Homemade metal detector

Finally got off my butt and assembled my Surf Pi 1.2 into a useable form. Beginning of last year I was scammed on Gumtree and ended up in possession of a counterfeit Fisher Gold Bug. Fisher now has the control box but I have the rest.

I used a see through lunch box from supermarket, it has a rubber o ring but none of the components are weatherproof so it doesn't help at all. Everything is pretty much hot glued into place. Water pipe saddle clamps hold the box to the shaft. The coil is one I still had from GPX ownership and is a 8" Commander. Any Minelab or Whites mono coils will work though.

I pretty much see it as a cheap beach fun machine for those very rare trips to the beach.

Out here in Tamworth the red dirt is tough on detectors and this is no different - minimum pulse and it howls and carries on when near the ground. I had to go to maximum pulse delay to get it to settle down. Detects my wedding ring at a decent distance though. If I am careful with swing (not moving up/down) it also detects my 1.26g nugget at a few inches at minimum delay.

Ben78 said:

Finally got off my butt and assembled my Surf Pi 1.2 into a useable form. Beginning of last year I was scammed on Gumtree and ended up in possession of a counterfeit Fisher Gold Bug. Fisher now has the control box but I have the rest.

I used a see through lunch box from supermarket, it has a rubber o ring but none of the components are weatherproof so it doesn't help at all. Everything is pretty much hot glued into place. Water pipe saddle clamps hold the box to the shaft. The coil is one I still had from GPX ownership and is a 8" Commander. Any Minelab or Whites mono coils will work though.

I pretty much see it as a cheap beach fun machine for those very rare trips to the beach.

Out here in Tamworth the red dirt is tough on detectors and this is no different - minimum pulse and it howls and carries on when near the ground. I had to go to maximum pulse delay to get it to settle down. Detects my wedding ring at a decent distance though. If I am careful with swing (not moving up/down) it also detects my 1.26g nugget at a few inches at minimum delay.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/206/1425019766_img_1675.jpg

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/206/1425019812_img_1674.jpg

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Hi ben what brand of coil you running there on the gold bug on the right

muzz said:

Hi ben what brand of coil you running there on the gold bug on the right

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It's a Nel, came with the gold bug when I bought it. I don't think it's as good as the fisher coils although they do get a lot of positive reviews

I finally got delivery of a Surf PI 1.2 kit and an SM Pro kit which was already assembled. I assembled the 1.2 long board and had no problems. Coil housings were delivered today so tomorrow I will be building coils.

I will use coiltek lower shafts with aluminium straight shaft top end. All connectors are waterproof IP68 rated and will be using rechargeable battery pack.

Should be ready for maiden test run in about a week hopefully.

When I get some time I will make some cuffs on the 3D printer

kleinman98 said:

I finally got delivery of a Surf PI 1.2 kit and an SM Pro kit which was already assembled. I assembled the 1.2 long board and had no problems. Coil housings were delivered today so tomorrow I will be building coils.

I will use coiltek lower shafts with aluminium straight shaft top end. All connectors are waterproof IP68 rated and will be using rechargeable battery pack.

Should be ready for maiden test run in about a week hopefully.

Click to expand...

Awesome, cant wait to see how it goes for u man, ive been watching this thread a bit and im getting keen on trying out one of these bad boys.
Let us know how it goes Kleinman.
Cheers
ryan

Well here is an update on my SM Pro PI build and as you can see, it is coming along nicely, however, this is already sold (a mate wanted it asap) so I am making another one for myself. Just a few components left to receive.
I am currently waiting on lithium ion rechargeable battery packs to shoehorn into the case (its getting crowded in there).

The bottom of the coil looks rough but its just the way the light hits it. Potting was successful however it does shrink as it cures so rubbing a bit of black sicoflex into the seam is the go and hopefully waterproof.

All the connectors and pots are IP68 rated so waterproof enough for diving however the Plano box is maybe the weakest link and not rated so deep so testing is in order.
It should be ok for swallow snorkeling though.

Oh I almost forgot, I weighed the unit without the battery pack and it is 1.2kgs. Gotta love that for a PI detector.

kleinman98 said:

I finally got delivery of a Surf PI 1.2 kit and an SM Pro kit which was already assembled. I assembled the 1.2 long board and had no problems. Coil housings were delivered today so tomorrow I will be building coils.

I will use coiltek lower shafts with aluminium straight shaft top end. All connectors are waterproof IP68 rated and will be using rechargeable battery pack.

Should be ready for maiden test run in about a week hopefully.

Click to expand...

Just an update on this board.
The Surf PI kit proved a little impractical for me because of its length as the kit itself was not a problem aside from some minor issues.
At 6 1/2" long, it would not fit in a Plano or similar box unless I went for an oversized box. It would be more suited in a tube. Anyway the SM Pro board is just a nice fit.

Its a good looking unit John. Must be proud of the result.
Cheers Jaros

Gday klienman98,
Nice effort.
What off the shelf pi machine would yours be comparable to, and what kind of price are asking?
If the price is a sensitive subject in the public domain, you could pm me.
Cheers Steve

stoyve said:

Gday klienman98,
Nice effort.
What off the shelf pi machine would yours be comparable to, and what kind of price are asking?
If the price is a sensitive subject in the public domain, you could pm me.
Cheers Steve

Click to expand...

The electronics is a copy of the Whites Surfmaster Pro but I havnt thought of building for sale at the moment. At this time I am guessing somewhere between $700 to $800.
There are a lot of variables like cost of Koss headphones etc. sometimes I can get a great price and sometimes not.

Thanks klienman98 for the info,
very interesting.

very well done hope you are happy with it

So far this has been a great project and I havent stopped yet. I am learning more about coils and making them. More than one will be built but at this stage I am not looking at selling any but watch this space.

I am always open to any suggestions or ideas.

Ben78 said:

Finally got off my butt and assembled my Surf Pi 1.2 into a useable form. Beginning of last year I was scammed on Gumtree and ended up in possession of a counterfeit Fisher Gold Bug. Fisher now has the control box but I have the rest.

I used a see through lunch box from supermarket, it has a rubber o ring but none of the components are weatherproof so it doesn't help at all. Everything is pretty much hot glued into place. Water pipe saddle clamps hold the box to the shaft. The coil is one I still had from GPX ownership and is a 8" Commander. Any Minelab or Whites mono coils will work though.

I pretty much see it as a cheap beach fun machine for those very rare trips to the beach.

Out here in Tamworth the red dirt is tough on detectors and this is no different - minimum pulse and it howls and carries on when near the ground. I had to go to maximum pulse delay to get it to settle down. Detects my wedding ring at a decent distance though. If I am careful with swing (not moving up/down) it also detects my 1.26g nugget at a few inches at minimum delay.

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/206/1425019766_img_1675.jpg

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/206/1425019812_img_1674.jpg

Click to expand...

Hi Ben, have you tested the Surf pi yet? I am interested to see how good it is.

I see a bann soon

sooner the better!