Building a Home made Highbanker out of Aluminum.

Have you ever wanted to build your own high-banker out of aluminium, but you don't have a metal bender? Watch this video to find out how I bent up the sheet metal without a brake.
I built this compact 12" wide highbanker just 42" long so that it will fit on the back of my Seadoo! No gold in the rivers of Alberta will be safe from me this year...
If you enjoyed this build, please help support the channel by subscribing and check out the highbanker in action in my "2020 Seadoo Mining" Playlist!
Gain early access and watch videos ad free on my Patreon: / utmostoutdoors
My Website: www.utmostoutdoors.com

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Thanks for watching and to everyone who gave this video a thumbs up or subscribed to my channel! To see this high banker in action during the 2020 gold mining season, I've made a playlist of all my mining trips that year. kzbin.info/aero/PL3Kp8AFGltU2jnAvOzs8gtWTm1nIk-Z7K I plan to take this thing out again in 2022 with the latest updates, so make sure to subscribe to the channel so you don't miss those videos when they come out over this summer!

[@josephhawkins-ur4iw]

I've looked at a lot of different designs 😮an I got say that the one you have built is the perfect size and I really like the design. I'm definitely going to build me one just like that one . But might change up designs on the mats for adjustment and preferences 😊 Way to go on your design 👏 👍

[@OldCowboy450]

You are a very thoughtful builder and Engineer, great tips, great detail. I have many friends in Alberta and miss the way "they" talk, many hours spent in fishing camps teasing each other about the differences. Thanks for sharing.

[@02trailblazerltz]

Better than most retail highbankers I've seen! Great job!

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Thanks!

[@GSProspecting]

Cool setup indeed fam. Keep on having fun getting that au and living the dream. Gold Squad Out!!!

[@Follower_of_The_Word]

I’ve built a few, and your method is 👍🏻. If you use a wood-cutting blade, flip it over and run it in reverse for better cutting in aluminum. Also, clamp the piece to your table top and it will be easier to bend the piece hanging off the bench top.

[@oldmountainmarineandmetals9736]

Looks just like my cat except mine has a tail 😆

[@couzdogable]

Very nice diy build.

[@danhodgins4015]

Nice build! And great videos too. Particularly enjoyed the wooden highbanker series. Subscribed with the bell : )

[@themicrogreenjungle3373]

Thanks for my first product placement sir! =) The finest homemade high-banker I've ever seen (other than the other ones you've made)!

[@johnolsen7073]

Nice build, The matting is great. To solve the hold of the mat in the sluice I over bent the metal by a few degrees, it holds the mat full length. I like your hold down idea. Thanks for the great videos and good hunting for AU. Cheers

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Thanks!

[@GoldMiningGermany]

Nice Highbanker man! Greetings!

[@thebodgingbigfoot4014]

Sweet

[@blizzardfpv9584]

Hello from Alberta

[@oldmountainmarineandmetals9736]

That's a damn fine job there! I'm going to attempt to make one but I'm going to use the Aladdin aluminum wire because the only welder that I don't have is a tig

[@luisarias8077]

Nice job, based on your designs I'll build one . Thank you for sharing

[@donaldmorgan9609]

. I like the idea of using aluminum but to bend it easier heat it up

[@summerland6397]

2x4 and some clamps would help you bend that. Great job.

[@pedrorodrigues9821]

Very nice job👍👍👍

[@GarysBBQSupplies]

That, looks PERFECT. Thank you.

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Glad you liked it!

[@ninefingermining8694]

Great build 👍🏻I could give you my 2cents but your doing great looks good awesome job. To bad you didn’t live closer to me we could build some cool stuff 👍🏻👍🏻I also like the kitty cat 🐈 👍🏻👍🏻

[@theGoldWolf]

Hey those tap dancing lessons finally paid off

[@blacklabelonthebedrocks]

Nice work! The flush screw heads are a cool idea. I wish, I could weld aluminum… Best regards from Germany.

[@SouthernCrossGO]

Works great mate :)

[@bigbennysprospecting3146]

Nice job bro

[@eldinpeterson3760]

what i have used for my box was a aluminum truck box storage box just cut out bottom and works great

[@terrymcgee9004]

If you will turn your skill saw blade around backwards it will cut aluminum and metal roof much better and blade last much longer try it

[@GrizzlyCountry]

Loved the video mate, especially as I'm going to build something similar. I'm going to use some of the tips you shared. Jim

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Glad it was helpful!

[@joetate8526]

If you haven't seen already , Look up PVC Ram pump or Bunyip water pumps . Easy to build , No electricity ,No gas and No bucketing water . Great for river sluice . You could do a video on parts list and build.

[@UtmostOutdoors]

That's a great idea!

[@carlosramos8885]

Nice. , Very good video

[@oldgeeser]

A great video from another Alberta boy. Subscribed

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Awesome, thank you!

[@sportsbettorKD]

So sweet, can’t wait to try and replicate that, keep up the good work brother, living the dream.

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Building mining gear is the perfect winter activity. Good luck with your build! Don't shy away from wood if you're more comfortable with it, if you finish it right, it will last much longer than you think. Here is an old video of one of my first builds. kzbin.info/www/bejne/ppythqlnnteBnsU

[@UtmostOutdoors]

@@sportsbettorKD Just make sure your check for gold in your own backyard first. Most people who live in Edmonton travel out to BC to look for gold. To find a gram in a whole day is usually considered a good day.

[@xcvsdxvsx]

nice welds!

[@ipoopinwalmart5968]

Dude this thing is badass!! Thinking about trying it. Lol

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Thanks!

[@johnberry8117]

Sweet!

[@pappyb9644]

Man that’s a nice highbanker I use to make different kinds of prospecting tools and gadgets but at 72 the eyes and strength ain’t what it use to be enjoyed the video 🕳️🇺🇸⛏️

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Thanks 👍

[@rikijett310]

Very nice!!!!!

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Thanks!

[@skippythetownie3123]

I have a 36" brake and still had to score 1/8" aluminum for mine to bend right. Great job on yours! Hope you get some heavy pans!!

[@UtmostOutdoors]

1/8" aluminium is some pretty sturdy stuff! I'd love to have a brake one day, but you have to make due with what you have I guess!

[@edinardoafonso.8716]

Ficou muito boa a Resumidora para ouro, boa sorte! Like!!

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Obrigado!

[@John-bb4wk]

Are you sure you are really Canadian?? I didn't hear you say "AAAY" at all!! LOL great video

[@mrgreenswelding2853]

Use a wax or soap on the blade to stop the aluminium binding to the blade.

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Awesome! I'll be sure to try that on my next project.

[@1easymoneyonline]

turn the blade around it works better when cutting or scribing metal or aluminum

[@anaktambangindonesia8025]

Good

[@PrincessKickingButt1]

Pieces on angle iron would have made bending that sheet of aluminum a lot easier.

[@frankbyrd6726]

Rather than bend , you can use alum. angle iron , then drill and pop rivet

[@Eric-gi9kg]

The hardness 'T' and thickness is what determines the bend radius.. not the alloy. A 'T' rating of 5 or more is much stiffer. 4 or less is classified as "work hardening."

[@muckingplacer]

Nice work. btw, the dream mats from gold rat Australia are nuts on spec and square casts sides. The giant vortex mats from US are cast square, but I havnt seen a US cast mini mat that wasnt sloppy.

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Interesting to know! I think I need a wider or longer box this summer to keep up with me shoveling, as I was loosing a bit more gold than I would have liked to with this small of a box. I'm not giving up on dream mats yet though, it's fascinating stuff!

[@muckingplacer]

@@UtmostOutdoors Some people make fun of dream mat users but its all in fun. I dont think you'll learn too much from my prospecting techniques, but if I have a lot of different vids with the long tom slick plate id invite you to watch. I run 6 to 9 degreess and prefer lots of water depth on the mat.

[@jefftiger9258]

turn blade backward if its a wood blade to cut or score

[@UtmostOutdoors]

I'll give that a try sometime! Thanks for the tip.

[@MohammedNovalija]

Did you consider bending the sheet on the same side as you done the cut ? I would have thought that it would give a crisp 90° corner rather than a rounded corner. Maybe there is a side effect that I haven't considered.

[@MohammedNovalija]

@@d.andysprospecting nope - same groove as he cut. No need for the sides to meet flush. Any gap could be filled with say silicone to give a crisp 90 degree corner

[@phobosdeimos1653]

well done and great result! just a question, what about the brackets for the legs? did you buy them or did you build them?

[@UtmostOutdoors]

I purchased the leg brackets to save time on this build.

[@ronnieknight4869]

Where was the leg material purchased from?

[@michellerusso7510]

Where did you get the legs and adjustable brackets for the legs?

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Adventures in gold prospecting in Edmonton. I think they have a facebook page you can search for. He makes good highbankers in my opinion.

[@haroldishoy2113]

What is the total cost of all materials and what do you pay yourself per hour for labor? I considered this too but for the cost of a simple Gold Hog or a Keene, all that time at the workbench is prospecting time lost.

[@UtmostOutdoors]

For me this project was a way to create a custom sized unit that had some specific features so that it would fit on the back of a Seadoo for my boat mining trips. I think time would be more efficiently spent finding a local builder who can make what you want, or maybe modify a used unit. It's always a balance between time spent tinkering and time spent mining and just depends where you choose to spend your time.

[@drewconrad7093]

My only question is that you didn't show building the classifier part of it.

[@UtmostOutdoors]

That's a good point... I will be making a new highbanker update video in a week or two and I'll show you my current classifier setup close up. The update will show my double level sluice upgrade... I cant wait to test that out!

[@bryansfamtime112]

Great video, thanks for sharing. Where do you get that Matt from could you give me website for it?

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Thanks for watching! I purchased the mat from a guy in Edmonton. His website is doallpaulgarage.wixsite.com/thegoldadventure/contact. There are different suppliers in Australia, and if you google "dream mat" there is a USA website you can order from. It's not the only mat out there, but seems to do alright if you want to try it out.

[@Pa.PatriotProspecting]

Man material is so expensive now... looking in scrap yards!

[@serdarozturk6149]

I liked it so much I'm writing you from Turkey and the dimensions We can do it

[@UtmostOutdoors]

The dimensions of this box are 12 inches wide by 42 inches long. (30.5cm x 106.5cm) Just make it as wide as you need for the type of mat you are using. I would recommend making it a bit longer, I just made mine short because I wanted it to fit on my seadoo. Thanks for watching!

[@serdarozturk6149]

@@UtmostOutdoors Thank you very much, we will try to do it, if we can.

[@serdarozturk6149]

I want to get ready but the exchange is very expensive in Turkey for giving it high on the dollar in Europe

[@UtmostOutdoors]

@@serdarozturk6149 If you have aluminium, the method in this video works to bend the metal. But if wood is much cheaper, a wood highbanker can also work well. I have built 3 over the years. You can even save money on matting by building a wood drop riffle sluice. See video 1 and 3 in this playlist for examples. kzbin.info/aero/PL3Kp8AFGltU31Atrvi-czNCzYLUlK4O7D

[@MohammedNovalija]

I would be purchasing some aluminium sheet - but at perhaps 1.6mm thick. Do you think your saw cut method would work ? I suppose I could just do a test on a scrap piece like you did.

[@UtmostOutdoors]

The thinner the sheet the more precise you need to be with the blade depth, and cut on a nice flat surface. I think 1.6mm should still work, just gradually increase your depth on your test piece so you don't go all the way through.

[@MohammedNovalija]

@@UtmostOutdoors Perhaps I could drag some sharp hard implement along to guage out the soft aluminium as I would not have to go very deep

[@romeo1550]

@@MohammedNovalija if you get aluminum in the annealed or zero temper, you can bend it with virtually no cracking up to 90 degrees. Especially 5000 or 6000 series aluminums. Good luck!

[@MohammedNovalija]

@@romeo1550 It's not for fear of cracking - It's about having a nice sharp crease inside without any radius so that the mat sits precisely flush to the wall to prevent material getting into the gap

[@romeo1550]

@@MohammedNovalija sure, I get that but you are talking about a fillet radius of less than .030 at most when bending it to 90 degrees. That fillet, even if larger would not be detrimental to the overall performance of the unit. However, younare correct in that it would give you a tighter fit but you also introduce fatigue in the materials by using a straight blade and bending it that way. It will crack overtime.

[@METALDETECTORKLFJOGJA]

KLF JOGJA CHANEL , in here

[@skeets6060]

Very nice,, ya got plans for it?

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Yep, I put it on the back of a Seadoo and did some overnight trips. They are in my 2020 Seadoo mining playlist. Found some descent gold! This summer, I'll be experimenting with some modifications and getting out more.

[@skeets6060]

@@UtmostOutdoors Very cool what kind of pump are you going to use?

[@UtmostOutdoors]

@@skeets6060 I'll likely stick with the Honda wx15 that I used in this video.

[@skeets6060]

@@UtmostOutdoors I found out road signs dont work, the aluminum cracks an brakes off,, back to the drawing board

[@blaiseconroy9960]

where did u find the swivel leg brackets?

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Hey, I got the legs and brackets from a guy in Edmonton. I think you can find him at doallpaulgarage.wixsite.com/thegoldadventure?fbclid=IwAR3YAeFkBijKF7woXX3GtC__lDF5PWEcAjY8FhO8Mz8V_9C5GtQk-tLMLvQ

[@Butchsiek]

Being an aircraft sheet metal/airframe mechanic, you had me laughing. People think bending the small side when you should be clamping the small side and using the leverage of the wider section to make the bend.. Also there is a formula for bending metal so it won't crack...

[@unsilencedman1070]

So this is not totally proper? Can you elaborate on the formula for bending metal? I would have used a propane torch but that's me.

[@Butchsiek]

@@unsilencedman1070 formula for bending as you asked.. BA = [A x (π/180) (r + (K x T))].

[@Butchsiek]

@@unsilencedman1070example, for ease of bending.. if you hand a 12 inch length by 4 inch wide of 16 gauge or .0625 sheet metal, and you wanted to bend 2 inches of it at 90 degrees.. Its easier to clamp the 2 inch section down and bend the longer section.. You have more leverage.. When bending aluminum, it's good to know its radius allowed to bend.. You might not notice it, but cracks can develop and you bend across the grain.. Never use a torch on aluminum, it weakens the metal..

[@unsilencedman1070]

@@Butchsiek ahh so bend allowance = aluminum something or other plus rubber mallet x kinetic power and a torch ... ok thanks got it!

[@unsilencedman1070]

@@Butchsiek thanks, it'll be good to know when I reskin my cargo trailer but the most going in this is a bucket of dirt

[@wildbillschopshop]

What size and kind of water pump is that?

[@UtmostOutdoors]

The pump is a Honda WX15. 1.5" water pump. Weights just under 20lbs. Absolutely a fantastic machine!

[@Jon_B_Quick]

Are you going to share the plans with us ?

[@UtmostOutdoors]

I don't have plans for this, but I'm hoping the video gives you a good starting point for a DIY. I'll be building some boxes to sell pretty soon here, so I'll try and give some plans for what I come up with if that helps out.

[@chadpunisher]

Ok? Total cost of all this?

[@UtmostOutdoors]

I'm sorry, I have no idea what the total cost was. It was all leftover stuff from an old aluminium outboard jet boat I built. Check your local sources for scrap metal you can find for cheap. Don't shy away from wood if you're on a tight budget, it can last a lot longer than you would think.

[@silveriobaena2591]

What's the gauge of that aluminum Sir?

[@UtmostOutdoors]

The one in this video is 14 guage (0.080") I've used 16 guage (0.064") as well to save weight and both seem to work OK. Thicker is easier to weld for sure...

[@blaiseconroy9960]

what thickness is this aluminum?

[@UtmostOutdoors]

This sluice was made from 0.080" or 2mm.

[@shinobiscience3299]

SHINDAIWA Pump?

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Honda WX15 Pump. I like Shindaiwa too though.

[@aliabdihaj001]

Do you sell.

[@UtmostOutdoors]

At the moment I do not. I was thinking about building a few to sell over the winter if there was interest,, but I haven't perfected my design just yet. Thanks for asking!

[@sekilesto7128]

?

[@JesusisLord78]

The video showing green

[@JesusisLord78]

Could you reload video again its totally blank

[@UtmostOutdoors]

@@JesusisLord78 Hey, it must have just been a glitch. Seems to be working again. Maybe you just need to restart or fiddle with some settings?

[@KipdoesStuff]

Seem to have skipped over about 95% of the build.

[@Pa.PatriotProspecting]

Kip do you need some help with something?

[@Zaph_Kiel]

triggering my ocd, should be wearing gloves when handling metal

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Definitely!

[@blizzardfpv9584]

Love it currently working on my own build thanks for the video and maybe I'll see you in the N.S.R. 🏕🏞✨️

[@Andrew-iq5ud]

This is so based