Steve's Detector Rods -- Carbon-Fiber Metal Detector Rods and Shafts

Steve's Detector Rods is a small business located in Norman, Oklahoma, which was founded in early 2018. The business initially emerged from a desire to build a couple of lower rods for my own personal Minelab CTX 3030 detector. As a long-time Minelab Explorer user, I became accustomed to ease of changing coils on the Explorer as afforded by having the coils pre-attached to a separate, spare lower rod. With the price of the extra Explorer lower rods affordable enough to justify the "convenience factor", I acquired a spare rod for each one of the several coils I owned.

After purchasing a Minelab CTX 3030 in the fall of 2017, which came packaged with a couple of extra accessory coils, my intent (carried over from my years of running Explorers) was to purchase a couple of spare lower rods. However, after discovering the high cost of lower rods for the CTX, I decided I could not justify the expense of the "convenience factor" offered by having a spare rod for each coil. So, I decided to search for alternatives.

As a "do-it-yourselfer" who is handy with tools and who loves a good challenge, I wondered if there was a way to build some sort of rod myself, so I set out to explore whether such a project was feasible. With ideas shared and gathered through conversations with several fellow detectorists over the course of a few weeks, plus the invaluable assistance of Mr. Jeff Herke, I was able to arrive at an initial, workable plan. With help from Jeff, I acquired a couple of sets of the necessary parts and supplies, and shortly thereafter, success! I managed to achieve my goal - assembling of a pair of custom, hand-made, carbon-fiber lower rods for my CTX 3030!

After sharing the results of my project online, on a couple of detecting forums, almost immediately other detectorists began inquiring about the rods. It was at that point that a new idea (and fledgling company) was born!

However, to begin producing the rods in greater quantity for sale purposes, additional research was required. The research included exploring and discussing appropriate adhesives with the engineers/technical support staffs at several international adhesives manufacturers, as well as investigating suppliers of carbon-fiber tubes, and fabricators of engineering-grade plastic components. Eventually, I was able to form relationships with producers/fabricators, and procure an ongoing supply of all the parts and materials needed to successfully assemble successive, small batches of these hand-made, custom rods.

After initially producing only the CTX 3030 lower rods, my purchase of a Minelab Equinox 800 in the spring of 2018 eventually led me to begin experimenting with the idea of producing lower rods for the Equinox, as well. After a couple of months of design work, I began producing and selling Equinox carbon-fiber lower rods, right around the time (fortuitously) that Minelab began selling their accessory 6" and 12" x 15" coils! Later, in the fall of 2018, after requests/suggestions from several customers, I began a lengthy period of extensive design/engineering work on an upper shaft for the Equinox, as well. The ultimate goal, in designing that upper shaft, is that it would permit me to combine my Equinox lower rods with the new upper shaft design, to offer a complete Equinox carbon-fiber shaft system. After a succesful prototype and field-testing stage on the upper shaft, I was able to begin production and sales of complete, carbon-fiber shafts for the Equinox, starting in January, 2019.

And so, in the immortal words of Paul Harvey, "now you know the rest of the story!"