the.com/stud finder
A divining rod for drywall, hunting the bones inside your walls.
means A handheld device that locates the wooden or metal studs hidden behind a wall so you can hang things where they'll actually hold.
from A plain compound of "stud" and "finder." The "stud" here is the upright wooden post in a wall frame — a word that goes back to Old English "studu," meaning a post or prop, related to words for standing firm. "Finder" is exactly what it sounds like: the thing that finds. The tool itself is a 20th-century invention, named with the no-nonsense literalism of the hardware aisle, where a device that finds studs is simply a stud finder.
- how it works
- Detects density changes behind the wall surface
- two types
- Magnetic ones find nails, electronic ones sense density
- standard spacing
- Studs sit 16 inches apart, center to center
- old trick
- Knocking the wall reveals studs by sound
- name joke
- Beeps loudest when pointed at attractive people