OT: Best electronic stud finder for the money

Use your shop vac to vacuum seal it in a bag... Being careful not to suck the grout (powder) into the vacuum!

In article , peter2 @hipson.net says...>

..and not in the living room. SWMBO would not be happy.

I've been doing that for other things than grout. Works well enough that I'm going to take some PVC and make me a probe with a bunch of holes (or slots... still thinking optimization ;-), so the bag can't choke off the air flow.

I have some ~ 3' x 3' Ziploc bags that I put seasonal decorations into ;-)

...Jim Thompson

When you've been married as long as I have, SWMBO doesn't even flinch...

My most famous episode involved fireplace wood that wouldn't light with the usual kindling.

I was out of lighter fluid but, rummaging around the garage, I found a gallon of acetone.

Sprinkled it liberally on the logs, stood well back and flicked a match into the fireplace.

The ensuing fireball filled the living room momentarily, also disbursing all the leftover ash into every crook and cranny ;-)

Wife, sitting on couch knitting, didn't even look up, said simply, "Get the vacuum and clean it up!"

...Jim Thompson

While dirt, and the Thompsons (in that order) were here first, we're going on 38 years. ;-)

It's not SWMBO'd that flinches.

I'd be dead meat.

Good point.

I think I bought that one two years ago. I lost (or someone "borrowed") the older ones.

With a pull force > 285 pounds? No way. You must be referring to the 14+ lb pull magnet. Is the shape of the magnets available from scrap hard drives useful? I pulled one from a laptop hard drive, but haven't opened up an old one from a regular PC. The one from the laptop HD was an odd shape, not easily adapted for some uses.

They can! Even the one from the laptop. :-(

I got some of the magnets from kj for use on the fridge - too strong at 14+ pounds if you use them flat, but they work great as fridge magnets on edge.

Ed

The one i have has a sensitivity dial; place it on the wall and adjust, then sweep (against the wall) right and left to find the stud. Has never failed for me..

Those little HDD magnets are strong as hell. I got a blood blister on my finger when I was sticking one to a metal shelf and it caught a bit of finger in between.

You can't say I didn't warn you ! :-)

I have to admit I did exactly the same trick ! Only in my case it actually snipped a bit of skin right out of my thumb !

As far a strength is concerned a pair will just about carry my weight !

I bought one and it works (sort of). Over tile, I had to switch to the high sensitivity mode. In that more, it seems to pick up some spurious signals. So I moved it down a foot, re-scanned the wall and assumed that the actual studs corresponded to the signals that appeared at both positions.

I'm wondering how much the sensitivity would increase if the tiles in the shower were allowed to really dry for a few days.

I've been through floor tiles with an ordinary carbide bit in a fairly ordinary drill (2nd hand 640W Makita with selectable hammer and key chuck)

some rocks are harder than others I guess :)

ROFL!