Bell's 1881 Metal detector

Summary

Alexander Graham Bell's 1881 efforts to help save President Garfield's Life. For Sale: Metal Detector Props From The Discovery Channel Program "Forensics in the White House" The program re-examined the technical components of Bells' attempt, in the summer of 1881, to develop a metal detector of sufficient sensitivity to locate an Assassin bullet lodged in President's Garfield's wound. Special SaleALL the engineering and scientific instruments pictured below were used as props in filming the Discovery program and are for sale. Below are photos and descriptions of working models of Alexander Graham Bell's metal detectors, their circuits, brief descriptions covering the events surrounding their development and use by Bell. This is followed by gripping photos of Discoveries TV crew filming the reenactment of the laboratory scenes of Bell and his assistant developing the detector in his laboratory. The left column below covers the work of 7/26/1881 using the four-coil bridge method following the suggestion of many of the leading scientist of the time. The right column covers the 8/1/1881 work on the president where Dr Bells uses his two coil method, having a sensitivity at least a factor of two greater than any other tried, a method developed by him during his telephone work. Last but not least we give you an opportunity to see and hear a demonstration of one of the reconstructed detectors operating and detecting a lead bullet just as Bell would have seen and heard in his quest to save President Garfield's life. Click here to Return To Home page The first metal detector Dr. Bell's used on President Garfield was made using a large primary coil with a smaller secondary coil fixed to it. The coils were mounted on a handle for scanning; the unit is to the left of the picture. There is a similar set of coils, to the right of the picture, mounted on a platform. The small coil on this unit was adjusted to balance the electrical circuit for a null in the buzzer signal heard in t...