Friday, July 24, 2015

7/24/15 Report - Magnet Fishing: A Tool For Detectorists. Beach Sifting Machines. Metals Used In Coins.


Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.


Good Magnet That I Use
A couple of days ago I mentioned alternate forms of treasure hunting that could be used instead of or in addition to metal detecting.  I talked about airlift dredging as one of those.  Today I'll mention another - magnet fishing.

Have you ever heard of magnet fishing?  It has become somewhat popular in Europe.  It involves using magnets to retrieve items from water.

Europe is the natural place for magnet fishing.  It has a long history and old ferrous relics can be found in rivers and canals.

Of course magnets won't pick up silver or gold coins, but if you are a relic hunter, you might want to give magnet fishing a try.

If you have a particularly junky location that is littered with a bunch of iron junk, you might use magnets to clean it up some to get the iron junk out of the way before detecting.  That can be done either on land or in the water.  For land use they actually make magnetic rakes for picking up iron trash.  They are used by roofers, for example, to pick up nails and debris after a job.  It would be good for site preparation.
Magnetic Rake.

But magnets will pick up some coins and medals.  Some foreign coins are ferrous, as is the steel U. S. cent.

The magnet shown at the top is one that I've used for magnet fishing.  A good rope was attached to the top.  Some flotation should be added to the top so that when you throw the magnet out in the water and drag it back, the bottom of the magnet stays on the bottom of the river or whatever.

Without some flotation device, this magnet would turn on its side as you drag it back.

Of course you'll pick up a bunch of junk, but it you are where there was once a historic battle or something like that you might get all kinds of interesting objects.

I've seen where people have found gun parts, knives, swords, and even a motorcycle.

Good strong magnets are made for industrial purposes such as recovering tools and things like that.

You want a good strong magnet, or perhaps better yet, and array of magnets, but you don't want the absolute strongest magnet you can get.  If you get a 300 pound pull, the magnet can attach to a sunken car or something and you'll have trouble getting it back.

Here is a video showing how one man made a magnet fishing rig and how he used it.

http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-build-a-magnet-retrieval-tool-for-use-on-la/

It is also a good way to quickly test a site without diving.  If you are looking for an old crossing or battle site, you'll probably pick up a few things that will tell you if that is the site.  If you are looking for the location of an old bridge or dock, you'll probably find some nails in a hurry.  If you are looking for an old picnic grounds and swimming hole, you'll probably pick up some old rusted bottle caps in just a short time.

If you locate a nice old historic area, or want to recover some lost tools or something, magnet fishing can be worthwhile. In any case, it is fun even if you don't find anything valuable, and it does help clean up the place.

If you want to know what coins are ferrous or what other metals are used in coins or medals, here is a good listing.

http://www.coins-of-the-uk.co.uk/pics/metal.html

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Beach Cleaner
The most efficient and effective means for keeping beaches safe and healthy is “lift and sift” mobile screening. This is a mechanical process whereby the beach sand is screened. The entire top layer of beach sand and debris are lifted and carried up over an oscillating, sifting screen. Everything larger than the selected screen-hole size is loaded into the machine’s hopper for removal, while the sand is immediately returned, cleaned, aerated and fluffy, back to the beach. 


That paragraph comes from the following linked web site.

http://en.envirocitiesmag.com/articles/pdf/waste_management_eng_art7.pdf

They have all sizes of these things.  Some are remote controlled.  I bet the operators occasionally get a nice bonus.

http://www.cherrington.net/

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You will notice that I recently added a poll to the blog.  I am more interested in the level of detector that you purchased than the actual number of dollars.  That is why I asked for the new price of detectors even if you purchased them used.  Thanks for your participation.

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Well, well, well!  It looks like the Treasure Coast surf will be increasing.  Don't get excited though, it is only going to be something like two feet.  I never thought I'd see the day when that would be an increase.  We've had an unbelievable spell of smooth surf.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net