Foxy's Latest Project

Hobbies & Pastimes Hobbies & Pastimes: Chat / Discussions
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Thanks JB, I appreciate your observation…:023:

I don’t think it will be possible to make it ‘Waterproof’ JB, but I will certainly be looking to make it water resistant, just in case I get caught out in the rain.

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Awesome craftsmanship Sly old grey fox! It’s coming together nicely!
When’s our first treasure hunt?

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That’s very impressive, and very neat. It shows off lots of your diverse skills.

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Thanks Minx, still a way’s to go yet but looking out of the window now, it’s just started snowing again here and the temperature was minus 3 C when we went out for our Saturday shop earlier. So it’s going to be a while before the detector gets a trial run in the field so to speak, so I can spend more time tarting the thing up…:wink:

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Thanks Fruitcake, I’m nothing if not ‘diverse’…:smiley:

And ‘Perverse’ sometimes :blush: but that’s for another thread…:wink:

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Looking good there Bob, all credit to you on your skill, inventiveness and craft.

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This was my late Dad. If the tide was in, he fished. If the tide was out, he went detectorating.

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The thing in his left hand is a sand scoop, purpose made and shop bought.

It’s a bit like a large metal food scoop, full of round holes, perfect for scooping up dry sand that would then run out leaving any solid object less than about 10mm behind. Good enough to catch any coin or rings etcetera.

In the picture, the bottom is facing forwards, the sides curl round leaving the top open.

I’m guessing you won’t be detecting along the cough sandy beaches of the River Don, (that was the second most polluted river in the UK when I lived in Donny), but with your skills you could make or modify something to do the job just as well.
It worked perfectly on dry sand, and still worked on wet sand as well, but needed a bit more effort to shake it through.
Many people just use a trowel or folding shovel as well.

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Thanks for your nice comment Barry, much appreciated…:023:

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What a great photo of your Dad Fruitcake, I hope that I will be following in his footsteps one day…:cool: Perhaps not on the beaches of the river Don…Although in my lifetime the environmental agency have worked wonders with the river and cleaned it up to such a degree that there are now fish living in there. I regularly see anglers on the banks in summer.

The scoop looks like a great idea, and one that I may copy for my future beach excursions. Once I get the thing working I’ve had an idea for one that works underwater, I don’t think many people will have detected the beds of shallow ponds and streams.

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There was a TV prog called River Hunters that did exactly what you suggested. They had to get permission for each “hunt” but turned up some amazing stuff.
Musket balls made from the leaded windows of a castle under siege.
Offerings to gods thrown from bridges and fordings, including a Bronze Age axe head.
Coinage old and new.
Industrial ironwork.
(Far too much) metal litter from bedsteads to beer cans.

Have you thought about making a small pin-pointer detector as well? These are usually about the size of a small torch and used to find metal in a shovel full of spoil, or a handful of mud.

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I have Fruitcake, in fact the last picture I posted, the overview, I was using the small coil from the previous detector and not the large one made specifically for this model. I haven’t tested the smaller coil yet, but if it works satisfactorily the world of metal detecting will become my oyster…:081: There are all sorts of ideas coming into my head…But I must stay focused…:cool:

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Continuing with the next stage on the metal detector we move to the four fixing brackets for securing the front of the unit.
These are the four shiny bits in each corner of the enclosure…

We can now cut and fit the front of the enclosure. I have made the front out of formica, a lot more practical for our purposes than Alloy.

And finally for this stage we can fit the on/off power switch, and provide the mesh of holes for the speaker…

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Again, such neat and accurate work.
You should be proud of yourself, OGF.

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Thanks very much JB…:023:
Not long now until the day of reckoning…:smiley:
Just the headphone socket to fit, solder all the wires up, fix the search head to the shaft, and make a handle…:cool:

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Very smart work Foxy, you will have to do a video of your exploits with it.

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Very neat and professional as we have come to expect. Did you make the vice as well. It has a home-made look about it.

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Thanks Spitty, the video is something I’ll have to figure out later though…:017:

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Thanks again Fruitcake, yes you are right about the vice, but I made it at work on a lathe would you believe? I’ll post some photos of it.

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Wow sly old grey fox, your contraption is taking shape and looks great! Your workmanship is impeccable!

I hope it does the job! Let us know when you baptise it!
Have you got a name for it as yet :slight_smile:

If you find any treasure or trinkets, please share pictures!

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Oh my Gosh! I love this! I was watching a video of a woman diver who used a metal detector under the water to find all manner of junk and treasure, and I thought it was very cool! I have always been interested in metal detecting and wanted one for so long when I was younger. I never imagined that anyone would actually make one of their own - brilliant work OldGreyFox!