recalimed lumber, now which metal detector?

[Ed Lang]

I would like to hear which metal detector workes good for you. That is if you use one!

[John Miliunas]

I haven't had a real need for one, thus far, but I hear the metal detectors sold at places like Toys 'r Us is real good for detecting metal in wood slabs and such! :) Yeah, I was kinda surprised, too, but I guess it makes sense. The big-buck units that serious hobbyists use are very discriminating and such. For WW, it doesn't have to be particular at all, just be able to catch the metal at a depth down to an inch or two. :cool:

[Greg Narozniak]

Ditto to what John said. I have one that was less than $20 from the Discovery channel and it has worked great. it has found all the metal in reclaimed lumber and I have yet to nick a planer knife :cool:

[Jim Becker]

I use the "Little Wizzard" which sells for about $20 and is fine for incidental use. But if you are planning on using a lot of recycled material, especially thicker stuff, something like the Garrett which sells for about $150 is going to do a much better job. The Garrett is the same type wand that is used at the airports for screening. That's not inexpensive, but neither are replacing planer and jointer blades frequently if metal whacks them!

[John Bush]

Hi Ed,
I used reclaimed beams from our family barn to build my current shop, and milled many of the 8x8 and 6x6 pine beams into dimensioned stuff for cabinets and doors etc. I used an ice pick and needlenose vice-grips to dig for and extract the thousands of cut nails, screws, and the occasional 22 slug. I was too cheap to invest in a metal detector until I hit the 1st undetected cut nail. It virtually exploded in my face. The next day I ordered a Garret wand detector. It is just like the ones you see at the security checks at the airport. I think it cost ~$130 five years ago. At that time there weren't any marketed directly to the woodworking community. I got a catalogue from a policeman friend and ordered direct. It is very powerful and I have yet to hit another hidden chunk of metal since. I don't know how the woodworker models work, but the security type work very well. It is a good decision to buy and use one, glass eyes cost a bit more !!! Good luck, John.

[Fred Chan]

My metal detector is from Radio Shack. It's a wide handheld wand style and quite sensitive. It will detect nail remnants (rust?) left over from reclaimed wood. One time I kept getting hits for metal that kept moving all over the board. Puzzled me for a while until I realized it was finding the ring I had forgotten to remove from my finger behind the board.(Brain cramp):o Think it was about $35.

[Chris Padilla]

LOL, Fred! So you were holding the board while scanning it...got a hit...looked closely...adjust board...scanned again...nothing...beeps over here now...huh?? haha...good one.

[Al Willits]

Just wondering, guy at work has one of the ones that has the long handle and you see people using them on the beach's and such, would this work as well??
I see them for sale pretty cheap from time to time.

Al

[Don Baer]

Al,
I don't see why it wouldn't. I wish Ida had one last night when I was cutting up some Eucalytus for turning blanks.

http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?t=40257

:mad:

[Mike Parzych]

For what it's worth, I saw a TV program about some people who work exclusively with reclaimed beams and they use what they described as "ordinary airport wand-type metal detectors."

[Per Swenson]

We have the larger lumber wizard.

Paid about 50 bucks on sale. I forget where.

Try Froogle or that auction site. Works like a champ.

Do we use it alot. Nah.

But it only has to work once to pay for itself.

Kinda like a fire extinquisher. Ahh not really but you know what

I meant.


Per

[Al Willits]

I know the feeling Don, used to burn wood for heat and you'd be supprised where you find nails, spikes, wire, etc...

Used to buy chain saw blades on sale by the dozen...

Lumber Wizard at $50 sounds like a good deal, considering blades are more than that...thanks.

Al who still has chain saw blades that are missing only a few teeth :)

[Greg Narozniak]

I haven't had a real need for one, thus far, but I hear the metal detectors sold at places like Toys 'r Us is real good for detecting metal in wood slabs and such! :) Yeah, I was kinda surprised, too, but I guess it makes sense. The big-buck units that serious hobbyists use are very discriminating and such. For WW, it doesn't have to be particular at all, just be able to catch the metal at a depth down to an inch or two. :cool:

How True, I bought one that was offered by the Discovery Channel for $8 off Ebay and it has worked great for the times that I have used it.

[Jim Dailey]

I use the same large model Wizard as Per showed in the picture he posted. I use it to scan logs for metal that I run thru my Lucas mill. I forgot to scan one log one day...... sure enough..... Well worth the investment!!!
, jim
The large Wizard is a airport like model that seems to cover a large area & has good depth penetration. I bought mine a McFeely's on sale for $50.

Hope this helps

[Stu Ablett in Tokyo Japan]

I've got the Wizzard II, and it has paid for itself a few times over in blade resharpenings, not to mention bad things that can happen to the operator of the machine that hits a nail :eek:

I like it as it has a "Vib" mode that is good for when you have the machines and cyclone cranked up, you can't hear the buzzer....lights too!

Worth every penny, IMHO, and yes, it picks up my wedding ring too, as well as the screws in my work table... :rolleyes:

Cheers!

PS it is also of great use when I drop something into the large pile of shavings that seem to live under my lathe lately.... :p