[TheForge] Stud finders

[Bruce Freeman]

Don,
Funny you should ask.
The incredibly powerful rare earth magnets are a good choice.  Much better than a cheap commercial electronic stud finder.  I recently posted the use of one of these, modified to make the search quicker.  To do that, put a 2" square piece of paper on the working end of the magnet and suspend the magnet from a thread or light string as a pendulum.  The paper is to protect the wall and to keep the magnet from spinning.  Swing this back and forth, and it will hesitate when it passes over a nail head.
If the nail heads are very deep, you may have to skip the pendulum and work by hand.
If you're into sophistocated electronics, you can wrap a coil around a magnet, and connect the ends to a galvanometer or oscilloscope.  When the magnet passes metal, the magnetic flux lines are altered, generating a current in the coil, which registers as a voltage or current.  Such a device can be purchased commercially, but if you're gonna do that, you might as well just buy a stud finder.
Bruce
NJ

>>> plumdon at aol.com 3/8/2007 5:50 PM >>>
A customer wants to mount a small 37 pound segment of copper ore over 
her fireplace. It is a beautifully colored and textured 24" x 11" piece 
of natural ore that has been sliced into a 1-1/2" thick item.  This is 
a very upscale home and the owners are not tolerant of mistakes. There 
is white oak paneling on the wall over the fireplace. I have no way of 
determining how thick it is. I will be making the mounting brackets, 
etc., and installing. I want to go through to the studs but unsure what 
I might use to find them.  I have seen some devices rated at 1-1/2" but 
never used them, not sure if that is enough depth range or if they 
really work.

Can anyone suggest a device ot technique that might help?

Regards and thanks

Don Plummer
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