Toy Turned Into a Metal Detector

If you’ve ever wanted a metal detector to go hunting for Canadian quarters and other valuable treasures at your local beach, then look no further than Evan Kale’s toy hack. Though it may have been meant as a toy weed wacker — we may never know — the YouTuber decided that it would, in fact, become a working metal detector.

Though the presentation may seem silly, the science behind this video appears to be quite solid. To make this conversion, Kale removes most of the guts of the former toy, and adds a coil of wire, an Arduino, and an interesting circuit called a Colpitts Oscillator.

If you want to build one yourself, he’s published the Arduino code that he used, as well as .