Pro Tool Reviews: You probably know a guy that tests the limits of well-worn jokes by holding a stud finder to himself and saying, “beep!” Maybe you are that guy, in which case it somehow doesn’t get any less funny. Well before you can’t fit your head through a door’s rough opening, let me introduce the Ryobi Whole Stud Detector. It won’t tell you if you’re handsome, but it is designed to locate framing elements behind walls and sound an alert if AC power is present. I took it along to a house remodel to see how it well it works.
3 comments:
So looking at this tool from a theatrical sense I honestly could not really think of a decent use for it that would make sense in how we fabricate for the stage. That being said in the aspect of using it in general construction, home projects, or even facilities management I could see this being fairly useful but not necessarily game changing. The one spec that I had that is actually pretty damn cool is that of the AC current detection that could help from damaging both your wiring in the wall and yourself. I like the the fact that the stude finder shows the full breth of the stud so that you can make sure that you are actually going into the stud, and the fact that you need to hands to operate it I feel is mitigated by the fact that it can mark the wall by pushing a button and thus eliminating the need for you to really have a hand free. All in all not a game changer but cool tool.
I think that this is a really cool product. I enjoyed that they almost sold spoke about the accuracy of the machine and justified the necessity for the two-handed operation. That being said, I wish they spoke more — or really at all — on the AC detection feature of the machine. I am not up on my stud detectors, so I do not know if it is a common feature, but personally I just thought that that was a really cool feature. The other really exceptional feature for me is the fact that it not only tells you that there is a stud, but how big the stud is. The fact that nothing can be metal here is a little restricting; however, I guess the magnets don’t lie if there are metal studs. The only thing is that there is metal meshing or metal flake in the wallpaper, one must just home that the magnet doesn't take to those.
I really don't have a strong opinion about stud finders. I don't think it's really acceptable to have strong opinions about stud finders unless one works exclusively in home construction. Even then, to be perfectly honest, I would be fairly skeptical. The stud finder is classically a reactionary tool, brought by necessity for homeowners who need to hang something heavy and don't want to bring the drywall down with it. While I see the ryobi whole stud finder seems slick, and I especially like its marking feature built-in, it doesn't live up to the other models of stud finder, of which many already have AC detection, and have much more precise detection capabilities than Ryobi's five LEDs. Although I admit that the feature of viewing the entire stud is pretty good, as opposed to swiping across the wall back and forth like most others. And remember, the only reason I know so much about stud detectors is because my house was really old and the walls were made of plaster and lath, which screwed with so many stud detectors I had to start doing my own research if I wanted to hang a tv.
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