(38) Model Stamp Mill Expert, Morris Jackson

I have known Morris Jackson over 30 years and he is the person that got me involved with mining. He started in building stamp mill models with the construction of an entire mill building, built with a stamp mill model in October 2009. From there he worked on a 1:48 scale model stamp mill about 30” tall. Around that time period he worked on a model incline and a framework structure to encase the Swallow Mine Stamp mill exhibit at the Arizona Mining & Mineral Museum. The picture below shows his early pieces:  

From there he worked on adding various attachments to the models, including feeders of various types, sluice tables, jackstands and mortar boxes. He also made variations on those attachments and the following is a sample of the various configurations for stamp mills that he came up with. He also makes three scales, the small scale 1:24 @ 13” tall, 1:36 scale @ 22” tall and a 1:48 @ 30 “tall. He made 2-stamp, 3-stamp, 4-stamp, 5-stamp, 10-stamp and 20-stamp with battery or 120 volt electric power. The table below covers the variations.  

The mills are made up of the similar basic parts; just the parts are different sizes based on the scale that is used. As already stated there are (3) scales 1:24, 1:36 and 1:48. You can see the different components for a stamp mill below:

The next part of this report shows all of the various stamp mill sizes, configurations and power configurations. Many of the stamp mills are designed from actual stamp mills from various areas. If you have an unusual stamp mill and would like a model, Morris can probably accommodate your needs. We will start out with the 20 stamp mill and work our way down to the 2-stamp mill:

 

 

The next picture shows the difference between the large and the small mills. The large mills are 1:48 and the small mills are 1:24. The smaller models are more of an HO gauge.

The final picture shows the stamp mill model expert with an entire mill building with a primary jaw crusher, 10-stamp mill, shaker tables and all of the drive belts to run the equipment. He will make these buildings on request.

There are (4) videos below that discuss stamp mills in detail and also run the mills so that you can get a feel for what they do.

All you have to do is highlight the site, left click on the highlighted site and it will tell you to "Go to Link", then click on that statement and it will bring up the video. 

Operating 10 Stamp Mill http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxnisQoMTJ8

Operating 5 Stamp Mill http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkwuqtUBULg

  

6 Floor Level Operating Stamp Mill Building http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdsPE62Ivvs

6 Floor Level Operating Stamp Mill Building http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EXPgVCJBao

If you are interested in purchasing one of these stamp mills, mill building or a special mill you would like made, you can contact the Stamp Mill Model Expert at 623-877-0288 or email at morrisjackson5@aol.com.

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(37) Stamp Mill Mortise & Tenon

There are two major locations where mortise & tenons are used in stamp mill construction. They are in the stamp mill feeders and the stamp mill uprights. The following are details on the use of the mortise & tenons.

Stamp Mill Feeders: The floor model stamp mill feeders are constructed of 4X4 timbers that are assembled with the use of mortise & tenons. It is a very stable and strong configuration to use. The feeders take a lot of rough punishment from the action of the stamps pressing down on the feeder actuators, and with about half a ton of material in the feeders it can be very hard on the framework of the feeders. That is why they use this type of configuration.

The restoration of the feeders on the American Boy 10-Stamp Mill (Goffs, CA) was completed by using the original timbers as patterns to make the new timbers. The pictures below show the before and after conditions for the feeders on the American Boy mill. The Golden Reef 10-Stamp Mill (Cave Creek, AZ) did not have any of the original timbers for the feeder, and we had to redesign the feeders so that they would properly fit the mill.  

The feeders needed to be disassembled and the wood parts saved and used as patterns for the new feeders.

The mortise and tenons make the feeders extremely strong and allow them to take a beating and keep working. The picture below shows the mortise & tenon wood cuts and also the method used to attach the mortise & tenons together.

The results are a very strong joint that will hold the several hundred pounds of ore and deliver it to the mortar box. The picture below shows two views of that assembled joint.

Once you have mastered the art of making the mortise, tenons and the bolting configuration you can go onto making the mortise, tenons and joints for the feeder and assembling the feeder.

The assembly stages are shown below: 

The finished product below yields two feeders for the American Boy 10-stamp mill.

Stamp Mill Uprights The stamp mill uprights generally have a mortise and tenon where they come in contact with the stamp mill base timbers. I had found two occasions to work with the mortise & tenon in the area of the bases. The first were uprights that were too short to be used as is on this stamp mill. It was a 10-stamper and the center timber was not only too short it also had rotted about 2 feet up on the upright. You can see the condition on the picture below:

The first thing we had to do was to make up a template of the tenon. The table below shows the dimensions that were taken off the original mortises. This is an important step since the mortises were not all the same size and orientation on the uprights.

The next thing was to purchase the pieces of lambeams for this particular mill to replace the rotted wood which included (2) 12” X24” X 22” and (1) 9” X 24” X 35”. Each mill replacement would be different. The center timber was thinner than the outside timbers. The timbers were ordered to size. All we had to do was drill out the mortise for each timber, using the patterns that we had made up.

Once the rough holes are cut out with the forcner bit the rest of the material is taken out with a chisel as shown below to “hand fit” the two pieces of wood:

The next step is to put glue on the pieces and clamp then in place and drill holes and install wood pins in the side of the timbers going through the upright where the tendon is located.

The final completed mortise & tenon installation on the American Boy 10-Stamp Mill.

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(36) Stamp Mill Feeder Devices

(35) Stamp Mill Design Differences

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