I need advice on a good metal detector. 2 beautiful logs came into my yard this week. A red and a white oak. I bucked them into four 9 footers. The problem is that all 4 logs have metal. These 4 logs total close to 1300 feet international. I want to pay a fair price but need to deduct for blades. And I need a good metal detector. Does anyone know what I should purchase to help find metal? The other day one log cost me 2 blades. No sign of metal ::)
I think the "log wizard" is a good one. I'm going to buy one when the one I have goes out. I think they are $100-$150.
I use a small handheld one like they use at the airport,I forget the name. It works o.k. I don't think it picks up anything very deep in the log.
I have the log wizard too , use it on the mill all the time, can tell if the next 1 or 2 inch cut is likely to be clean or not. Also good to see if one has dug out all the metal in a particular area. And for finding metal stuff you drop when fixing the mill.
I also use a Rens 4000 not as much as the log wizard. This detector is great for checking logs but can pick up stuff in the ground too. Top and sides of a big log as you roll it toward the mill. Or a tree trunk standing. I don't acquire logs very often so I don't find myself always taking the Rens along. Customer pays for hitting metal and it isn't always profitable to scan before milling, unless it is surface metal or a low value log one saws anyway. But for acquiring logs it would pay for itself in no time.
If you want to scan more than 2" deep, especially in log form, a log wizard wont cut it. I have an older Fisher, I think model F70 or something. It scans 4-7" deep depending on the species, which is handy since I'm usually cutting 3" slabs. If youre sawing 1" boards in oak then just creep up on the stain, which gives plenty of warning of iron. I cant do that when cutting 3" at time.
Time after time it proves itself..... a fresh, sharp band. No other metal detector like it. You already own some....and it's more accurate than anything else. Always works, where others fail.......
Yup. 2 bands hit metal today. 5 this week :snowball:
I have a Garrett 250 works good goes 16"+
+1 on the garret 250, I think a few guys on the forum have them. A couple of portable jobs ago, I was able to determine nail depth with the pinpoint mode, using good sense about how strong the black color was in the oak logs. With those 2 things alone, we were able to cut some beautiful wide quartersawn oak, with minimal waste, that kept the metal inclusions away from my blade and in the cull pieces. That customer was happy with his yield without having to pay for multiple nail touched blades.
I really like the Nail Finder (https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=nail+finder+detector&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-001) but I also have a Garrett 250.
I, too, have a Garrett 250. When I was shopping for it the distributor asked how much I was prepared to spend. I told him the ability to detect nails in a log was more important than price. He said, "Is that all you're looking for? Iron nails?" I told him it was and he told me what I needed was a relatively inexpensive metal detector without all the fancy features. The expensive ones are intended to pick out everything else besides iron.
He recommended the 250 because it can give you an indication of how deep the nail is -- up to about 8".
Online I see them for $212.. sears shows close to $300.
Wont take long to recoup that cost....now if they had a rock detector........
Quote from: Swatson on February 01, 2015, 09:58:40 AM
Wont take long to recoup that cost....now if they had a rock detector........
They sure do have a rock detector. It is about 1 1/4" wide, about .043" thick, circular, has sharp teeth that go right through a rock when it finds it. Shows you that it found the rock by changing from very sharp teeth to nice shiny round tipped ones and leaves marks on the wood showing you exactly where the rock is or was.
Quote from: Swatson on February 01, 2015, 09:58:40 AM
Wont take long to recoup that cost....now if they had a rock detector........
You're just not letting your logs freeze and get coated in ice..... The ice helps magnify the rocks so you can see them, just as the blade melts it enough to show sparks.... ::)
Kellyco put many extras into a kit that came with my Garrett 250.