Lumber Wizard 5 Metal Detector for Woodworking

Works very well

Works well , NEED to keep fresh batteries installed just as noted in instructions

Ordered the Wizard 4, but was delivered the auto-tuning Wizard 5. Easy to use; just pick it up, wait for the tuning beep, then wave it over the material. I had a daunting task to reclaim about 400 square feet of antique tongue & groove flooring. Sensitivity was perfect for my needs. It identified every nail remnant and tack head that was embedded in the wood. The laser was not impressive, but the beeps effectively centered me on the location. No metal made it into the planer, so it was worth the investment. And it was quick. It detected metal even when I was waving the wand at a quicker rate than I thought possible.

I have been using more reclaimed lumber lately and after the simple cut in the first picture cost me a $30 bandsaw blade when I hit a nail. I decided to read up and invest in a metal detector. Plenty of $40 specials available but I decided on the the Wizard 5. Mostly for the auto tuning, which works great and the tuning of a lesser unit I may not have taken the time to do it every time. Less than impressed with the sensitivity after playing with this very simple example for a good while. The second picture the Wizard 5 could not pick up the buried finishing nail. in the second pictures the Wizard 5 goes nuts as I hoped it would. Same piece of wood. I will keep the device and gave it 4 stars as this is my first experience with a metal detector so maybe my expectations are too high. Plus I don't know if the cheaper versions would do any better but if they had the same sensitivity I would probably put up with the tuning in exchange for triple the price. (Yes it had a brand new battery)

I had a project that required me to pull off some old trim, plane it down and reinstall it. I bought the Lumber Wizard 5 to check for metal in the trim before running it through my planer and am I glad it did! One board had a number of nails that the contractor who built our house had cut through to remove and reinstall a door casing header. The nails that were currently holding the trim on were visible, but the old nails had been well hidden by putty and finish. I would have destroyed my planer knives if I had run it through. The Lumber Wizard 5 alerted me to the problem so I could remove quite a few hidden nails and save my planer knives! I have used it several times since then and it has worked perfectly every time!

Oh man, I would love to have this kind of service with all vendors. I bought this tool last year in July since I got a ton of old Pine Heart lumber...from a barn over 100 years old. They were up to 2.5 inches thick, very heavy. And this tool was great! It detected it all, it was fast, self calibrating, and I was able to plane and saw the lumber without any issue. It was KEY to have a save and rewarding woodworking experience.This year I planned to used the lumber again, and for some reason the wizard was nor working right...I always try to test it with a nail or something under the board in order to make sure it will detect anything inside of the board...and it was erratic. I tried changing batteries, but without luck. So, I read it had 1 year of warranty..I shoot them an eMail...and I got an immediate response, replacement was on it's way! No questions asked! I had the new wizard in my hands just 3 days later!!! It is so amazing. I'd do business again with them anytime!!!

Over due for one of these by about forty years, I took the plunge and gambled my $140.00 would be well spent.The non-Prime shipping was quick and the package was well wrapped.- This is a large unit, so you'll have to work at it to lose it in the shop.- The controls are easy to use.- Adjusting the unit is easy. The nylon screw for turning the trimming potentiometer (to control senitivity) is accessible from the top. Just follow the simple directions. That includes keeping the Wizard far from things like your cabinet saw or other large iron or metal objects when making adjustments.- The unit sounded when ran over aluminum, copper and metal or iron.I tested the unit by trying to find 1/2" long, sixteen gauge brads in plywood. It performed as stated [and I hoped]. Each attempt to find metal objects held under one of my 3/4" plywood topped carts, with a layer of laminate, was successful. This could be useful in the future, since I've had trouble finding screws that had to be removed to disassemble items.As they say, expensive tools only hurt once. Now that I have it, if this saves me from dulling a couple band saw or table saw blades, those saves will not only, effectively, pay part of the cost of the detector by my not having to spend money to replace or sharpen blades, but will save me a LOT of time I, otherwise, would have spent resharpening a band saw blade or hauling a fine table saw blade to the sharpener. Too, there is the matter of reduced frustration of losing time swapping blades.

Too, too sensitive and not user friendly. I used this tool on barnwood and found it to be virtually frustrating. The constant beeping and resetting was obnoxious. The laser beam use was better, but here again, constantly resetting was time consuming. It felt like it was picking up speckles of metal.