Does anyone have a metal detector?

[AreaCode707]

Just curious - have you ever found anything good with it?

The lake in the town I grew up in is going dry, and I thought it might be fun to drag a metal detector out there and see what jewelry people have lost. I'm sure I'd just wind up with a 7 ft pile of beer cans but it'd at least be a good walk. 😀

 

[Sea Moose]

um dont think you would find beer cans? Aluminum is non ferrous and therefore non magnetic, those detector thingys only can detect ferrous/magnetic metal <--- Fuck i am a nerd

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: Sea Moose
um dont think you would find beer cans? Aluminum is non ferrous and therefore non magnetic, those detector thingys only can detect ferrous/magnetic metal <--- Fuck i am a nerd

Heh, I clearly am not nerd enough. 🙂 Well, that would make the whole game much more interesting then.

 

[TallBill]

No, the Internet is more fun.

 

[jamesbond007]

Yes, my dad and brother do. They've found various rings and jewelry at some nearby parks before. (one ring was valued at over $700) As for distinguishing between cans/aluminum/junk and coins/jewelry, the metal detector will make different tones so you don't waste your time probing the area with a screwdriver.

 

[Insomniator]

My parents got one when I was like 10, we went to the beach and buried my dads pocket knife 5 inches under the sand to try out the detector.

That knife was never seen again...

 

[dabuddha]

Originally posted by: jamesbond007
Yes, my dad and brother do. They've found various rings and jewelry at some nearby parks before. (one ring was valued at over $700) As for distinguishing between cans/aluminum/junk and coins/jewelry, the metal detector will make different tones so you don't waste your time probing the area with a screwdriver.

I don't think he'll be using a screwdriver. Most likely this

 

[Safeway]

Originally posted by: Insomniator
My parents got one when I was like 10, we went to the beach and buried my dads pocket knife 5 inches under the sand to try out the detector.

That knife was never seen again...

I bet you were hella disappointed.

 

[AreaCode707]

Originally posted by: jamesbond007
Yes, my dad and brother do. They've found various rings and jewelry at some nearby parks before. (one ring was valued at over $700) As for distinguishing between cans/aluminum/junk and coins/jewelry, the metal detector will make different tones so you don't waste your time probing the area with a screwdriver.

On the extremely long shot side, my dad lost his wedding ring in the lake years ago. I know we'll never see it again, but wouldn't it be cool if... 🙂

 

[jonnyGURU]

My metal detector is with me all of the time. I'm the inspector over the mine.

Metal detector, watch it shine.

 

[DrPizza]

By brother, sister, and I pooled our allowance money together when we were kids. The plan was to make all that money back and more. If it wasn't for my grandfather trying to inconspicuously toss quarters in front of us, I don't think we'd have even made $5. We never found much of value. Occasionally, I wish I had one though - it's amazing how often I drop that list little tiny metal piece of something into the grass, then it disappears.

 

[meltdown75]

i gave mine to my nephew several years ago.

 

[BabaBooey]

I had a stud finder once but every time I picked it up the damn thing kept beeping,so I sold it.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: Sea Moose
um dont think you would find beer cans? Aluminum is non ferrous and therefore non magnetic, those detector thingys only can detect ferrous/magnetic metal <--- Fuck i am a nerd

Just a semi-nerd. Real nerds know how metal detectors work. The material detected need only be electrically conducting, not ferrous. To get a very basic idea, grab a piece of copper pipe & a small (but strong) magnet that will fall through the pipe. Copper is non-ferrous. However, when that magnet is falling through, it will fall much slower than someone might expect - it doesn't accelerate at 9.81m/s²; nor can the difference be contributed to air resistance or something like that, as you can drop an identical sized non-magnetic mass through the copper pipe and it will fall much faster.

What the magnet does is creates a moving magnetic field. This, in turn, causes an eddy current to flow in the copper pipe. And, as everyone knows, moving charge creates a magnetic field. Thus, the copper has a magnet field opposing the motion of the falling magnet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcVG6c_OvYU

What a metal detector does is to detect this 2nd magnetic field. (Over-simplified, but close enough to understand why any metal can be detected with a metal detector.)

 

[bobsmith1492]

I built one on the end of a weed-wacker when I was 10 or so.

Also it works on any metal, not just magnetic ones, FYI.

I guess Señor Pizza ya lo dijo.

 

[Sea Moose]

Originally posted by: DrPizza

Originally posted by: Sea Moose
um dont think you would find beer cans? Aluminum is non ferrous and therefore non magnetic, those detector thingys only can detect ferrous/magnetic metal <--- Fuck i am a nerd

Just a semi-nerd. Real nerds know how metal detectors work. The material detected need only be electrically conducting, not ferrous. To get a very basic idea, grab a piece of copper pipe & a small (but strong) magnet that will fall through the pipe. Copper is non-ferrous. However, when that magnet is falling through, it will fall much slower than someone might expect - it doesn't accelerate at 9.81m/s²; nor can the difference be contributed to air resistance or something like that, as you can drop an identical sized non-magnetic mass through the copper pipe and it will fall much faster.

What the magnet does is creates a moving magnetic field. This, in turn, causes an eddy current to flow in the copper pipe. And, as everyone knows, moving charge creates a magnetic field. Thus, the copper has a magnet field opposing the motion of the falling magnet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcVG6c_OvYU

What a metal detector does is to detect this 2nd magnetic field. (Over-simplified, but close enough to understand why any metal can be detected with a metal detector.)

cheers that was interesting.