If you do renovation, restoration or any carpentry that involves dubious materials and would prefer to discover lurking foreign bodies in advance instead of with your sawblade, Wizard Industries’ battery-powered metal detectors can help. The company offers several styles; I tried the small and medium-size models. It took me a few tries to figure out how to use the detector: Detection was improved (a lot) when I held the scanner at a slight angle and used it in the factory-recommended circular pattern, perhaps allowing the scanner to pick up more of the length of the nail rather than just the head.
The much larger Lumber Wizard is more sensitive, speedy and expensive than its cousin, the Little Wizard. Both detectors were effective, however, in identifying large potential shrapnel such as embedded 10d nails or drywall screws, although I did find all the little nails, eventually.
Although the model tested has been discontinued, an updated version of the Lumber Wizard is available.
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