About Us
 |
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. |
Meet the People Behind Wizard
Protecting Woodworkers and Their Tools Since 1999
We’re Billy and Julie Carmen, owners of Wizard Industries, Inc., a small woman-owned family business in Ukiah, California.
In 1999, we started Wizard with a simple idea: give woodworkers an easy way to find hidden nails, screws, staples, wire and other metal before they destroy an expensive saw blade, planer knife or woodworking tool.
That idea became the Little Wizard, followed by the Lumber Wizard.
More than 25 years later, we’re still here.
We continue to develop, sell and personally support the Wizard detectors used by woodworkers, sawmills, furniture makers, reclaimed-lumber businesses, craftspeople and DIYers around the world.
Buy Direct From the People Behind Wizard
When you order from WizardDetectors.com, you're not buying from a giant anonymous marketplace.
You're buying directly from us.
That means:
• Genuine Wizard products
• Personal customer support
• Help with setup and tuning
• Warranty and replacement assistance
• Decades of product knowledge
• People you can actually contact when you need help
If something isn't right, tell us. We have built Wizard around taking care of our customers, and that's not changing.
Nearly 30 Years — And Still Wizard
We've been through a lot since 1999 — changing technology, changing retail, recessions, a pandemic, and an entirely different world of online shopping.
But the basic idea behind Wizard hasn't changed:
Make useful products. Stand behind them. And take care of the people who buy them.
Every direct order helps a small American family business continue doing exactly that.
Thank you for supporting Wizard.
Billy & Julie Carmen
Wizard Industries, Inc.
Ukiah, California
BUY DIRECT FROM WIZARD
Shop the Lumber Wizard, Little Wizard and Wizard Detector combinations directly from us.
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
We've improved every version of the Lumber Wizard and Little Wizard 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
We design, distribute, and service our products 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.