# metal detector question



## lps8 (Apr 22, 2013)

Has anyone had any experience with a Garrett super wand metal detector. There is a company that does vintage logs and lumber and says this is what they use. But the rub is that they also sell them.

Any experience?

Larry


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## Greenland South (Apr 22, 2013)

A woodworking buddy of mine has one. I have used it myself and found nails etc on numerous occasions when milling reclaimed wood. I Haven't wrecked a planer blade yet, but I haven't used it on logs either. Just 1"-3" hardwoods.


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## golddredgergold (Apr 22, 2013)

The garret is good so is the Whites version. But to be honest so you know the harbor freight one works every bit as good. It is only 39.99 and use a 20% coupon for a few bucks off that.

Another hobby of mine is metal detecting. I have used and owned all the wands. Harbor freight is on par with either of the other 2.

Link to the Harbor freight unit:

9 Volt Metal Detector Wand


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## jrhannum (Apr 22, 2013)

*HF Wand*

I'll second that. the HF wand has confirmed my suspicions about nails and fence-wire under the bark; a little axe-work revealed and and removed it. Also helps find those lost nuts in the sawdust pile. Don't know about deeply-buried stuff, though. that will wreck a slabbing run.


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## BobL (Apr 22, 2013)

I don't have direct experience with the Garrett but most of the cheaper security type metal detectors use the same (chinese) circuitry with differences in sensitivity being variations in the antenna design.

Keep in mind that metal detectors like the garretts are designed to pick up larger pieces of metal and can often miss smaller stuff especially at depth and of course they will not find non-metallics like glass and concrete which are just as likely in urban trees as metal. If you want sensitivity then a prospecting type detector will pick up smaller stuff at a depth better than a security type detector.


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## lps8 (Apr 22, 2013)

*metal detector thanks*

Found a 20% coupon, just need to get a chance to go to town. Thanks for the input.

Larry


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## rarefish383 (Apr 23, 2013)

If you get a wand make sure you run it over the log each time you take a slab off until you know how deep it will actually reach. I have a bigger Garrett and it picked up an eyeglass screw in a pair of plastic glasses in about 6" of sand, Joe.


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## smp928s (Apr 24, 2013)

metal detecting is also a hobby of mine. I have experience with the Garret Pro Pointer and I have a Detector Pro "Pistol Probe." Both are quite pricey but excellent in my experience. The pistol probe I have can sometimes be almost annoyingly sensitive when I am detecting in a trashy area and it's finding pencil lead sized stuff at several inches. I have used it to find nails in wood and it is extremely effective. I believe that the probes are much more sensitive to smaller objects than the wands. In full disclosure I have no experience with the wands.

- Steve


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## golddredgergold (Apr 24, 2013)

smp928s said:


> metal detecting is also a hobby of mine. I have experience with the Garret Pro Pointer and I have a Detector Pro "Pistol Probe." Both are quite pricey but excellent in my experience. The pistol probe I have can sometimes be almost annoyingly sensitive when I am detecting in a trashy area and it's finding pencil lead sized stuff at several inches. I have used it to find nails in wood and it is extremely effective. I believe that the probes are much more sensitive to smaller objects than the wands. In full disclosure I have no experience with the wands.
> 
> - Steve




The Pistol probe is my go to pinpointer for coin hunting. It is hands down the best but they are just pinpointers and do not cover large areas well. We got a bug to search walls of old rock houses. The wands are cool due to the slide into cracks and are easy to carry along and cover those old houses well looking for jars of coins. When I started building gun stocks and cutting lots of city street walnut trees into blanks I trashed way to many bandsaw blades. So I went and grabbed my Whites wand and now check every log and stock blank prior to cutting. I have not lost a single blade to nails since! A buddy has the Garret and they work almost the same for depth and function. I wanted another one to take to the tree and woods when we go get trees to scan before we cut with the chainsaw. So I bought a couple of harbor freight ones to pack in the truck as they are cheap if they get lost or crushed. My son carries his on him and I take mine to at least search the outside of the tree prior to cutting. Works wonders.


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## HarryHarley (May 10, 2013)

A couple of years back I got about 12 timbers that had been buried in a creek. They were from a grist mill that collapsed into the creek in the early 1900's. The mill was built around 1880. Guy asked me to mill the wood so they could build tables for the family farm out of it. Of course it was the oldest wood I ever milled. BEFORE I started, I checked the timbers for metal. The basic coin type detector I had did not fail me. Here are the nails, etc I found. Found them all. Never hit anything with the sawmill. Was glad too!
So, all the advice on detectors are good. Better to have one that not.


View attachment 294624
View attachment 294625


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## Sawyer Rob (May 10, 2013)

Looks like you found a few!! lol

SR


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## James04 (Aug 22, 2013)

golddredgergold said:


> The garret is good so is the Whites version. But to be honest so you know the harbor freight one works every bit as good. It is only 39.99 and use a 20% coupon for a few bucks off that.
> 
> Another hobby of mine is metal detecting. I have used and owned all the wands. Harbor freight is on par with either of the other 2.
> 
> ...



Golddreger,

Do you know how deep the HF unit will detect? I think I might pick one up.

James


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## rarefish383 (Aug 25, 2013)

Welcome to the site, James. I use a full size Garrett, never used any of the wands. To be a little on the careful side, every time you take a slab off, run the wand over it again, Joe.


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## imalogger (Aug 25, 2013)

I bought a MDI 2100 shortly after I got my mill (around 6 yrs ago) it's worked flawlessly since then and will find nails buried deep inside a log. It wasn't cheap but I've deff found it to be worth it as I saw a lot of yard and fence row trees. The HF detecter will prolly work pretty well on boards, but it will probably take a while to do logs with it if you've got to re-scan after every board or 2. The price ain't bad for the HF one so your not out too much if ya end up driving over it with your truck or something. I've got a "bulls eye" pinpointer that came with my whites metal detector, used for finding coins in the hole once you find em with the big detector. It's pretty much only the tip of that thing that picks up and it don't go real deep so it's not real great at scanning big areas. Keep in mind that nails driven into a tree provide a lot smaller target to pick up than on laying flat ways at the same distance. Oh and don't leave that HF detector on the dash of your truck.. I had a HF detector once.. Left it on the dash of my dads truck in the middle of summer with the windows closed and it actually melted and deformed the plastic If I know there's a nail in a log I will usually use an electric chainsaw and buzz down the wood till I hit the nail, then pull it with a vise grips or something. With an electric saw you can do a lot of nails before the chain is junk cause they turn pretty slow..


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