How to Make a Suction Stick for Recovering Gold

Gold mining and panning for gold have long been part of American folklore. From the "forty-niners" to modern-day prospectors, the lure of gold has motivated miners to invent ways of finding more while doing less. Beginning in the late '60s, modern technology enabled weekend prospectors to recover many times more gold than in years past. From highly sensitive metal detectors to high-volume suction barges, prospecting has adopted technology advances in leaps and bounds. For the solitary prospector, however, a battery-operated metal detector and a suction stick are all that's really needed.

Things You'll Need

  • Scissors
  • 1/2-inch PVC pipe insulation
  • Plastic glue
  • 6-inch piece of 1/2-inch PVC tube
  • PVC cement
  • 1 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch PVC pipe reducer bushing
  • 1 1/4-inch to 1 1/4-inch PVC connector bushing
  • 30-inch piece of 1 1/4-inch PVC pipe
  • 1/2-inch PVC slip cap
  • 4-inch piece of 1/2-inch PVC tube
  • 1/2-inch to 1/2-inch PVC elbow
  • 22-inch piece of 1/2-inch PVC pipe
  • 1/2-inch PVC slip joint to 1/2-inch PVC threaded joint
  • 1/2-inch PVC pipe threaded end cap
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Instructions

    • 1

      Use scissors to cut a 3/8-inch piece of 1/2-inch PVC pipe insulation. Use plastic glue to seal the expansion slit, since all pipe insulation is slit for general expansion. Cover the piece of insulation with a thin coat of plastic glue for a homemade pressure bushing -- the piston seal that forms the suction. Allow the glued insulation to dry for 2 hours.

    • 2

      Use PVC cement to wet one end of the 6-inch piece of 1/2-inch PVC pipe. Insert it into the 1/2-inch end of the 1 1/4-by-1/2-inch reducer pipe bushing.

    • 3

      Use PVC cement to wet the outside of the 1 1/4-inch reducer bushing. Insert it into one end of the 1 1/4-inch to 1 1/4-inch connector busing.

    • 4

      Use PVC cement to wet the inside of the other end of the 1 1/4-inch connector bushing. Insert the 30-inch piece of 1 1/4-inch PVC pipe into the open end on the 1 1/4-inch connector bushing. This completes the body of the stick.

    • 5

      Wet and place the 1/2-inch slip end cap onto the 4-inch piece of 1/2-inch pipe. Wet the other end of the 4-inch piece of 1/2-inch pipe, and insert it into one end of the 1/2-inch elbow.

    • 6

      Wet one end of the 22-inch piece of 1/2-inch PVC pipe (the piston rod). Insert it into the open end of the 1/2-inch elbow. The elbow and 4-inch extension forms the handle of the stick.

    • 7

      Wet the other end of the 22-inch PVC pipe. Insert it into the slip end of the 1/2-inch slip to 1/2-inch threaded bushing.

    • 8

      Place the glued piston seal -- the ring of pipe insulation -- over the threaded, male end of the 1/2-inch slip to 1/2-inch threaded bushing. Screw on 1/2-inch threaded end cap.

    • 9

      Insert the 1/2-inch pipe assembly, screwed-end cap first, into the open end of the 1 1/4-inch PVC pipe. Pulling the 1/2-inch pipe out of the 1 1/4-inch body produces the suction, filling the 1 1/4-inch pipe interior with sand and holding it until it can be squirted into a receiving pan or bucket.