Thanks Guys - For the Stud Finder Tip

[Vic Smith]

Forgot to follow up sooner, but just mentioned the 200' or so of base, shoe and crown molding I put up, and that reminded me.

Somebody here mentioned hard drive magnets. Stuck a piece of masking tape on one, because it's pretty thin and I was dropping it. Then I just lightly ran it on the walls.ceiling with my thumb on it and the tape tucked between my thumb and forefinger. You can move it fast too. I used light pressure because it was brand new paint. Circular pattern of about a foot moving along. Beat the hell out of my 2 studfinders. And some studs weren't where I expected, especially near doors. Stops dead when it runs over a nail/screw. Then I stuck a little piece of masking tape there and moved on. Saved me a whole lot of time.

--Vic

[RicodJour]

Nifty trick, eh? I use some of the little neodymium magnets with the countersunk hole in them (alarm installer's use them a lot) to mark out the exact center of a screw. The countersunk magnet is about the same size as the head of a drywall screw, and it almost self-centers on the screw, then I just make a mark with a pencil through the center. Then I can dig out the Philips recess with a dental tool and back the screw out cleanly.

I now use this as standard procedure when I have to gain access through drywall. I've removed a 30" x 48" piece (including the taped joint between boards), did the work, and was able to reinstall it using the same screw holes. It made patching the access hole a snap.

R

[RicodJour]

Like half of my Christmas projects! ;)

There's a good company - K&J Magnetics. Found the guy through eBay, but their web site has all the information and a nifty magnetic field calculator which helps you figure out the magnetic force based on a particular magnet at a particular distance. Very useful when embedding magnets and requiring a specific force to hold a load.

R