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It is amazing how things have changed. I know I keep saying that, but it’s only because the more I see, the more I’m amazed at how fast the world keeps changing. It hasn’t been that long ago that houses were stick built and the only place you found metal construction was in very large commercial and industrial buildings.

Now, steel is used for studs and beams inside of almost every type of known structure. Its strength to weight ratio, rot and insect resistance and ease of assembly have, understandably made it a modern day favorite.

Finding Studs Gets Simple

Another advantage that steel studs and beams have brought to us in the trades is that it has made finding studs simple. There was a time when to find the studs in a wall you walked along, taping and listening for the change in tone that said hollow, stud, hollow. If you didn’t have good hearing this could be a challenge and a lot of walls had to be patched because of errors.

Then we got Electronic Stud Finders and things got a lot better but not perfect. Depending on the type of walls you were working with, you sometimes might think you had located a stud only to find a water pipe running against a walls interior. Needless to say this could be embarrassing and expensive mistake.

Now, though, thanks to steel studs things have gotten even simpler. In case you didn’t know it. Steel is attracted to magnets so all you need is an appropriately designed magnetic source of appropriate power and life is easy.

Stud Ball

A perfect example of this is the Stud Ball from Rack-A-Tiers. If you are working in a steel framed structure, it may well be the perfect stud finder to have in your kit.

Its smooth roller ball design won’t mare walls and with 27 pounds of magnetic pull it can locate metal through 5/8’s inches of drywall, ceramic tile, plywood or plaster without skipping a beat.

It is so simple to use that if you can walk, or crawl for that matter, you can operate it. All you have to do is place it against the wall and roll it along. When it grabs you have found the stud. Just mark the spot and keep going.

As you know by now, I am a firm believer in the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle and the Stud ball is about as simple as you can get. There are no batteries, no switches, nothing to break or die. I won’t say it is idiot proof. I know too many idiots to believe that that is true of anything, but the Stud Ball comes very close. If you can screw this one up your very talented and I don’t mean that as a compliment.

If you have a tradesman on your Christmas list, this year, you might want to think about dropping one of these little joys in their stocking. If you don’t, you might as well buy one for yourself. They are great to work with and if you are like me, anything with a magnet in it is an instant toy.

Please note: Like anything containing a magnet the Stud Ball should not be placed in close proximity to credit cards or any other items with a magnetic based memory system.

Until next time, keep the coffee hot, the beer cold and don’t forget to like us on Facebook.