Looking for fool proof method for ID-ing rusty nails

[Diggin It]

Hey guys,
Just wondering if anyone can share your method for ID-ing nails and iron falses. What are the tell-tale signs Im looking for... audibly and visually. Using a 4 bin combined mode and a 50 conductive pattern on the alternate screen.
I`ve gotten iffy signals on both patterns and the ones i dig turn out to be rusty nails. Only found one coin with it so far and that didnt even sound that solid, a 1937 wheat 6in down. at least it hit in more than one direction.
Sometimes a red diamond icon appears at the bottom of the screen while a im getting a good conductive response. Is that a good or bad thing?
Im digging a church hard packed stone parking lot, and its a major PITA to get through the top layer to get down to where the soil starts. I want to make every hole that i dig count instead of chasing iron falses.
Any help on this would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks

 

[jas415]

I dont know for sure either but most of the nails and small iron I hit are IDing in the 12-37/8 rnage and the target smear is pretty big. Once in a while I will get a 12-41/43 but the target smear is almost always large. To me, if the tone comes in abruptly (chops in), and the smear is big, and I have difficulty in finding it under where the sweep said it was (it seems to want to pin point 3 or 4 inches away), then it is almost always a nail or rusty bolt, etc.. I find that in the majority of cases if I can get a solid number ID and a pure tone, without the clipping, then it is almost always a diggable target. Even sometimes with only a 'one way' signal.

Seems like we may both hunt on the same screen, GH's, and I rely almost exclusively on the tones. I have the nickle bin set to a really high number.

 

[ctxelent]

if your going back and forth over a target getting a signal,and you know your over it and you pinpoint and the target moves over a little sometimes is how i identify rusty nails,but only when im sure ,you should dig the iffys while practicing this method before fully relying on it ..just a tip,,HH

 

[396nova]

Digging iffy signals is all part of the learning process. Some iffy targets can turn out to be good finds. As some others have said "when in doubt, dig it out". I have learned something from every plug I have dug. The more you dig now will mean digging less with what you learn from each hole you dig.

 

[Andrew Kalinowski]

For the ones that are not obvious, the only full proof method I know of is to dig them out and verify by sight

 

[brother steve]

New places I run it in coin or silver mode with pat 2 open. When I get a good signal I switch to open and look at the numbers 23-41 or 35-47 or whatever number means iron ,nails etc..The first numbers tell you its probably iron. Dig a few ,but you will find the ctx doesn't lie very often. I check myself every so often and it will be iron almost every time.

 

[Atlas]

Lots of good suggestions above. I went through the same process with my machine.

So far I'm finding that if the false signal shifts on pinpoint that is pretty diagnostic of a false cause the false is generated on the outer edge of the coil not the DD overlap area thus the shift.

I also like to turn 90 degrees to the original signal. If no signal on the 90 then 99% of the time its a nail. So you can do the 90 deg turn and then check in pinpoint if both suggest nail it prob is.

I'm also cross checking from my main combined mode in ground coin to a TTF mode running high trash. what I find is that the iron number generally show low values (1) on the cross check so you get a number like 1/36 or 1/37 or something which is "wraparound" falsing. The numbers will also show this in my primary mode so you get the high tone false but the numbers say it's trash. If this is the case it is generally trash.

I would also say that the iron falses sound a little more highpitched almost squeacky or strained. I've switched to smooth on the target response and I find that good targets are much easier to differentiate from iron falses audio wise with this setting.

I still dig a lot of nail and it depends on the site and how thick they are. The CTX is good at seeing $ through trash but I still worry about masking so I sometimes collect a lot of nails.

If time is limited and you want to cherry pick then try the methods above and just walk away from some of those one-way off center signal. But try the methods first to convince yourself.

HH

 

[squirrel1]

There's is no foolproof method to identify all rusty nails or rust for that matter. Remember some or most rust is in a transitional state of going from ferrous to nonferrous. This is why your detector will alert on some of them. So what can you do? First metal detecting is a lot like being in Vegas, meaning you have to take chances. Sure, one can dig all audio signals and that's fine. The number one reason IMO the minelabs are finding so many coins is because of their great ID abilities (great high tone) usually at all detectable depths when compared with other brands of machines. So on with the process of discerning the good ole rusty nail. First listen to the audio while sweeping continously varying your speed until you get the best audio. Take note of the spot on the ground where the best audio is ringing up and listen to its consistnecy. Then start rotating around the target while continuing to sweep. Does the audio remain consistent and target seem not to move? If so dig. Now if the target seems not to move but the audio cuts out while rotating this is where you have to make a decision. Remember a target being mased by another item may/will not give good audio from all angles, so you have to start rolling the dice here. And if it were me and I had already recovered old coin(s) in the area I would dig. Notice I haven't mentioned looking at the screen. I consider the screen more like a tourniquet as it relates to metal detecting. The last resort to depend on when making a dig/no dig decision. I have to admit the info on the CTX screen is pretty reliable as far as the iron rejecton symbol displayed, but I have made a few good recoveries with the CTXs screen showing iron rejection. All of my recoveries in these cases were coins colocated with rusty nails. And I have made 1 successful recovery with absolutely no color in the cursor(at least to my eyes), and yes I had a good consistent audio coming from the small spot on the ground. One word of caution. You really need a probe to be efficient with the CTX. And the one thing I dislike about 3 minelabs I have (2 etracs, CTX) is when you start taking dirt out of the hole you are helpless most of the time without a probe and are reduced to potluck in making your recovery. The CTX is good at making finds with iron colocated in hole so don't give up searching for your find just because you found a nail or 2 in the hole with your probe. So in a nutshell it really boils down for me to a good high consisent tone coming from the same spot on the ground. Nice tight consistent audio with consistent detection point has priority for me over any screen reading. Cheers