The Forestry Forum

Is a handheld metal detector very effective for avoiding foreign objects when sawing large logs?

Most anything is better than nothing.  Guaranteed, the blade will find it.

There are extensive threads discussing this very question in the past.   Some of the members have hand held machines that cost thousands of dollars.  Some members have hand held machines that are in the hundreds of dollars.   Most of them say that their machines do a pretty good job.  You just have to developer a technique for your machine and your operation as well.

I'm not aware of any members who own a "tunnel" detector, that takes whole logs,as you might find in a big commercial mill.

Put "metal detector" in the forum search (access at top of the page) and you will find pages of posts.

thiggy,

I use a metal detector used for finding coins. I been able to find 16 penny nails down about 5 in.

Ron

I use a $20 band blade.  It can find a carpet tack 12" inside a log.  Wanna know how I know?  :o >:(

Thiggy,

A Fisher or A Whites will do the job at a reasonable cost.

I use a wand style metal detecter (like the ones they use at the airport) from Radio Shack (The Source). It has two intensity settings of which I now use the lower because on high it senses the rerod in the concrete floor beneath the log. I have now changed my process a bit and scan any suspected logs while on the deck outside before I load them on the mill. The best partt is that it only cost $70.00 Canadian and works great. 8)