HF Metal Detector any good?

[California]

This one works great.

Harborfreight.com (their mailorder outlet) has them for $29.99. I bought one at HF's sidewalk sale, but I don't think they are usually in their stores.


Here's their product description.

These are the same thing TSA or other security personnel frisk you with at the airport, etc.

I used it to get all the nails out of the redwood lumber I salvaged when I took down a small barn. It not only found every nail, it even buzzed on the rust residue left in vacant holes where old nails had been. It was also helpful when I pulled a nail and it flew off somewhere and disappeared into the gravel driveway. The detector found it much faster than I could myself.

Then later I had another barn re-roofed. When they finished, I went over every inch of the dripline and found all the roofer's nails I would have driven over to get into the equipment stalls. About a double handfull of nails, and every one had been in the path where a vehicle would find it eventually.

A tip if you are too impatient to read the manual: peel back the rubber handgrip to find the sensitivity adjustment.

I've earned back my $30 already in damage averted to saw blades and tires.


Add: I reach for the detector every time a small part rolls under the workbench out of sight. It finds the part immediately.

 

[texasjohn]

Interesting... good experience on your part.... I'll have to look for it on sale.

 

[California]

I should have put this in the other post:

The best way to pick up metal debris is with a magnet. I used one like this (from HF) to pick up the roofing nails that I found with the detector.

I have also used it to pick up the scrap ends of welding rod, after it occurred to me that leaving them in the gravel might cause flat tires.

The magnet is easier to clean if you keep it in a ziplock bag.

Just glide the detector around where you expect to find metal debris then when a hot spot is located, blot the ground with the magnet. This was a lot easier than plucking those roofing nails out of clumps of grass.

Finish by testing the area again with the detector to verify that no iron remains.

 

[texasjohn]

I DO have that HF magnet... works great... I put it on a rope and swing it just above ground level.

 

[Foozle]

John,

Did you ever get a detector? I was looking for something like this and found one at Garrett for $140 (also found for around $85 on Ebay).

Metal Detector Review - Garrett Handheld Metal Detector

But, I'll have to check out the Cen-tech one mentioned earlier as the price is much lower.

Dave

 

[texasjohn]

Nope, my need for metal detector never got that great.. see PM I've sent you.

 

[N80]

Well, this is a little different take on things, but if you own property a simple metal detector can be a lot of fun. My land has been farm land since the 1700's and from time to time we find pieces of plows or a chunk from an old woodstove. But the other day, my neices borrowed a very basic metal detector from a friend and we've had a lot of fun looking around our property.

No, we have not found the buried Confederate gold yet but we've found some neat, albeit, rusty junk. We found lots of horseshoes, nails and rusty bits of nothing, but we've also found a wagon wheel hub, wagon wheel hoop, fire tongs, one of those curved wrenches, a shovel 'D' handle, worn out hoes, various plow parts, sickle bar mower parts, etc. None of it is worth anything but it is interesting to see what's been left behind. There hasn't been an active farm or inhabitants on this place in 75-100 years.

The real problem comes when you consider who has lived here. It was either Scots-Irish farmers who were so tight and thrifty that nothing ever got thrown out and nothing of value was ever lost that they didn't search until it was found, OR it was poor white or black sharecroppers who had nothing of value to begin with! So our expectations are not for treasure but for things of 'cultural' interest.

I'm thinking about buying a metal detector of my own now. Just an inexpensive one. It is really fun, for me, to find this old stuff that gives a little insight into what things were like a long time ago. We hang the more intersting stuff on the porch wall of the cabin.

 

[MrJimi]

My Fisher detector has found a half of a small fish hook a foot and a half deep in sand. I did not buy a cheap one, I bought a performer.
Remember, if you buy cheap, expect to get cheap unit

 

[N80]

I guess the question to ask is what will I get by spending more money? In other words the cheap one we were using really almost found too much stuff. And it finds even tiny fragments of a nail several inches down.

And since this is more like a passing interest, and not a hobby or a 'treasure hunt' per se, what will a more expensive untit benefit me?

 

[shvl73]

I had the chance to try my HF unit again this winter. It found the bearing that fell off my MTD snowblower. Unfortuantely, I remembered I had the stupid thing after I already ordered a $30 replacement. I guess it does work.