Is there a state of the art Stud Finder?

[Sam Murdoch]

Are there any out there that really work? Basic dry wall to wood stud situation and occasional lathe and plaster over studs.

Thanks for any real world experience you can share about stud finders.

[Jamie Buxton]

I've got a stud finder that works well for studs behind drywall. Zircon, I think. Yellow, not expensive at Home Despot.
It doesn't work well finding studs behind lath and plaster. I think it can't distinguish between the lath wood and the stud wood. For that situation, I use a metal detector intended to find buried metal in lumber before you send it through the planer. It is a bit touchy, but can usually see the nails holding the lath to the stud.

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I bought a Bosch "Wall Scanner" a while back. Have to say it works a little better than the normal stud finders. Not perfect though.

[Rick Potter]

Funny you should ask. I just got home from Costco, where they have a try it yourself display of a new type detector. It is long and skinny and you use it sideways. A row of led's allow it to show the entire width of the stud, single double or even triple, I think.

I have three stud finders, including a Zircon and a Ryobi, and still use a nail to find the width of studs. I think I will try one of these.

I forget the brand, but it's blue, with a small wall display to play with, at least at my local Costco.

[Sam Murdoch]

Funny you should ask. I just got home from Costco, where they have a try it yourself display of a new type detector. It is long and skinny and you use it sideways. A row of led's allow it to show the entire width of the stud, single double or even triple, I think.

I have three stud finders, including a Zircon and a Ryobi, and still use a nail to find the width of studs. I think I will try one of these.

I forget the brand, but it's blue, with a small wall display to play with, at least at my local Costco.

That's been my experience and so I asked in this thread. I have not had any other tool that has so constantly failed its mission - its purpose!

I'll need to look for the one you write about.

[Kelby Van Patten]

The Franklin ProSensor 710 is the be-all, end-all stud finder. It's awesome.

[Rich Riddle]

I own the Franklin and it gets a solid "B" for performance which is much higher than many others. It has a series of lights that illuminate to show you the outer limits of the stud so that you can center your nails.

[Lee Reep]

The Franklin ProSensor 710 is the be-all, end-all stud finder. It's awesome.

That's the one at Costco. The price a few months ago was about $10 less than I saw in an ad in one of the many magazines I get.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I have 2. One is a 30 year old Craftsman that you have to manually adjust the sensitivity and a 3 year old yellow Zircon.

I much prefer the old Craftsman as I can set the sensitivity manually and it appears more accurate.

[Kevin Jenness]

My favorite studfinder is a 3/4" rare earth magnet wrapped with a loop of blue tape.It does a perfect job of locating drywall screws. The electronic ones, not so much.

[Wakahisa Shinta]

I use a CH Hanson magnetic stud finder. Had a Zircon but it was frustrating to use.

[Keith Outten]

I purchased the Franklin from Lee Valley. Its the best I have used so far for sign installs.

http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/pag...28&cat=1,43513

I also keep one of the old magnetic stud finders in my tool bag just in case.
.

[Mike Null]

I have a Craftsman that's at lest 30 years old. Works just fine and I think it does a good job of finding the centers.

[Tom M King]

Da Bomb: http://www.amazon.com/ProSensor-710-...zg_bs_553280_2

No finding an edge and then guesswork to where the stud center is. Makes putting up crown a breeze.

[Greg R Bradley]

The Franklin works well but I have to agree with Rich Riddle that it gets a "B" grade as it isn't perfect. That, or a copy of, or a lower end model of, is the one at Costco. Their test setup is one that shows how the lights work showing the edges of the studs. It doesn't show how well it works detecting studs in the real world.

I also have the Bosch Wall Scanner and it works really well for some uses. It works OK for studs but really shines for electrical cables, water pipes, etc.

Nice to have a rare earth magnet and sometimes the older style magnet sensor that they sold 30 years ago. Different sensors for different walls. It would be nice to have one solution but I haven't seen that and I've looked hard. We have the $800 Bosch D-Tect and it is really great for finding rebar in concrete and not so great on studs behind drywall.