1864hatter wrote:Hey Lammerlaw thanks for all your knowledgable input and amazing tales. Secondly you seem to take the matter of snifters quite seriously, is it perhaps possible that such a tool/construction can have several names? The name sni-FF-ers seems silly as sniffing to me means something usually to do with noses. Crevice suckers seems like a reasonable name to me perhaps giant gold bearing gravel syringe would be the best name? As long as we all know what we are talking about then i think the names we use are less important. On the PVC pipes i found that its easy to get sand stuck between the chamber and the attachment on the end (when pulling the contraption apart and putting it together) making it almost impossible to get the two seperated. so take care with that. Alternatively leave the suction end on and drain the contents out the plunger end.
Crevice suckers is indeed a good name Matt - I cant argue with that. Fifty years ago however when I was first introduced to them I thought the name they had been given - snifters - seemed rather silly but over the last fifty and more years you get used to the name. I do not know if the name was coined here in Dunedin by my Uncle and others of the time but I doubt it. The passing of time is a strange thing - we tend to forget things but I am nearly 100% certain that when I questioned my uncle fifty or so years ago he told me that the idea came from California as did their ideas for other gold mining aids.
I think my uncle also got a great deal of encouragement from another fellows ideas here in Dunedin as the other chap certainly beat my uncle off the mark with the first dredge.
I just googled for the first time in my life 'Goldmining snifter' and it seems to back me up!
You are so right about the sand making it hard to pull the end off but thems the breaks! The car tyre pump ones I have all have screw on ends so its easier. Generally the top end screws out and the bottom stays put. The one I lost in my hut paddock was the best one I ever had and if I remember correctly both ends did screw out. Lost within 300 m of the house and still cant find it fifteen years later!
Gavin - your detailed plan of how to make one is invaluable to all who wish to go crevicing as they are the handiest tools around. The plan is easy to follow and also they can be varied for personal preference, bigger, smaller etc as well as constructed out of a wide variety of material. I do NOT recommend copper pipe for the nozzle however - stainless steel or brass is beast I have found.
