Wizard Detectors 25506 Lumber Wizard III Metal Detector

From Amazon I bought a Wizard 3 metal detector 5 years ago (then there was no `lumber' in the name) and it has served me flawlessly. I originally purchased it for finding nails in tree boles (trunks) before running my lumber band saw through the wood. It has never failed me in that regard and has well paid for itself in saved blades long ago. I also use it for many more things than just finding nails in tree boles, such as: lost nuts and bolts in the grass, survey stakes on property boundaries, nails (studs) in walls, lost jewelry in tall grass, lost nails and screws from fencing (saves flats on my riding mower), and more. I consider it a `must have' tool now that I own one and keep finding more uses for it.I lost an irreplaceable small adjustment screw to an antique wood turning lathe in a mountain of sawdust under the lathe, and went the wizard again. Since the metal detector is not usable on concrete due to the re-bar steel rods inside, I shoveled up the saw dust and spread it out on the yard and again the wizard easily found the precious screw.I am a little surprised about the customer service complaints as recently the battery drawer with battery vanished from my Wizard. I easily found an email address to the Wizard company via Google search (hint - pick the URL that matches the product (`wizind.com') - not the retailers selling it). Via email I inquired about buying parts such as the battery drawer I lost. I got a reply in less than a day, and was sent two new battery drawers free of charge a few days later. I found the `customer service' to be beyond expectations and perhaps the best I have ever received (although I very rarely contact any company's customer service)Since the initial setup I don't remember needing to re-adjusted my wizard (unless I was intentionally changing the adjustments) and it has worked flawlessly even after several drops to concrete floor.I might go for the laser option (not offered 5 years ago) as currently with mine not having laser I can narrow down the hidden metal object to a 3 to 4 inch circle passing the detector in different directions - but if the laser could more accurately pinpoint a hidden nail or last screw, it would be worth the extra dollars

Like many people who bought this product, I use a fair amount of old lumber. I have pretty much rebuilt my old house and haven't thrown away the old growth wood! I am afraid there are snakes in the piles of salvaged wood... but the piles are a lot smaller now because I use the stuff.One reason I can safely recycle the wood is because of this detector. It works perfectly for me on the typical planks and up to 4X8 wood I stash. I have never hit a nail yet, so it is sensitive enough for me. It even picks up the rust left behind by long-departed nails. It is interesting that in them ole days there was evidently a surplus of nails as they used vastly more than anyone could possibly think were necessary. And it wasn't because they had nail guns or anything.The buzzer and vibration modes leave no doubt that it is activated.I took off a star because this is very long and only part of it is active, so that is silly and makes it harder to use than necessary. Maybe that is a little harsh. It is a good and useful product, one that is necessary for those of us who use recycled wood. It is cheap insurance for your various blades. I recommend it.

I was happy to see that they upgraded my order to the newest model as I've read some others did, along with the expedited shipping. I've found that companies that pay a lot of attention to customer satisfaction tend to produce good products and services, so that was a good sign right off the bat.On the wood samples I've tested so far, the detector is working extremely well. I had purchased a less expensive one from that inexpensive tool store (20% off coupon! End of sale! :-) and the results with it were just too vague and inconsistent to trust with my planer blades. I got false positives and negatives alike with that. The Wizard by contrast is consistent, and the laser visual indicator seems accurate and is really helpful. It's a keeper, and I'm glad the folks selling it seem genuinely committed to happy customers.

I’m so happy I spent the extra money to buy this top of the line metal detector. I was given a bunch of wood from a friend. Although it looked weathered I felt if I processed the wood on my planar it would be a good supply of wood for some future project I was planning. Although I couldn’t see any nails I quickly found out that there was a lot of them. Using this metal detector I was able to either locate and remove the nails or in some cases I just decided to discard the pieces. Bottom line is it would have definitely damaged my planar if I didn’t have this tool. It’s a must tool for any wood working shop.

Delivery was fast and the packaging really protected the product. I bought this Wizard 3 for my neighbor who does a tremendous amount of sawing and plaining and has had too many times where hidden nails ruined several of his blades. I thought this would be ideal for such a great neighbor and to my surprise, Wizard Detectors upgraded my order from the Wizard 3 to the newest Wizard 4 with even more great features. I am so pleased with the great service and a fantastic product that is even better than before. I would have given a higher rating, but 5 stars is all that was available. Thank you for such a great product and thank you Amazon for making this product available.

Will only detect Medel 1.5 inches away even with nothing in-between tried two new batteries no change in results...... After reading reviews tried turning it off and on a bunch of times seams to be working better ..... Will update after further testing but not confident yet that it could find a nail in the middle of a 12x12 beam

Very easy to use, very loud beep and the laser feature is very nice. I use this in accompany with my sawmill and it has found lots of nails that I couldn’t see saving me lots of headache damaging blades. It does eat through batteries but they do mention to install a new battery each time for best results.

Very Nice détector but laser is not necessary when You work outside. the tuning is easy but did it several Time.