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metal detectors

Started by crackerhead, December 29, 2010, 07:24:17 PM

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crackerhead

Any one on here use a handheld metal detector [the kind that you hunt buried treasure with] for finding metal ,nails or other trash in a log before you saw . Was just wondering if it would work and could get enough penetration to find anything in a suspect log  .Just thinking out loud
"thars gold in them thar hills"  Dahlonega Ga ,site of America's first major gold rush in 1828

Peter Drouin

I always use one, they are not foolproof but help a lot, you can get one at a box store 50 .oo or so don,t spend alot they get broke  8) 8) 8) p.s I wouldnot work without one 8) 8)
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

bandmiller2

Cracker,most of us have them but usally only check suspecious logs.The butt log along a stonewall or edge of a field are prime candiates.Bluie stained oak bears checking.I bought a cheap small metal detector designed for wood workers it has none of the fancy stuff but is handy. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

Tom

Yes, I use a Garrett master hunter 7 that I bought years ago.  It not only works on the logs good, but entertains me on old home sites.

Both Garrett (Ace) and White (coin master) have a line of detectors in the $300 range that will work.  Stick with the major brands and don't worry about special features for finding nails in logs.  It's the special features, like discrimination, that usually run the cost up.

Brucer

I share Tom's view (mine's a Garret Ace).

Most of the fancy features are to help you pinpoint the more exotic metals (like gold and silver). The cheaper ones will react to any kind of metal -- and that's exactly what you want.

Use the search function at the top of the page and you'll find a number of threads on metal detectors.
Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

terrifictimbersllc

I have two metal detectors, and can highly recommend my inexpensive ($75) Lumber Wizard III wand type detector.  When metal is suspected, I can use it on the  mill to scan the next cut, as it detects a modest size nail only about 1-2" down.  Also if I find metal with my more sensitive detector, the LWIII lets me easily check the log surface to see if it is sticking out, or if not, whether it is worth digging around a bit, because if it sounds off, the metal will be near the surface.

Also good if you drop something in the sawdust or snow around the mill.
DJ Hoover, Terrific Timbers LLC,  Mystic CT Woodmizer Million Board Foot Club member. 2019 LT70 Super Wide 55 Yanmar,  LogRite fetching arch, WM BMS250 sharpener/BMT250 setter.  2001 F350 7.3L PSD 6 spd manual ZF 4x4 Crew Cab Long Bed

northwoods1

I've had Whites & Garrets but now I use a Fisher 1280x , it is a very good detector. Very simple to use and 100% waterproof. This is by far the best detector I have ever had.

weisyboy

a mate has a radio shafck one, it will pick up a nail 1' deep in a hardwood log.
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Whitetail_Addict

Yep like everybody else I carry a metal detector in the back of the truck whenever I'm sawing.  I am brave/dumb enough to saw quite a few yard trees.  Nails, screws, hooks, junk, etc....  it's all in those trees but I have to say my metal detector does a great job of finding it.  I dig it out with the hatchet or cut it out with the chainsaw and keep on piling up boards.  The last yard tree I cut was a White Ash which I turned into 545 three and four foot survey stakes that I sold for $1.25 a piece. 
2010 WoodMizer LT28, John Deere 4520 w/ FEL, 2003 Chevy Silverado 2500HD Duramax Diesel, 2007 Polaris Ranger XP 700, 127 Acres of Northeast hardwoods in New York's Whitetail country

Magicman

Yes, I have one, but a word or caution if you are sawing a customer's log.  That log and the metal belongs to the customer.  I charge $20 when I hit metal.  If I pick up that metal detector, I have shifted the responsibility for the metal from the customer to myself, because I am perceived as the "expert" on the scene.

I cover this metal issue with every customer when we sign the "Saw Contract" before sawing begins.  If the customer wants to check his logs, I hand him the wand.

Now, when I am sawing my own logs, I may check a suspicious one, but certainly not every log.  Too time consuming.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

crackerhead

Ok picked up a garrettt 250 today and have not had time to play with it yet I as a general rule donot saw for the public ljust mainly for myself and just wanted to check some suspect logs .[ Ruined a 56 in circle saw a while back on a plow point that was  inside of a redoak that I cut [cant really blame anyone but myself but the plowpoint was app 14 in deep in a redoak log that had blown down in a storm  app 12 feet up from the ground if the tree had been standing] Supposed to rain here tomorrow ,probablt a good time to maybe practice a little
"thars gold in them thar hills"  Dahlonega Ga ,site of America's first major gold rush in 1828

Tom

It must have been a heck of a storm to get a plow point that far up a tree.  I guess someone might have hung it up there when the tree was young and it was grown over.

You'll like that 250, I think.   You can get an idea of how deep it will penetrate by holding the coil off of a known target laying on the ground and raising the coil.  The distance it will recognize a target will usually be about the same in the air as in the ground or a log.  Sometimes it will fool you though.  I've been told that the density of a nail and green wood might be close enough sometimes that a detector has a problem differentiating.  That's not too often though.  It makes a difference as to how the detector sees the nail too.  Laying in its side is a better target than straight onto its head.

Even when you aren't sawing, you will have a good time with it.   It's fun to "shoot coins", look for lost tools, search beaches, parks, old homesteads and even your own place.   Look at a tree as a place where kids will hang upside down and lose stuff out of their pockets and gate posts as places were someone might bury a jar of coins.

A Screwdriver, knife, or ice pick, thrust into the ground, makes a good initial search tool.  You can feel stuff and might not have to dig a big hole.

Kids really like to help.  Just remember that the metal shovel or screwdriver will set it off as quickly as the target.  Oh yeah, and the ring on your finger too.  :D


Gary_C

And they can find the steel toes in your boots too.   ;D
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

crackerhead

Thats what I was thinking also .Probably hung up there no telling how many years ago , was off of a mule drawn plow . I know when that cicle saw hit it ,it made one heck of a racket and an even worse mess of the saw ,Went to raining saw bits and rings and standing at the rear of the saw you don't really have a lot of time to think about which way you need to run.Brain told butt to move but feet seemed to have trouble receiving the message to move,  LOL!
"thars gold in them thar hills"  Dahlonega Ga ,site of America's first major gold rush in 1828

Tom

If it was going to get you, it would probably do so before you had time to move anyway.  That sawblade wasn't just lolly gagging along.  :D

It also makes a good argument to not stand in line with the rim of a circle saw too.  Every circle saw shed I ever saw had a straight line of holes in the tin roof from one end to the other that coincidentally lined up with the saw blade.  Funny how that works.  :D

plaindriver

Will a metal detector pick up lead, as in bullets or .00 buck-shot? And are bullets much of a hazard to band saw blades?

(I have zero exp, on the sidelines, awaiting retirement, reloc from Kalif to Tn, and getting a sawmill)
Kubota L4600 DT w/FEL, John Deere 750 4WD w/FEL, PH Digger,RotoTiller,Box Scraper,Disc;16, 18, 20" chainsaws;Troy Built 27T splitter; table saw, radial arm saw,turning lathe, chipper, small backhoe, Isuzu NPR 14' stakeside diesel truck; a wife that still likes me.

pineywoods

welcome Plaindriver. Down here in the south, yard trees are frequently full of bullets of every type. I sawed one big ole walnut that was full of 50 cal mini balls form somebody's muzzle loader. They saw nicely. About the worst thing is dry wall screws. They rip the teeth right off a band. Most metal detectors won't find lead..
1995 Wood Mizer LT 40, Liquid cooled kawasaki,homebuilt hydraulics. Homebuilt solar dry kiln.  Woodmaster 718 planner, Kubota M4700 with homemade forks and winch, stihl  028, 029, Ms390
100k bd ft club.Charter member of The Grumpy old Men

Magicman

Welcome, plaindriver, to the Forestry Forum.  I've never had a lead or even a jacketed bullet cause me any trouble, and I have hit more than a few of each.  Anything else usually means a blade change.   :-\
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

northwoods1

Quote from: pineywoods on January 01, 2011, 10:31:44 PM
welcome Plaindriver. Down here in the south, yard trees are frequently full of bullets of every type. I sawed one big ole walnut that was full of 50 cal mini balls form somebody's muzzle loader. They saw nicely. About the worst thing is dry wall screws. They rip the teeth right off a band. Most metal detectors won't find lead..

Hi Piney , actually lead is very easily detectable with all detectors because it is is ferrous metal like gold, silver, copper, etc. . With my detector I have found just 1 pellet from shotgun shell more than a few times , and something the size of a .50 round ball would ring so loud it would make a person jump.

Magicman

Actually it is non-ferrous like gold, silver, copper, etc. and your detector should pick it up.  Some detectors have a setting (discriminator) for ferrous and non-ferrous metals.  Ferrous = iron.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

northwoods1

Quote from: Magicman on January 02, 2011, 08:05:05 AM
Actually it is non-ferrous like gold, silver, copper, etc. and your detector should pick it up.  Some detectors have a setting (discriminator) for ferrous and non-ferrous metals.  Ferrous = iron.

Exactly , I mispoke. You think I would know that by now having been a blacksmith/metallurgist for so many years :D

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