Hunting for micro jewelry, theory or reality?

Tom_in_CA Wrote:
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> Cal_cobra Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > the reason for huntin
> > g micro jewelry isn't for the paltry amount of g
> ol
> > d you'll dig, it's for the DIAMONDS.
>
> Correct. The weights of intrinsic gold is a joke.
> A it would take 10 or 20 necklaces , or dainty bra
> celets, or dainty earings, to equal a single men's
> band. So that only leaves the diamonds as an obje
> ctive.
>
> But with all due respect for Tom D's article: I w
> ould think that would be a very small percentage o
> f the micro-jewelry. Sure an occasional earring h
> as a big stone in it.
>
> And I have eyeballed a gold pendant , in a beach h
> ole with a clad dime. That had micro-jewelry char
> acteristics/weight. Which did indeed have a ~1/3
> carat diamond in it. When I waived that in front
> of my Eagle SL II or XLT (I forget which I was usi
> ng at the time) IT WOULD NOT EVEN HEAR IT. But
> I think this is a very small percentage of micro-j
> ewelry , demographically speaking.
>
> But if a person were in a beach erosion zone where
> all light stuff is gone, and where he wouldn't be
> compromising speed and depth on coin-sized objects
> , and can do-so simultaneously, then ..... what th
> e heck ? Might as well investigate some of those
> flutters
>
>
> Xray Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > ,,Which by natu
> > re would involve high sensitivity and other twea
> ks
> > which might
> > alert you to every sliver of metal and also tend
> t
> > o cause alot of falsing.
>
> As for "every sliver of metal": This is true for
> most land hunting (where you'd be driven bonkers).
> And is true for the heavily trodden sand further b
> ack in the undisturbed dunes. You will be hearin
> g teeennssy flecks of aluminum foil, etc... But
> for the wet sand erosion zone: There are times wh
> en all that light stuff is gone, but NOT the dense
> r gold (whether it be micro, or not micro, they're
> heavier than aluminum foil dits)
>
> And as for falsing: Yes: I question whether the
> dry sand trick I did (where it seemed to do everyt
> hing simultaneously and flawlessly) could be repli
> cated on the wet salt or not. Perhaps the setting
> changes , that allow that, will likewise start to
> knock out teensy dainty micro-jewelry.
>
> Will someday hopefully hook up with Cal Cobra to t
> est that .

Its a personal choice I guess.
Might be a thrill of the chase type thing to some guys, and an exercise in frustration for others. Most beaches I hunt there is alot of area to cover and the time spent methodically sifting around to find small elusive [and valueless] targets would be much better spent
searching for rings.

What this machine might do isnt find micro jewelry. .... its being sensitive enough to get that jewelry thats just beyond what our multi get.... the kind of jewelry im talking about is like small rings with diamonds. Surprisingly some of thes arent as deep as we think. The testing ive done with my CTX and Xcal tells me we may get at least a couple of inches. We all know what just a couple of inches can produce.

Cal_cobra Wrote:
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> Tom to be truthful if you’re beach hunting why eve
> n bother digging silver or coins higher then gold?
>
> I mean who really cares about beach toasted coins
> when the objective is to dig gold?
>

Ha, who's being a kill-joy now ? haha. Yes: There's been times where, coins are so thick, we reject everything above zinc penny. Hence kiss copper pennies, dimes (inc. silver dimes) and quarters and halves (inc. silver ones) goodbye.

And in rare occasions, even the zincs are washed out (because they're lighter coins). So we accept zinc range knowing that some beefy men's rings can read that high.

One one such day, my buddy Don dug a gold necklace that was in a hole with a nickel. When he got it out, we all passed our coils over it, and it failed to even beep. Not sure if the Nox could have gotten it (as chains are difficult for ANY machine, especially once you've set it up for salt and minerals). But that necklace made me think: I'm sure there's other dainty stuff that we're missing.

Not sure if there's not scores of teeennnssyy lead zits in those conditions. Lead and gold behave the same in beach erosion deposit patterns. So if I started finding endless birdshot type BB-sized stuff, then I might be inclined to say "screw it" and only go for coin sized (foil, tab, etc...) rings. In that case : X-ray's observations are correct: Your time is better spent going for normal jewelry, instead of on your hands and knees perpetually trying to find stuff that goes right through the basket (earing studs, etc...)



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2018 09:04PM by Tom_in_CA.

The micro jewelry that i do find ..... the scrap value is so ridiculous low .....makes you want to go home and cry on the wifes shoulders.

Tom

I for one agree completely with what you wrote. The odds of finding something with any value are too remote to be worth the effort. I do hope the Nox is better on the fine gold chains, but since I hunt freshwater with high gain single frequency machines it needs to bring something different to the table.

Tom

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In a democracy, it is difficult to win fellow citizens over to your own side, or to build public support to remedy injustices that remain all too real when you fundamentally misunderstand how they see the world.

I guess I dont know what you want for a beach machine? You just want more depth on large gold? Talk about wanting to get chains......but dont want to take advantage of the sensitivity that brings. This machine made a move in the right direction IMO.

Jackpine Wrote:
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> Tom
>
> I for one agree completely with what you wrote. The odds of finding something with any value are too remote to be worth the effort. I do hope the Nox is better on the fine gold chains, but since I hunt freshwater with high gain single frequency machines it needs to bring something different to the table.
>
> Tom

I agree too, just pointing out why Tom D. has stated he's interested in micro jewelry detecting. From my perspective, if you're only angling for larger sized gold, then skip silver, and coins too from dime and up, nobody wants toasted beach silver, and why waste the time to dig coins if you're chasing gold right?

On another forum a guy, IMHO, did a smart thing - tested a variety of gold rings up to a 24K 1/2 oz honker of a mens ring on the Equinox. Then he made a discrimination pattern that disc'd everything out from around -9 to 3, and everything from 24 and up (the 1/2 24K ring came in at 23). Seems like a good idea to me

Now that it looks like we have an 80 degree weekend ahead of us here, I'm thinking about doing some fresh water lake detecting with the EQ800 and Multi Kruzer, and running some kind of discrimination pattern like the guy did on his Equinox noted above, or at least mentally only dig targets in the 4 to 23 range...although I know I'd be tempted to dig coins too because in fresh water they may actually come out OK, unlike in salt water.

CAL....... most of the LARGER gold that the other water machines find are in that digit range true. Ive tested a lot of gold too. But ill tell you what Tom told me that got me thinking....... most of his gold was likely found with those other machines. There are going to be many NOT taking advantage of the sensitivity instead wanting to see how it does against what they have depth wise..... and of course if you dont have much time out there a pattern works well. But in the water..... where targets are significantly reduced from trash.... thats where im not disc out -1 to 3 digits. Something a 4 digit on the machine air testing...... may well show up as a 1 out there. Fact is its a waste of time for some people others it wont be and at least now we have an option that we didnt before. Leave it for me guys..... im retired and got nothing but time out there.

Thanks for all the opinions and discussion on this subject. It has given me a lot to think about. Working out a beach discrimination pattern for only gold makes a lot of sense for beach hunting and i can see devoting one or two hours of the high tide to micro jewelry hunting, but doing that type of hunting all day would be tiresome.

Regarding the sentiments that going for micro-jewelry on the beach: That it might end up taking too much time if wading through reams of BB-sized junk : I'm sure beach storm erosion removes foil & aluminum type BB stuff. Because it's light weight and get washed out. But I'm not sure if there's heavier lead sized BB stuff on the wet beach, that stays behind with the other targets. If so, then the "waste of time" adage stays true on the wet inter-tidal zone then as well .

HOWEVER, all is not lost for the added sensitivity to lows that the Nox is bringing to the table. Because as I pointed out in my beach test post : I had taken a domino piece of aluminum can. Folded it up and pressed it down to dime sized. It read @ perfect nickel (low conductor). Then when I tested the depth of that object, and tested the depth of a USA dime, it seemed to be getting the aluminum a tad deeper/bolder. EVEN THOUGH THE OBJECTS WERE THE SAME SIZE. So it seems to be favoring low conductors. Contrast to my explorer II (which would mimic various power house regular machines) on the same two targets, and it seemed to show no favoritism. Or a tad better on the dime.

Thus at the end of the day, all other things being equal, you might have a higher ratio of low conductors in your count. Which bodes better for jewelry. But it was only very slight. Nonetheless, this "very slight" favoring of lower conductors was a noticeable difference in nickel count, for instance, when we'd compare our coin counts with beach pulse guys. They tended to have higher nickel ratios, showing their pulses favored lows.

And anyone here old enough to remember the original 6000d's & 6dbs ? They got dimes deeper than nickels. Even though the nickel is the bigger target. So perhaps the Nox works in reverse of that. Yet w/o compromising on the mids and higher conductors.

There are quite a few factors that decide what you want to hunt.
Time......How many hrs do you have. Some live close to the water and some of us don't.
Weather..... Hot weather drives me to the water......Cold to the dry. Tides are certainly a factor along with storms and cold weather keeps the depositors away.
Location and sand renewal....When Atlantic City is low on the sand the old steel comes to life. You are not going to hunt micro no matter what.
Trash....After storms or large crowd weekends the trash can be unreal. Trying to find micro targets in the dry just isn't practicle.
Sand movement.....After a large sand movement event who wants to hunt micro when the possibility of larger targets awaits?
Detectors......High frequency machines are needed. The Nox is certainly one. But remaining stable can be an issue in damp sand as already mentioned.

Me.....Some day I will try the Equinox on the beach unless another unit comes out first. But I won't hunt micro. The target to trash ratio is maddening and I just don't have the patience to sift nail heads and foil bits. Great for those that do. Heck I have a bad back and I don't even want to bend over while hunting a beach. As I approach retirement age everything hurts. If I knew getting old was going to hurt I would have taken better care of myself. .....Maybe......

Yes, goodmore, . . . a famous man once said "Getting old ain't for sissies".

Remembering back, I believe NASA Tom has profited well on the micro stuff . . .from the stones. Volleyball areas and such.
For one, I'm glad we have a few avenues to choose from. . . Inland, beach, jewelry, micro-jewelry, old coin, clad, relics, fresh water, salt water, etc.

goodmore Wrote:
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.
> Sand movement.....After a large sand movement even
> t who wants to hunt micro when the possibility of
> larger targets awaits?
>

Yes. There will be times when the "las vegas odds" tell you to keep moving. I've been in beach conditions that are SO thick (after erosion), that when stuff falls through the scoop, we don't even pursue trying to isolate it. Because it will most likely be a .22 shell, or teensy lead fishing weight (those round types you bite with your teeth to attach to your fishing line). And you can merely swing your coil in any direction, and get a shallow easy target. So why spend time chasing the stuff that falls through your scoop ? Yup, kiss micro-jewelry goodbye. But at the end of the day, your over-all target count (and thus ring count) will be higher, if you're playing the Las Vegas odds and using your time to get the max # of targets. Rather than on your hands and knees trying to find BB-sized stuff.

But there are certain very touristy beaches I can think of, which very high end affluent users, that I wouldn't mind at least trying some of the flutters, if there weren't ample regular targets to be digging.