Which Metal Detector?

[Bob Waddell]

Hi Folks, really need some help. I need a metal detecting wand to scan my wood before planing. Read several comments here then ordered the Lumber Wizard III. I have had 3 different ones sent but all have failed to detect with consistency. Think this may be a bad batch but then again, maybe not. Anyone had a similar problem? What others would you suggest?
Thanks for your help. rwaddell

[Matt Sollars]

mine wasn't detecting too well when i first got it. i calibrated it as per the instructions and it worked marvelously.

may be a bad batch. who knows.

matt

[Travis Gunn]

I bought one several months ago. Has always worked fine. (when you don't hold the board in your left hand with a wedding ring on it.)

[Jason Hanko]

I have the Little Wizzard, and I wasnt having great results with mine either - but then realized that I had calibrated it incorrectly. (Im hoping this part is applicable to the WizzardIII as well, but Ill put it here to help out Little Wizzard owners just in case).
I originally set the main power thumbwheel thing to just over its halfway point, and THEN adjusted the set screw sensitivity until it just stopped beeping. I could barely pick up metal through a piece of cardboard then, even with the main thumbwheel at maximum power.
After some pondering I re-adjusted it. This time I just clicked on the thumb wheel (minimum power?) and THEN adjusted the setscrew thing to just stop beeping. Setting it as I did the first time seemed to limit the power, and it barely detected anything. After I re-adjusted it I can now pick up a scew that Ive "hidden" under a chunk of 12/4 pine.

[Myk Rian]

Cen-Tech from HF. I've never had it fail to find even the smallest staple.
You don't have to "calibrate" it either.

[Bob Waddell]

My thanks to all who have replied. I went to the mfg web site, read all info about tuning. Never got a continuous beep on any of the 3. Took one outside, no metal on me or within 6 feet. Tried tuning but without luck. One of the three worked for a brief time but then failed to detect a pile of bolts the next day. I cannot afford to trust this with a spiral head planner. I have a little wizard & it works fine. Too small for my needs though.

[Bob Elliott]

What is teh part # of this detector?

Cen-Tech from HF. I've never had it fail to find even the smallest staple.
You don't have to "calibrate" it either.

[Lee Schierer]

I originally set the main power thumbwheel thing to just over its halfway point, and THEN adjusted the set screw sensitivity until it just stopped beeping. I could barely pick up metal through a piece of cardboard then, even with the main thumbwheel at maximum power.
After some pondering I re-adjusted it. This time I just clicked on the thumb wheel (minimum power?) and THEN adjusted the setscrew thing to just stop beeping. Setting it as I did the first time seemed to limit the power, and it barely detected anything. After I re-adjusted it I can now pick up a scew that Ive "hidden" under a chunk of 12/4 pine.

I have a Little Wizard and it seems to do a good job. I can't wear my class ring when using it or it will trigger the sensor. The scan area is quite small, but the price is right. It costs less than one blade sharpening charge. If I were doing lots of scanning I would gets the Little Wizards bigger brother as it scans more surface at once.

I don't recall any adjustment other than the thumb wheel on mine and it worked right out of the box. It will pick up full staples, but can miss just one leg of a broken staple.

P.S. I looked when I got home and there is an adjustment screw for sensitivity, but I've never used it. It will detect a 18 ga brad standing on end, buried 1/8" deep in wood.

[Dave Sweeney]

What is teh part # of this detector?

Harbor Freight Model 94138, I also have one and can confirm that it works very well. I tried looking it up at their catalog website and it doesn't come up so it looks like it's one of those items that is only available at the retail stores. IIRC, the regular price is somewhere around $40 but they regularly go on sale for $30.

[Dave Sharpe]

I have the lumber Wizard III and have had no problems with it even when scanning old pallet wood. I calibrated it pretty tight when I first got it and have not had to adjust it at all since (about a year). The only "gripe" I have with it is that it's almost too sensitive now - it beeps when passing over a hole left by a rusty nail - I presume from rust residue left in the hole. Never had a problem with it missing a nail yet.

[Myk Rian]

Harbor Freight Model 94138, I also have one and can confirm that it works very well. I tried looking it up at their catalog website and it doesn't come up so it looks like it's one of those items that is only available at the retail stores. IIRC, the regular price is somewhere around $40 but they regularly go on sale for $30.

Yep. That's the one.