Getting Started

[Bumpstick]

Any info or thread links for a newbie to try his hand at this art.
Where to start, what do i need, skill set. open mind?

[teleprospector]

Hi Bumpstick,
Welcome to the dowsing forum.
An open mind is a great thing to have.
I suggest scrolling through the pro dowsing and the general dowsing forum and look for posts offering instructions on how to dowse and map dowse and building your own dowsing instrument.
Feel right at home to post your thoughts and questions, there are people here that will be of help.
Jon

[Mike(Mont)]

There are many books at the library or try http://dowsers.org

[Bumpstick]

My hobby is prospecting and spend allot of time sampling. I have that gut feeling about an area and spend a day sampling and reading to come home with some dust. I can feel it is there but I can't zero in on that elusive trove. You get bummed out and want to give up and go home.
I have a couple of places I would like to go back to and reassess, that gut feeling when I was sampling there.
There is this one area that I rubber neck for some reason every time I drive by, it is a large area and I need to spend some time there to get a better feeling from it.
This summer I popped for a couple of metal detectors and my first time out I came back with a nice silver cross made by a Navajo artiest; it was signed. My lucky piece that I take with me on my hunts.

First off I believe I need to make some L rods that I feel comfortable with.
What material should I use? Copper, Stainless, Aluminum? Diameter?
Should they be solid rod or tubes?
Any one have a design I can start off with?

It is 20 below zero actual temp out side today and the WC is -30 to -40

[teleprospector]

Hi Bumpstick,
Try a hardware store and buy 2- 3/8" solid brass rods and cold bend them carefully 90 deg. to get your handle part about 6" and the longer part about 15".
Try to sand or file the tips of the longer part a bit to a point but not too sharp.
Then practice holding them standing up, practice the balance and start walking slowly over a piece of metal and see if you like them this way.
Some people add bearing type handles, but this is simpler to start out with.
I think Art had a drawing of what he has used posted on the forum.
Jon

[aarthrj3811]

Hey Jon…What I do is put the handle of the new rod into a vice with it rapped with Cloth. I then bend it about 45 degrees by hand. I then take a wood mallet or rubber hammer and tap it until I get to 90 degrees. This makes a much tighter bend.. I then make sure that both rods are equal both handle and length and are a true 90 degree bends….And Bumpstick…as a former gold miner I know what you are talking about…Welcome to our hobby…Art

[Bumpstick]

Thanks for the welcome Art.
I was wondering if a gracious bend with the help of a tube bender or the sharp right angle? Any Logic there?
The 6" handle X 15" Long; is that relevant to a persons body mass or height? Hand size?

[aarthrj3811]

Hey Bumpstick….I did some experiments with different lengths of handles. Did not seem to matter. I use 5 inch handles and 17 inch length to start. I like a tight bend but that is just me. For me the length makes no difference until it is time to mark the spot and dig. Some people disagree with me on this subject but that is just the way it is….http://forum.treasurenet.com/index.p...c,19537.0.html topic 7….You will soon find that Dowsing works a little different for each of us…Art