EXCAL AND GOLD CHAIN HELP

[streetglide]

Hello everyone. I can not seem to find a gold chain with both my 8"and 10" Excals. I have found may gold rings and 3 gold braclets. But no gold chains. Any tips from the pros out there? What sounds, tones to listen for?. I have been detecting for 3 years. Started with a MXT and moved up to the Excals. I live on the west coast. A gold chain would be a sweet find to add to my collection. Thanks Joe in Santa Barbara.

 

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[bigscoop]

If the chain links are large enough you shouldn't have any problem hitting on them, all the better if the chain is balled up. Smaller gold chains, however, can present a whole different issue, especially if they are stretched out or buried at an angle. The tiny links are extremely hard to isolate, especially in a saltwater environment. Your 8" coil and a high sensitivity setting should be able to detect some of them depending on the circumstances but these will often appear as faint broken responses, often like pieces of deeper small junk jewelry like plated thin hoop earrings that have started to corrode or those cheap nickle plated kid's rings, lengths of stainless steel wire, etc. In PP you might get just a faint break in the threshold, or a combination of this along with those here-again-there again chirps. Whenever I suspect the possibility of a small chain I "always" switch to disc mode and then perform a few very short quick/rapid sweeps over the target, often times this will offer you repeated responses so you can better judge the situation. Also, these smaller chains tend to roll with the current and sand so wherever you see these currents sweeping/cutting into the beach these are always likely locations - the majority of the small gold chains that I have found have come from areas like this, this and right on top of the bars or just above and below the waterline at low tide. The bigger chains are pretty much like rings, perhaps rolling a bit more with the currents but still heavy/dense enough to settle fairly close to where they were lost in all but the strongest of surf/currents. Hope this helps.

 

[teklord]

In 8 years I have yet to locate a fine gold chain unless it had a pendant or ring attached. These are tough. Bigscoop, thanks for that good advice. On a related subject, due to the way chains fall off the end of a scoop I have been thinking about adding some kind of inward pointing hooks to a scoop to snag any chains, but not cut your hand when reaching in to retrieve an item. Any thoughts?

Tek

 

[cntrydncr1]

I've found 3 chains but all were huge...never a fine one yet. Don't think the excal is the machine for it!

 

[Treasure_Hunter]

Excal sees the thin gold chain as individual links and will not respond to them, if they have a large clasp or large links they will see it, but the thin herringbone chains will not be seen..... Most of us dont worry about the the thin gold chains, there is next to no melt down value in them..........

I personally have lost no sleep over it at all... I did find a large lobster clasp from a gold chain, but no chain.... Clasp weighed about 1.5 grams...

 

[Southernstyle]

Here's my 2 cents....slowly swung coils find gold. I have found a few gold chains and bracelets over the years. The excal will "see" it if swung slow and level. Sometimes it will not sound like gold but it will "see" it, the same way it will "see" a small gold earring. A small thin gold chain can weigh as much as a small gold ring. However, chains are rarely found by any of us. I average 70 to 100 gold rings a year with maybe 1 gold chain or bracelet. So at the end of the day, you're doing the right thing if you are finding rings. The chain will find you one day. Keep on swinging.
Chris

 

[bigscoop]

I've posted this pic before, and "yes" the Excal can find these finer gold chains, but they need to either be balled up, have clasp, or some type of pendent. As TH says, the chain by itself usually isn't enough to allow the machine processor to isolate it from the surrounding salt/water/sand mix. I use an older Excal, the old blue model, and with the 8" coil and a high sensitivity setting I have found several of these small gold chains, mostly in the winter when the currents and surf have stripped the beach and created the type situations I mentioned earlier. I also find a lot of silver chains in these same areas. Most of the time these chains will either be right in the step, just above it, or somewhere within the first few feet below it. The key is good wave action into, and a good back-flush into, these step downs. A lot of lighter items will get dragged/pushed here, including chains. These finer chains are able to tumble along as they do for the same reason a needle can float on the surface of the water....their mass is stretched out over a larger surface area VS a ring of the same weight. Neat to find a small gold chain but as TH says, really not worth the trouble to actually go looking for them unless you can find a truck load.

 

[OBN]

Most of us dont worry about the the thin gold chains, there is next to no melt down value in them..........

I Second that Treasure Hunter

But I have dug a few..they have a low, low disruptive growl in discriminate. All have either been knotted up or had a pendant.

Dag Bigscoop, Nice collection!!

 

[Southernstyle]

I have talked with a guy that cut notches, or small 1" cuts at the point of the scoop, kind of like a "spoork", which will grab the chain when it tries to slide out of scoop. I am lucky enough to be in crystal clear water and can just fan the sand with my foot and try to see it but I never leave a target. The chains do like to move a little bit though as you try to scoop them up, but they don't move much, just enough to make you keep digging for it.

 

[bigscoop]

I have talked with a guy that cut notches, or small 1" cuts at the point of the scoop, kind of like a "spoork", which will grab the chain when it tries to slide out of scoop. I am lucky enough to be in crystal clear water and can just fan the sand with my foot and try to see it but I never leave a target. The chains do like to move a little bit though as you try to scoop them up, but they don't move much, just enough to make you keep digging for it.

Good point on the chains moving during recovery....even getting pulled back out of your scoop if a portion of it is still trapped in the sand. In the really soft sand when I can't see the bottom, which is most days here, I'll use my foot a lot of times to try to locate the target.....last silver chain I recovered I actually hauled out of the sand between my toes. Recovered a lot of sunglasses like this too. But got to use caution and go slowly...lot's of can slaw and other sharp crap under that sand as well.

 

[CSMPEREZ]

Want to know about finding chains, ask Les West Central, He's got a bucket load of them!! Ray

 

[hamiddetecting]

Thin gold chains


Those thin gold chians, i found it with Sovereign GT 10" without pendant.
1 Weight=4g 18k
2 Weight=4g 18k
In my life beach metal detecting, i found lot of gold chains.