Anyone have a stud-finder they recommend. My experience with several different models and brands has been that they work about 50 percecnt of the time.
I don’t absolutely need the bells and whistles (sensing water, metal studs, etc.), but would buy the fancy one if people here think it’s worth it.
Thanks,
Rich
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Replies
the Bosch is the cat's meow but plan for serious $$$$$$$$
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
What no link to this fantasy tool?
http://www.boschtools.com...
now come on...
how tuff was that....Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
I like Bosch tools and this one sounds great but before I plunk down my $99, can anyone tell me what this thing actually does? The web site was pretty sketchy on functions. My Zircon only lasted a couple of years, but it did inductive testing on hot circuits, found metal and was a damn good stud finder. If the Bosch does all that and lasts forever then I’m on it.
I wonder if the Zircon failures could be related to letting batteries die down in them.
> I wonder if the Zircon failures could be related to letting batteries
> die down in them.Maybe, but I don't think so. My first one didn't last long. I threw it across the room after a consistent string of false stud findings. The explosion of parts was worth the cost of the tool.Ten years later, I bought another - I needed one in a hurry, and Zircon is the only brand offered at the big bucks stores. So far, I've been able to restrain my temper. It works well on some jobs, poorly on others, then well again. My take is that it's unlikely to be the batteries.George Patterson
this one is going strong after 5 years IIRC...
it won't change the diapers...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
http://www.mcfeelys.com/product/MSF-3040/Stud-4-Sure
bobl Volo, non valeo
Baloney detecter WFR
"But when you're a kibbutzer and have no responsibility to decide the facts and apply the law, you can reach any conclusion you want because it doesn't matter." SHG
Yes, it has serious magnets in it.One of the boys brought one out. I made the mistake of slapping it on the dumpster. And there it stayed. That thing needs a handle. We had to find a painter's tool and wedge it off the can.The ToolBear
"Never met a man who couldn't teach me something." Anon.
Bosch Multi Detector
$98.99 at ToolUp
WOW!!!!
has the price come down on them...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
You could call my ex. She claimed she had found all the local ones before she left."Poor is not the person who has too little, but the person who craves more."...Seneca
yours too... huh....Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
The thing I've never liked about the magnetic ones is that they are tiny and I have to find a screw, so I end up waving them all over the wall.I have one of those Stabila torpedo levels, I'll have to give that a try.$100 is a lot. If it truly works (as opposed to the Zircons and the Stanleys I've tried), it would be worth it. IMERC, do you find it to be more significantly more accurate than the $20-40 ones?-Rich
certainly do....
works on lath/plaster...
it'll find rebar in CC if it isn't too deep...
works iffy thru stucco...
DW is cake and pie..
at the time it was several hundred more than today's price...
I have that do everthing Zircon and a Stanley...
they sit on the shelf next to the detail sander and bammer...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
With glued rock, there should still be pairs of screws 4' above the floor.The Stabila still requires some waving around the wall, but it does have two magnets instead of just one...that improves your odds.
A stud finder and a screw finder are possibly two different things.
Regards from OZ John BoltonYou can make it fool proof but not idiot proof
I've got one of the Zircon models. It's got regular scan, deep scan, metal scan, and scan for AC voltage. It works o. k. but if it's just regular wood studs with sheet rock screws I now prefer a 1/4" rare earth magnet.
I keep three or four of them in my drill case. I hold it loosely and just slide it back and forth on the wall as my arm moves down. When it passes a sheetrock screw it "sticks" to the wall. I leave it there then use another below to find the next screw. That way the stud is found and "marked" at the same time. It's almost fun to do.
Most of the stud finders these days will work ok on sheetrock/stud walls.
But I do most of my work in old houses, and I've yet to find a stud finder that that can find a stud under a lath and plaster wall.
I too have started to use small rare earth magnets. I have one that you can mount to a cup, which in turn you can attach to a 8-32 bolt -- which helps me keep track of it in the tool bag.
********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
I often use my Stabila torpedo level, as I usually have it at hand, and the magnets in it are strong enough to hold it on the wall (unless covered in thick texture, etc.
You can't fool me. That was photographed on a table and turned sideways and you then photoshoped the bubbles.
You vastly overestimate my Photoshop skills <g>I do know how to get rid of "red-eye" though.
> You can't fool me. That was photographed on a table and turned sideways and you then photoshoped the bubbles
Nah -- he just stuck it to the side of and old fridge, and smeared some drywall mud below it. ;-)
-- J.S.
"I often use my Stabila torpedo level, as I usually have it at hand, and the magnets in it are strong enough to hold it on the wall"Steel studs, right? :)
BruceT
I just bought a stud finder made by Johnson that uses a magnet. It cost less than $4, and it works great on the plaster walls of my old house.Let me also add that the lathe in my house is wood, and that the plaster is horse-hair. The magnet was drawn to the metal nails that held the wooden lath to the 2X4 framing. It worked like a charm!
Edited 1/28/2008 6:48 am ET by Alfred_J
The best one I've ever used I got from McFeeley's. It's strongly magnetic, costs $12.95, Cat. #MSF-3040.
One trick I've seen for sheetrock, more interesting than practical:
Get some new steel wool right out of the bag and tap it along a wall. When you cross a stud the falling steel dust will gather on two or three buried heads.
Each screw recieves a small magnetic charge when it's spun in. This won't work on nailed sheetrock.
I got a good magnetic one from Duluth trading. I think its called stud4sure.
It hangs from the nail or screw when you find it.
I have a electronic one made by Zircon that gives false readings and I dont use it much anymore.
All the ones at Loewe's are defective. How do I know?
Gary, a fellow electrician, was working there during the final stages of completion when they were busy stocking the tool region. He told the Loewe's people that their stud detectors didn't work. "What do you mean?", they asked. He said, " Whenever I walk past the display, none of them go off."
Also their refrigerators are defective. I would cruise down the aisle in my scissor lift and open up some at random. Absolutely none of them had any beer inside. What's up with that?
~Peter
I think its a matter of luck. Some last some don't.
I have a Zircon that is on it's way out. I will probably replace it with another Zircon. Over the last 5 years I have probably owned 2 dozen of them. I like the ones that light up a line when they come to a stud.
When I was finishing houses I used one all the time to locate studs for nailing baseboard, shelving, etc. I was lucky if one worked properly for 6 weeks.
Now I use them once in a while, I've probably had this one for a year.
I don't like the magnet idea, most of the drywall I run into these days is glued on, screws are few and far between.
Since the Zircon began giving false readings I've been knuckle tapping the drywall to find studs.
Gord
I've had probably 4 Zircons and one other type. I think they're worthless. Friend of mine has uncanny luck with the knuckle tapping. He can really hear the slightest difference. I think I'll give that a try, or maybe the earth magnets. It's cheaper anyhow.
"Stud For Sure" a pretty powerful magnet cased in yellow plastic. I keep it stuck to the nailset in my left pouch thru the leather and use it all the time.
It's really fast and small. Will hang on the wall when you find a nail/screw. Works in plaster walls because you can find the nails used to fasten the lath to the studs.
I'll add my vote for the Stud4Sure. Everyone whose borrowed mine has asked where to get it. I wish there was a non mail-order source. Weird to pay $6 shipping on a $12 item.-KitTechnique is proof of your seriousness. - Wallace Stevens
Ace Hardware....Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
*gasp*
RETAIL???
yup...
9$
but as you know I don't do retail...
or even wholesale if I can help it....
I like that below manufacturer's cost or free...
better yet pay me to came and get it...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Ace has the Stud4Sure? The yellow, magnetic one? Cool. I got my first two for free at a tradeshow when I mentioned I taught woodworking... My first got stolen, second I left inside the last panelled wall I did.-KitTechnique is proof of your seriousness. - Wallace Stevens
saw them there...Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
but as you know I don't do retail...
or even wholesale if I can help it....
That reminds me of car dealer friend of mine....we have a running joke. I ask him "Don, how can you make money selling cars at cost?" His standard reply...."Easy, I buy below cost!"
His motto is "We screwed the last guy and pass the savings on to you!" ;)
Or when he was repairing cars.."We'll fix your car no matter what it costs!"You get out of life what you put into it......minus taxes.
Marv
Mine was a 'schwag' toss out gift from Presenter Rick Arnold at the JLC show in Seattle last year.
Thanks Rick--and Stud-fer-shure I would imagine.
Here is a free one.
If you have a hard drive that has gone bad take it apart and pry out the head positioning magnets. Be sure you keep your fingers out of the way if you get the magnets near a large piece of steel.
Slide it along the drywall and it will stick (as in support itself) to the nails below the surface. I don't know what the magnets are made of but they are the strongest I have ever seen.
Aha.
Good tip. God forbid this computer should 'go bad.'
The 'stud-for-sure' finder also hangs from a screw/nail when you find it. I often have to go back looking for it--hanging on the wall in that closet or whatever.
Thx