Big Boys Hobbies

Another Newbie Needs Help

H

HomerJS

New Member
Joined
May 24, 2007
Messages
4
Good Day All,

I just discovered this forum yesterday so please forgive me if I am not up on the lingo or if I miss a few things. I will admit that I can usually catch on but sometimes it takes me a while.

I bought my first MD a couple weeks ago, hoping to find a new hobby that I have thought about doing for a long time. I have not had much of a chance to test it out other than around my home. I can see that I am going to enjoy this and hopefully I will be able to get out and enjoy myself on a regular basis. I can also see that if I get into it I will probably want to upgrade my equipment once I get my feet wet. I bought a Bounty Hunter Quck Draw II hoping that it would be good enought to get me started and not spend too much money.

Anyway...here is what I need some help with. Due to some last minute schedule changes, the wife and I are going to head to the beach this weekend. I figure this would be a good place to learn what my MD can do. I don't expect to find too much but at least I can get an education for a couple days. I am going to Ocean City, MD, driving from Virginia and I was wondering if anyone knew of a store that sells MD supplies. What I am looking for is a sand sifter to use at the beach. I have a good supply of digging tools for dirt and rocks but I do not have anything for the sand. Since we are leaving Saturday morning, I do not have time to order it over the internet so I was hoping that someone might have some info on an actual store that I can stop at enroute to Ocean City.

I know it's a long-shot but I figured it can't hurt to ask.

Thanks in advance.....
 
nothing comes to mind off hand

I am trying to sit here and brainstorm a little bit.

The only thing i can think of would be something custom made. There is sites online that have really great sand digging tools

my idea would be to get a metal bowl like one of those big mixing bowls and drill holes in it about the size of a penny all throughout the bowl

if you can find a metal handle perhaps take the bowl to a weld shop and have a handle welded on your bowl

Just something to sift sand in I guess

When I summon up some money I am goign to get a sand digger/sifter from

http://tcmetaldetectors.com/scoops.htm

I dont know exactly where your staying but you could call him and ask if he would overnight.
 
In a pinch, you can go to your local hardware store and buy some 1/2" wire mesh/screen. Take a hand trowel and the screen with you to the beach. Use the trowel to dig with, and shovel the sand onto the wire mesh and sift. Should work just fine.

RD :cool:
 
Also, try a toy sifter

Most local tourist store will sell beach toys for kids. I have seen several "toy" plastic sifters for kids to find shells with. It would not be as practical as an aluminum scoop with a handle made for our hobby, however if your in a pinch it would work just fine for now. Also will be much cheaper. I have found some online prices (eBay etc.) can be much better than some dealer costs for many MD'ing accessories. That is if you have the time to shop and wait for your item.

Good luck and please post your finds.

Paul
 
Wow...Thanks to everyone

Hi All,

First off let me just thank everyone for the quick responses to my first post in this forum. I have been involved in numerous other forums on different topics and I am generally very hesitant to post, especially if I am new to the group. It seems that no matter how hard you try to play by the rules, there are always people out there who have to make wisea$$ remarks to make the new guy feel stupid. I can certainly understand why this is the "Friendly Metal Detecting Forums". I can tell I will like this one a lot.

I got a lot of good ideas from your suggestions and I was even at Home Depot yesterday checking to see what I could make my own sifter out of but I think I will take DougF's advice and check out the store that he suggested. I called the store yesterday and they are open on Saturday and have just what I am looking for, plus after a little Mapquesting, I found out that it is only 14 miles from my hotel, so that will work out great. Thanks Doug!

Usually I would plan ahead enough to have the right equipment for the job but since this was a last minute trip, I was kind of rushed to find the right tool. I really didn't want to be on the beach with my garden trowel trying to dig up a pull tab.

Thanks again to everyone and I will be sure to let you know how I make out this weekend and I am sure we will be talking via this forum, many time to come.

Mike
 
Welcome to the forum, Mike! I'm glad to hear that you will be enjoying visiting here. The members are a friendly bunch, even when we may not agree on a subject. Enjoy!
 
Hey Mike! I totaly agree with you about the people on this board - very quick to help, without being smug about it! Now be sure to bring back pictures of what you find on the beach!
 
Welcome aboard

Mike, if you can't luck onto a sifter soon enough, take a platic pail and cut it down to 6 to 8 inches. Have at it with a drill cutting 1/2 inch holes every1/4 inch or so on the bottom and about 3 inches up the side all around. Pop another near the top, put a length of closeline through the last hole and loop it over your wrist. Looks like a 20 minute job to me. 10 minutes if you have a drill press. Happy to have you with us, and good luck at the beach...Gil..:cool:
 
Back form my trip to the beach

Hello all,

Well we made it back from the beach last night and have to say it was a good weekend all-in-all. Surprisingly very little traffic and not over-crowded, plus the weather was great.

I got to give my MD a good trial run and got to learn a lot about it while I was there.

I drove up north to the shoppe that was suggested and bought my sand sifter then headed back to the beach.

I logged about 5 hours total over the two days and did find a number of items, some garbage and about $1 in clad that was probalaby lost that same day. I also found three items, Well actually two items, of interest. One was simply a 1975 dime, but it was interesting because it had obviously been buried for a long time, the other is probably nothing more than a washer but I kept it simply because it has three holes in it, which seemed odd to me, so I will research it a little bit. The last item was a 1934 Wheat Penny that has obviously spent most of it's 73 years under water and sand. It is very worn and pitted but I was able to make out the date. Not that it's worth anything but I just have to wonder where it started and how far it has been.

I didn't get home until late last night so I haven't taken any pictures but when I do, I will post them for all to see. maybe someone will be able to tell me if I only found a washer or something else. It is rusted, maybe about the size of a silver dollar with one big hole in the middle and two small holes on the side of the larger hole. Probably nothing but I would hate to get rid of it if was anything of interest.

I will report back when I take the pictures and thanks again to everyone for the advice.

Mike
 
Thanks for the info on the article. It was a good read. Makes me feel like I didn't do too bad for my first "statrer" MD.
 
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