Dear Lazyweb: looking for a good stud finder
I’ve been roaming around the interwebs looking for solid recommendations for a good stud finder. For every recommendation for a particular model, I read 2 recommendations against.
Other recommendations I’ve seen (via)
Mechanical Stud Finder from Garrett Wade
a magnet on a short string finds the nails
Metal detector like the Little Wizard metal detector
a magnet-thing in a case kind of like a compass finds the nails
ice pick – the hole is smaller than a nail hole
Since I want to avoid hammering into water pipes and electrical wiring while hitting wood or metal studs, maybe the best would be a metal detector and current sensor. I’m just amazed at how poorly the electronic stud finders are rated. Hurumph.
Followup: I got a Zircon OneStep Multiscanner i700 for about $60 at Home Depot. It works very well.
I had also gotten a manual magnetic studfinder for $10 at the recommendation of the guy at Cliff’s Variety in the Castro. It turned out to be virtually worthless.
I have an older $15 Craftsman electronic studfinder (model 49032). It works pretty well too. But the Zircon unit is a little easier to use