s world, its almost like you can just imagine something and -boom-it appears.  Meet the Kudo 3d Titan 2.  Its a DLP printer, which basically means it uses a light projector to harden a resin and bring your creations to life.  While that sounds pretty easy, this project had a lot of failures before we got a workable prototype.  We also had to find the right magnets, springs and glue to assemble the pieces we printed.

We’re calling her “Ruby” until we get a better name.  We’re pretty pleased with the outcome.  At six inches long, it fits right in your pocket or prospecting kit. The magnet is pretty strong, and its great for getting that pesky black sand out of the way. It doesn’t seem to pick up the gold like the bigger magnets do.  One of our friends that has the blue bowl says it’s the perfect size for getting in there without messing up the flow.

If you decide to try one, be sure to give us your feedback.  We’d love to hear of any suggestions you have to improve the design.  The next post will be about the operation, I promise. In the meantime best wishes to everyone and hopes for an early mining season!

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