Help With Mystery Metal?

[wasp]

Got out yesterday for about 7 hours due to warmer than usual weather here in Eastern Missouri. Dug 174 coins (100 pennies, 34 nickels, 32 dimes, & 8 quarters), 113 assorted junk items (43 of which were can tabs), and a SS cross on a 24" broken chain. Wow, were my legs tired!

My mystery is the chain. It is a fairly heavy link type chain and it seems to be some sort of metal. But, it doesn't cause even a little beep on my DFX no matter how I set the detector.....even All Metal. I tried my Garrett Pro Pointer and there was no response from it either when I put it right up against the chain.

Anyone have an idea what the heck this chain could be made of?

BTW, I already thought it may have fallen from an alien neck and checked, in vain, for nearby crop circles, etc..

 

[bula]

What readings are you getting? is it magnetic

 

[wasp]

It isn't magnetic and I get no reading.......no response whatsoever, even with no discrimination. I'm sure there is no problem with the DFX because I have used my Pro Pointer and get no reponse from it even when I wad up the chain and touch it.

I'm baffled.

 

[GoGoGopher]

Pics might help

HH,

 

[wasp]

Here is a picture of the chain and cross. The chain is just over 24" and is missing the clasp so there are no quality markings on it.

The cross is 1 1/4" x 3/4" not including the ring at the top and is stamped .925.

 

[TerraDigger]

Could be that it is not being picked up because it is made up of links. Metal items made with links (chains) are notoriously difficult for most metal detectors to detect.

 

[wasp]

I suppose that could explain it Terra. But, you would think that putting the 24" chain in a wad and touching it with the Pro Pointer would give a response.

Looking at the chain through a 10x jewelers loupe it sure looks like metal and is "heavy" like metal.

I am going to go thru my wife's jewelry box (with her permission of course) and test her chains to see if I can find any that give no response. I'll let you know.........

 

[bula]

Might be a heavy plastic made to look like metal, I can't think of any metal my MXT will not pick up.

 

[wasp]

That's a possibility bula. I weighed it with a cheap hand held postage scale and it weighed almost 11 grams. Fairly heavy for plastic.

I will try to find my small 3 corner file and see if I can file a notch in a link. That might tell me if it is plastic of some sort.

 

[baldy804]

did u find it at area 51?

 

[GoGoGopher]

It is Stainless Steel...

Wierd that the pro pointer does not see it though...

HH,

 

[Fishers Ghost]

High qual S/S will not detect well and sometimes not at all.

I use S/S bolts to hold my coils on.... Way stronger than plastic and don't interfere with the detector at all.including on a PI

 

[widebody]

[size=large]my caridiac nurse told me the metal they use to wire your chest back together after open heart surgury can't be detected even at the airports. i tried my garrett pro pointer at home and it doesn't pick it up. probly as stated, high quality s.s.

HH[/size]

 

[wasp]

Thanks everyone. I think you may be right about the stainless steel.....makes a lot of sense. My wife has a thinner braided stainless steel chain and the ProPointer barely picks it up when it is doubled over twice.

Who says "old dogs" can't learn new tricks. I had no idea that stainless steel was hard to pick up with a detector especially a good pinpointer. Now I have to rumage around in the garage and find some of the spare stainless bolts, nuts, and washers for my boat and do some good old fashioned detector bench testing.

I guess that if not for the sterling silver cross I wouldn't have found the chain.

 

[GoGoGopher]

If you have a pacemaker, do not point the detector or the pin pointer at it...you might have a "DUH" moment...lol

HH,