About Us
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We’re Julie and Billy Carmen, the husband-and-wife team behind Wizard Industries, Inc., a woman-owned business in Ukiah, California. Since 1999, Julie has led our company as CEO while Billy has developed our products, including the Little Wizard and Lumber Wizard woodworking metal detectors. Together, we’re committed to building practical tools and providing genuinely personal customer support. |
About Wizard Industries, Inc.
Makers of the Lumber Wizard and Little Wizard Since 1999
Wizard Industries, Inc. is a woman-owned, family-operated company based in Ukiah, California — in the heart of Mendocino County, surrounded by redwood forests and working lumber country. Since 1999, we have developed specialty tools that help woodworkers protect their equipment, work more safely, and cut with confidence.
Our products — the Lumber Wizard 5 and the Little Wizard 2.5 — are purpose-built to detect hidden nails, screws, staples, wire, and other metal embedded inside lumber before it reaches your blades. Whether you work with reclaimed barn wood, pallet boards, live-edge slabs, salvaged beams, or rough-sawn lumber, our detectors help you find hidden metal before you cut.
Our Story
Wizard Industries began with a problem familiar to every woodworker who has worked with reclaimed or salvaged lumber: one hidden nail can destroy a blade, ruin a workpiece, and turn a productive day into an expensive one.
In 1999, we set out to build a better solution. General-purpose metal detectors weren’t designed for woodworking — they produced too many false positives, weren’t calibrated for close-surface lumber scanning, and were awkward to use at the bench. We built a detector from the ground up for woodworkers: compact, fast to tune, reliable in a shop environment, and precise enough to find a small brad nail hidden below the surface.
The original Lumber Wizard found an audience almost immediately — not because of advertising, but because woodworkers who used it told other woodworkers. That word-of-mouth has been the foundation of our business for 27 years.
27 Years of Refinement
Every version of the Lumber Wizard and Little Wizard has been improved based on direct feedback from the woodworkers, cabinet shops, furniture makers, and sawmill operators who use our tools every day.
The laser line on the Lumber Wizard 5 — one of our most-requested features — came directly from woodworkers who wanted faster, more precise metal location. The automatic 5-second tuning came from shops that needed a detector fast enough to use consistently without slowing down their workflow. The louder audio alert on the Little Wizard 2.5 came from woodworkers wearing hearing protection who needed a clearer signal.
We listen. Then we build.
Shipping From USA
Our products are designed, distributed, and serviced in the United States. We believe in building things that work, backing them with a real warranty, and standing behind every sale with genuine customer support — not a chatbot, not a ticket queue.
If you have a question about our products, you can reach us directly. That’s been true since 1999, and it’s still true today.
Trusted in Shops Around the World
What started as a local solution for Northern California woodworkers is now used in shops, sawmills, furniture factories, vocational schools, and makerspaces across the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia, and beyond.
That reach happened the same way it always does: one woodworker tells another. A saved blade. A prevented injury. A tool that actually works the way it’s supposed to.
We’re proud of that reputation and committed to earning it with every product we ship.
Our Products
- Lumber Wizard 5 — Our flagship detector. 5" scan width, automatic 5-second tuning, laser line pinpointing, and dual LED/audible alerts. The fastest and most precise woodworking metal detector we’ve ever made.
- Little Wizard 2.5 — Compact and precise. Angled detection head for edges and tight spaces, LED bar graph, and a louder audio alert for noisy shop environments.
- Lumber Wizard 5 + Little Wizard 2.5 Bundle — Complete coverage. The right tool for every board, every cut, every shop.
Scan first. Cut confidently. Protect your blades.