Metal detectors

[Jack Frederick]

What make/model do you use for metal detection of embedded material?

[John K Jordan]

What make/model do you use for metal detection of embedded material?
I have the Lumber Wizard. At the sawmill I prefer the older models (4 and earlier) with a vibrator in the handle. The newest one (5) I bought substitutes a laser for the vibrator which isn't all that practical in the sun and around the sawmill where it's noisy and I'm wearing hearing protection. Should be fine indoors. Detection is good.

[Dick Mahany]

I've had a Wizard III for probably 20 years or so. It has saved MANY planer blades and several band saw blades when working with rough wood. As John pointed out above, the older models with vibration in the handle are extremely useful in noisy environments. The only thing I have noticed is that it is quite sensitive and has often picked up the surface below the actual wood, such as rebar in a shop floor if the wood was directly on the floor during scanning. There is an adjustment for fine tuning it, but I've never tried tuning it. It has also been very useful when working reclaimed wood.

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[Lee Schierer]

I have the Little Wizard. It works for most nails that aren't buried more than an inch.
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[Tom M King]

I just use a regular metal detector like treasure hunters use. It's so old, I don't remember the make, and model. It's good for finding things like surveying stakes too.

[Lisa Starr]

I have a Cen-Tech from HF. I had to turn up the sensitivity when I first bought it, but it has worked great and the price of $39.99 was right. I've used prior to processing lots of reclaimed lumber from our old house and I've never missed a nail.

[Andrew Hughes]

I also use a Prospecting metal detector.
Same as Tom King but not same one mine is different for sure.:)

[Dave Cav]

I have a Cen-Tech from HF. I had to turn up the sensitivity when I first bought it, but it has worked great and the price of $39.99 was right. I've used prior to processing lots of reclaimed lumber from our old house and I've never missed a nail.

Same here. So far, so good. I go over all four faces/edges of the board, usually twice.

[Tom M King]

Mine is an older version of this one. It does a really good job at finding nails, surveying stakes, and lost rings.
https://www.cabelas.com/product/BOUNTY-HUNTER-TRACKER-IV-BUNDLE/2619887.uts?slotId=9

[Art Mann]

I have the Little Wizard like Lee has. It has failed to find small metal pieces like staples and pins on a few occasions and I hit them with my planer knives. They weren't damaged much because the knives are carbide. Next time, I will spend more money and buy a better one.

[John K Jordan]

I have the Little Wizard like Lee has. It has failed to find small metal pieces like staples and pins on a few occasions and I hit them with my planer knives. They weren't damaged much because the knives are carbide. Next time, I will spend more money and buy a better one.

Art,

I have several of the Little Wizard and a couple of the lumber Wizard. While the little one can find stuff, it's like a toy comprred to the larger Wizards. I think the larger one is well worth the $100 extra.

Jack,

I also have some treasure hunter's metal detectors, good quality, one an underwater Garrett I used when scuba diving (found a men's gold wedding band once!) and the other great for ground scanning, about $1000 with excellent computerized controls. While the full featured detectors have good discrimination between types of metals and can even tell how deep a coin is buried, these features are unnecessary when looking for metal in wood, in fact, mine are harder to set to iNCLUDE steel rather than ignore it! They are awkward to use on lumber and logs too.

Remember that all of the better detectors will pick up metal well below the thickness of a slab. When used at the sawmill, the Lumber Wizard can pick up the steel crossbars on the bed when the cant gets thin. They can be about useless checking a board or slab on a concrete floor too, on a workbench, or on a trailer since they may pick up rebar in the concrete, screws or bolts in the workbench, or the frame of the trailer.

The customer service for the Lumber Wizard is outstanding too, that alone worth something.

JKJ