Metal Detectors

Metal Detectors have been around for well over 100 years. One of the first crude models was used by Alexander Graham Bell. It was used to try to locate a bullet, in the chest of President James Garfield. The attempt was not successful, because President Garfield was lying on a metal framed bed, and it confused the detector.

The new and improved metal detector happened almost by accident, in the 1930s. A research engineer in Los Angeles, was working with a radio direction-finding system, this was used for aircraft navigation. He noticed there was an interference when metal was around. He was able to use this knowledge to combine a search coil, with a radio beam. This became the basis for today's metal detectors. The idea was improved on, by a Polish officer stationed in Scotland, during World War II. His version helped clear land mines left by the retreating Germans.

After the war, there were hundreds of surplus metal detectors. They were bought by relic hunters, who turned metal detecting into a profitable hobby.

Today, we see metal detectors in almost all areas of everyday life. We see them at all commercial airports, all over the world for security. Government buildings and large venues, such as sports stadiums use them for security. You will see treasure hunters at the beach looking for a lost watch, or lose coins that were lost in the sand. Other uses include, construction workers locating metal in walls or searching for pipes in the ground.