Metal Detectors

[customdave]

Want to buy metal detector for logs before milling , looking for sugestions or coments on what to buy . I don't know anything about  detectors. Search net & come up with one called Lumber Wizard for 120$, seems like it should do the job ? Appreciate any coments, Thanks


                            Dave    ???

[thecfarm]

Did you do a search on here?  Click on to the search button right below,Show my unread posts.Someone will be on to give you a helping hand when they all get up this morning.

[pineywoods]

Absolute best metal detector is a new blade...My kids gave me one of the harbor freight wand types. It sorta works, but I wouldn't depend on it to find anything more than a couple inches deep in the wood. It does work fine for locating the bolts, washers, nuts, etch that I drop in the sawdust under the mill  >:(

[nas]

I have a wizard and only use it when I am resawing old beams.  I find it is a pain to try and scan the log after every cut.  Like pineywoods says, just put on a new blade and you'll be sure to find the metal.

Nick

[isawlogs]

I bought one from Radio Shack a few years ago (1994) and used it on yard trees that where suspicious , not that any are not  : and then I bought a new one a few years later for a resaw job. We had a pile of river booms that needed be resawed into beams and flooring  and it did its job well . It is only as good as the operator can be.  ;)
I also find that a new blade is the best detector ever made , aint nothing out there to match it .    :-\

[brdmkr]

I have  a bounty hunter brand.  I bought it online for about 120.  I don't remember the exact model, but I have not YET hit metal that it did not find.  However, I have some newly retipped blades, so it is sure to be tested soon.

[Tom]

I found that the best way to shop metal detectors was to go to the major brands.  Bounty has become one of them, so is White and Garrett.  They have detectors that are on the cutting edge of the technology (even the bleeding edge) and grades of detectors in all price ranges.  All of their stuff has to be decent because they have a name to defend.

Learning what they have to offer, gives you a starting place to shop for other manufacturer's machines. 

Most of the log/metal machines can be gotten in a range of 130-500 dollars, with expense depending more on discrimination technology (determining what you have found before you dig it or ignoring certain unwanted targets) than other technologies.

The companies that aren't in the detector business may suffer from quality problems.

[mike_van]

Like Tom said, I have an old [20 years?] White's coinfinder, it gets the job done. I'd be a lot poorer without it.

[customdave]

Thanks guy's for the replys , I have ajob coming up sawing old cedar power poles for a fella , so i figure I should get one for this job. My understanding is these can have hidden scrap iron in them. He just wants them squared to make timbers .                   
   
                  Dave

[fstedy]

I've cut a lot of cedar transmission poles and the metal is on the surface you should be able to see it unless the nail heads are broken off. Most of the time you'll see staples running up the pole that held ground wires and heavy hardware that you can remove at the tops. Only ones I would really worry about are poles that were on a street especially on corners where people nail signs on them. Use sharp blades or you'll have wavy cuts. Blades with a high tooth profile seem to work best Munksford and had real good luck with Cooks Supersharps.