Metal detector

I am always amazed at the things that interest the people here. I can almost always find an active thread about the darnedest things. That's why I love this place and come in here to ask the most off the wall questions.
 
Deacon-

You can age metal several ways- Urine, vinegar, and salt water are just a few.

Urine works great on copper.

Don't ask where I get this stuff from.....
 
deacon said:
I hear the speaker is too loud anyway. And yes I had that 1.2 volt thing compared to 1.5 volt thing going on with recharges in photo equip.

I really am looking forward to exploring around old junk houses and things like that. With a little luck I can find bits of old metal that I can make into JUNKYARD sculpture. You know a hank of hair and piece of bone kind of things.

I might be back asking how one ages metal after it has been cleaned for welding.
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Deacon,
I gotta hand it to you ... looking for junkyard sculpture is one of the best uses I've heard of for a metal detector. Now that sounds like fun ... plus almost everything you find will be (can be) TREASURE! I hope you'll be posting pic's of your art work.

BTW, one of the easiest ways to "age" metal is with gun blueing. It comes in small bottles and even "felt pens" for small areas. After the metal is clean just rub it on. Metal doesn't have to be hot. The more coats the deeper the "blue". It may show some surface rust after it "works" for a few days. Just apply a coat or two of oil and the process will pretty much stop. This takes all the shine off metal and makes it look old ... not really "blue" unless you add lots of coats.

Looking forward to some good ol' rusty art.

.trk.
 
I looking to go to the rusty look after I clean it. I think just leaving it outside might work that and a little salt water and vinegar Joe mentioned.

You know when you sell modern art it has to have a story. It's like the old sell the sizzle not the steak kind of thing. I can do a little bio with a picture of me on a bike with a chunk of junk in my hands. Something silly like that. It will be a fun thing to do, I think. I used to love to do art and craft shows with my photography when I didn't have a paying gig.

I think i have about finished building bikes now just keeping the ones I have running more or less. So I get to use my tools for the art project, if it works out.
 
deacon said:
I looking to go to the rusty look after I clean it. I think just leaving it outside might work that and a little salt water and vinegar Joe mentioned.
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That's true ... I just mentioned the blueing as it's very good for small areas. If you should find something that already has the "patina" you want, then the blueing would be good to "de-shine" the cleaned area around the weld. I carve fish from wood and then make the fins out of tin. The blueing makes the tin fins look old.
.trk.
 
Hey, Deacon. If you know anyone who shoots black powder guns, get him to give you his dirty cleaning patches. The BP fouling will rust metal in no time. :D

Also, I mentioned a kite festival in Laughlin. I don't know how far you are from Atlantic Beach, Deacon, but they have a good one near the end of October. It's sponsored by the Kites Unlimited over in Atlantic Station Shopping Center. If you should get out that way, look up the owners, Don and Jeri and tell them "aloha" for me. They'll know who it's from. I've been a guest kitemaker at several of their festivals and have always had a great time. That area would be great for ebiking also. Pack a bunch of kites along and just ride up and down the shoreline. Sure do miss the people I've met during those years.
 
spad4me said:
Hello Grouchfolfart the town is Oatman.
It is open for business.
They have sidewalk fried egg contests.
How fast can you fry an egg on the summer sidewalk.
And Burro Bar B Que.

I know of the location that the guy from Golden Valley is talking about.
And Yes, I have seen the nuggets from that area. DROOL! I just haven't found any myself.

The Avi kite festival is nice.
I hope you find lots of interesting stuff.
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Oatman! That's the place. We haven't had the "pleasure" of going through there during the summer. Those contests you mentioned, I'm glad we haven't. laff

Last Avi fest we attended was just about 10 years ago. Wife was pregnant with twin girls at the time. There was a big biker gathering and bike show and a chili cookoff at the same time as the kite fest. Talk about good eats and sights!
Anyway, it's been awhile and sure do hope our friend is still alive. We're hoping to get out that way this fall or next. Wanted to show our daughter some sights other than Disneyland. :-{ Going to shoot straight out to the Rez. Talk about a great place for motor or "e" biking. .we.
 
I live half way across the state but I do have a friend who lives near atlantic beach.

I think I might have heard of the festival but my mind is so mushy Im not sure. My wife just volunteered for museum guide and they have black powder shooters there a lot. I'll see if I can find some patches.
 
Well it seems that now seems to be a good time on amazon. They practically gave me the toy one I bought.
 
You lucky dog you... Now seems to be a good time to buy from amazon. The toy I bought was less than a small used one on ebay.
 
Has your metal detector arrived yet?

I have even walked down the side of the road detecting .
All of the traffic stops and looks . LOL.
Iron is easy to find Coins are too.
Good luck !
 
It comes tomorrow and I can hardly wait. Heck if I just find all the lost nuts and bolts around my shop, I should be able to pay for it.

I actually ordered the parts for one more bike upgrade. I plan to do it as soon as I can get to it. By then I hope to be making small trash art objects. When I get bored with that, I will find some other use for the detector I'm sure. Give it to my grandson most likely.
 
If you're just starting in metal detecting an Ace 250 from Garrett is hard to beat. I have a White's MXT (w. 5" and 14" DD Excellerator DD coils) and use it for both coin/jewelry/relic hunting and, most importantly, prospecting for gold. I've found thousands of bux in gold nugget hunting with a detector.. so it CAN be a rather lucrative pastime. One of the reasons I'm going to motorize a bike is that there are many places that are rather hard to get to which can yield some mighty nice finds. There are a lot of people out there 'swinging' and often the out of the way places are the ones to search. A number of forums exist on the net where you can find decent info and they have classifieds for buying a used unit. Ebay is generally NOT the place to buy a detector. Often they have crazy high prices as people get into a bidding frenzy. ..Willy.
 
Yeah I found that I could buy a new cheapo junior model from amazon cheaper than a used one of the same type on ebay. Crazy but true.

I really just want mine to find buried scrap metal to use in trash sculpture. If I get into it I will give this one to my grandson and buy a good one.

I know what you mean about getting to places with the bike that you can't get a car into. I think with my current biking interest, I would have to get a ride to the base camp and then use the ebike to ride up the trails. But then my chubby butt is not good for a long ride on an motor bike anyway.
 
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I got my little detector yesterday in the mail from amazon. It is the right size to carry one a bike. Of course I had to go out and try it. I found a couple of bits of metal in my front yard. One thing I found was a tube from an old wind chime that came apart in a wind storm a few years ago. It was either on the surface or very close to it.

I found a roofing nail that was dropped, most likely during a shingle patching job. I have done a lot of those over the life of my sorry roofing job. I even paid to have it done and it was awful. But the story on the rail is kind of funny.

I got the beep and didn't see anything on the surface so i dug down. I could down about two inches and didn't see a horse shoe or anything, so I ran the detector over the spot and got a reading a few inches to the side, so I dug there. I did this a couple of times until I realized that it was in the dirt I was removing from the hole. The nail was close to the surface and I got it with the first scoop but I couldn't see it mixed in with the dirt. I will have to dig slower I suppose.

It was interesting to hunt it down though. I am going to have to do a lot of practicing before I feel confident with it. Still I can see how this could be addictive.
 
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That's cool...I think you'll find it will work well for you. Some folks also use a tool like a scrawl which is more or less a metal pick for sticking in the dirt to hit your find. One could be made from an old screw driver by just sharpening the tip to a point. Although, these work best for bigger objects.

Also, concerning other detectors, a lot of them come with two to three piece shafts that can be shortened to any desired length....at least the ones that I've owned have. If and when you look for another one in the future, keep an eye out for the ones that have this.................then it won't matter when you need something longer or shorter.

They also have on the market hand held metal detectors. One for security purposes and the others for metal detecting. Of course, the good ones are somewhat pricey, but those are good for pin pointing down in a hole you've just dug.

All in all, welcome to the wonderful world of treasure hunting!
 
Thanks I have been under the weather today, but I'm looking forward to going to the park first thing, After that some houses that are for sale in the neighborhood. Just to see what is around.

I guess the best place to scan in an old house for sale would be around the doors and around the shop area.
 
Deacon If you have some old burned houses nearby,check them.You will be surprised at what you find.All their silver,gold,etc.HD
 
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