Little Wizard II Nail Finder Woodworking Metal Detector

I was searching for nails in wood recovered from a 100 year old house. I wanted to ensure all nails were removed so I didn't hurt myself or my planer or table saw when I trimmed the wood for new projects. The nail finder seemed very sensitive and seemed to find nails in the wood from both sides of the board, even small tacks and short nails that were buried in the wood. The product emphasizes the need to use a new battery each time. I decided to increase the battery life by turning off the nail finder after using it on each board, because then I would remove all the nails, which might take 5 minutes or more. This seemed to keep the battery fresh, but each time I turned on the nail finder, I had to re-calibrate it, which is a slightly noisy process. After 20 boards, the noise was a little annoying. However, the accuracy at finding nails was very good, so I still give this a high rating.

I put a couple of 23ga x 5/8" brads in a pc of 3/4" plywood to try this out. Amazing! This is without a doubt the most accurate metal / nail detector I have ever used. I will have much greater piece of mind now when milling reclaimed wood.

I've had this tool for about 3 months, and used it on one major project, recovering valuable wood from some old upholstered chairs. In short, it works well, even better than I expected for such an inexpensive device. Used according to the directions it finds nails easily, and if your thorough, will even find skinny little upholstery staples. The device seems well made, I expect it will last a long time. I estimate it's already paid for itself in a single project when I compare it's cost to that of planer, router and saw blades that would otherwise have been damaged. If you work with reclaimed wood you probably need one of these (or the more expensive model if you do lot's of reclaimation).

The first time I used it I found a broken screw and saved the blades in my plainer. Great product

I was hoping to find a tool that would help me assess the risk of drilling a hole in wood. The picture shows a small section of a wood rack. I wanted to be able to drill a hole between the existing pegs and couldn't remember whether or not there were any screws in the piece at the location where I needed the new holes. This nail finder worked great. I don't know how 'accurate' it is, but I was able to drill a dozen holes 1-3/8" in diameter with NO problems (i.e., didn't hit any screws). Setup and calibration was a breeze as was using the tool. Every woodworker with wood that has been exposed to metal fasteners could use this.

Judging from the shape of the scan head I assumed that I would be able to locate nails anywhere between the two edges ...but this is not the case. It seems like there are 2 sensors 1 inch apart. If the nail is directly over one of those 2 spots then it detects pretty good but if it is not then there is a good chance of it not detecting the object unless the metal object is really big. If you were to scan for a nail that is exactly in the middle of the scan head it will probably not find it. The sensitivity is out of wack once in while so I feel the need to adjust before each use to make sure (this inconvenience is worsen by the fact that the adjustment screw requires a flat to screw driver handy). There is also no indicator to remind you that the unit is turned on.

I have used one of these Little Wizard ll metal detectors for years. It has saved a lot of saw blades, jointer blades and thickness planer blades. There is a small thumb wheel on the side which adjusts the tool’s sensitivity. The little screw that holds the thumb wheel to the tool worked its way loose and disappeared. So I ordered a new one on Amazon. I also sent an email to the company asking what the size of the little screw was or if I could buy one from them. A week later, I received a new thumb wheel and several screws and also a brand new Little Wizard ll. I couldn’t believe it. Talk about great customer service! I could have returned the one I bought on Amazon, but kept it as a back up.

After reading instructions and installing a battery, very cramped compartment for 9v battery and far too long wires I tested the unit and was amazed that through a 3/4" piece of high grade fiber board it found a 37 thousand Guage piece of steel wire. Further checking revealed finding a staple through 1/8" hardboard, placement found slowly to within +- 1/4 ". I'm convinced.