Magnetic levels attracting steel bits?
I’m in the market for some new levels, and it seems many here like the Stabilas.
I was thinking of getting the magnetic version but wondered if the magnets pick up lots of stray steel bits and iron filings so that when you actually use them, the bits interfere with the seating of the edge of the level. Am I worrying about nothing.
I don’t do much steel framing. Any experience?
Replies
yup..I got torpedo..it's always got little nail points and drill poop on it.
Can also mess with a compass big time, and erase floppy discs.
Magnets are fun. I know I carry a cowmagnate in my pocket.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
you must have big pockets to be able to fit a magnet that will lift a cow in them!!!
g'head..have fun I've heard em all..lol
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Got one of those on my fridge. Cute little thing.
I bet the women that find that out about you think you're far more "attractive?"Kevin Halliburton
"The Greek comic poets, also, divided their plays into parts by introducing a choral song, ... they relived the actor's speeches by such intermissions." Vitruvious, (Book V)
do you even know what a cow magnate is? ( not a little plastic cow on yer fridge..lol)
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
do you even know what a cow magnate is? Yeah...isn't that somebody who's controlling the cows? Like Donald Trump is a real estate magnate?Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell'em "Certainly, I can!" Then get busy and find out how to do it. T. Roosevelt
shoulda spell checked..magnEt.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Frankly, I suspect he's all hat and no cattle.
I ran it through my search engine and got some really strange results.
I'm thinking Beckman might know a thing or two about cow magnates. Maybe I'll check with him.Kevin Halliburton
"The Greek comic poets, also, divided their plays into parts by introducing a choral song, ... they relived the actor's speeches by such intermissions." Vitruvious, (Book V)
I checked it out on line with the correct spelling. I'm guessing that shape is so a cow can swallow it or something? Is it for retrieving swallowed metal from their digestive system?
I spent much of my childhood in the country so I've seen a lot of implements for "cow maintenance" but that one is a new one on me. Help me out would you? The curiosity is killing me.
Edit: having seen the shape now, I'm guessing you've heard the line, "is that a magnet in your pocket or are you just attracted to me?" LOL- Oh yea, there's some real potential for wit with this one.
Kevin Halliburton
"The Greek comic poets, also, divided their plays into parts by introducing a choral song, ... they relived the actor's speeches by such intermissions." Vitruvious, (Book V)
Edited 6/18/2004 12:40 pm ET by Golden Wrecked Angle
Yeah, a cow magnet is a large magnet designed to be swallowed by a cow, supposedly to collect small fragments of steel the cow might swallow.
But they're popular with the folks who believe in magnet magic: People tape them to their fuel lines, water pipes, sore ankles, etc.
exactly..being ruminants cows and goats have four stomachs, so when and if they are treated with a magnet, the cud from the first ingestion will give up it's potential steel bits. Barbed wire in hay is esp. bad.
By staying stuck to the mag. when the cud is reguritated and reswallowed on it's way further in the digestive tract..the steel bits are left behind so as to not damage the linings farther along.
I was raised in and around a large meatpacking area..and we had access around slaughter time to hundreds of the magnets..that's the only way to get em back out.
Carrying one around was a habit..and they are very useful in a tool belt..sorting out nails and screws..finding that Jesus clip in the grass..( jesus ! where'd that go?) tape it to a stick, and fish in wall cavities..( like when working on pocket door trollies.)
Also makes a dandy burnisher..roll over the too sharp mitered corner..for paint.
being only 1/2 dia. and 3'' long..no one ever mistook it for my happiness to see them...I can do MUCH better..lol.
Back when I was in the Navy, I had a computer floppy disc with the Dare Co. NC bombing range targets..took it home for study. While fooling with something else, I put the floppy on my lap..and whoops...erased it..that was a bad thing.
So see..besides me having been a goat farmer..YOU have learned something new..BTW the mags. are about 2.75 new, unswallowed.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
Thanks Sphere - this place is such a well of knowlege.Kevin Halliburton
"The Greek comic poets, also, divided their plays into parts by introducing a choral song, ... they relived the actor's speeches by such intermissions." Vitruvious, (Book V)
In one of my many other jobs (traffic planner) we used magnets to read the traffic counters (those annoying things with the hoses stretched across roads). You'd put a magnet against a glass plate and the reading of the number of cars that ran over the hose would come up. A cow magnet worked real well for that. By the way, the counters with two hoses can tell the reader your speed, but not one with only one hose. Doesn't really matter because a cop isn't going to take a reading and then chase you down anyway!
Weird I used to carry a buckeye, it's never erased a floppy disk or done any other harm. Maybe you should get one of them.Who Dares Wins.
Once again I learned something by coming to this site
Although I really didn't need to know about your "happiness". Some things are just better left unsaid <G>
My dad made animal feed. The company had experimental farms for experimenting and showing off. Back in the late 50s they had raised up a prize bull, worth about 150 grand. He up and died. The autopsy showed a roofing tack had perforated his intestine. Kinda helps explain the attraction for cow magnets<G>...and why you should pick up all the nails you drop LOL Don't worry, we can fix that later!
Yeah, but are they any good at getting a door jamb plumb ?
: )
Who cares, wins.
sure, another great use..just tape em to your level at about the hinge locations..then when not needed, take em off.
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
taping magnets could and would throw off the plumb. UNless they are milled to the same specs.
Ive got the stabila door jammer set with magnets, they are slightly recessed from the face, use rare earth magnets and havent thrown off any line scribing. WIth magnets they also allow you to stick them somewhere where they cant be knocked over, a prime assest to your investment.
Most likely you have duct tape laying around, if you get any metal bits or flakes on the magnets, stick duct tape over the magnet and pull the tape,the bits come off on the tape. Get the case for them, helps keep them clean and less dinged up. Also lets you keep an eye on them so they arent used by others.
I was kidding about the tape..shoulda added a smiley
Spheramid Enterprises Architectural Woodworks
Repairs, Remodeling, Restorations.
In machine shop work, they have magnetic base and arm setups for holding dial indicators. Those magnets can be switched on and off to attach and release them from steel surfaces. The magnets are too strong to use without the switching feature. (This is all done magnetically, they're not electromagnets.) Turning them off releases any chips. Perhaps some smart manufacturer will apply this old technology to magnetic levels.
-- J.S.
So, they are useless in getting a doorjamb plumb, unless you have a level to tape them to ?
What good is that ?
; )
Who cares, wins.
I have two Stabilas with magnets. If you set them right on loose fasteners then they will pick them up. Otherwise, the magnets are mostly just an interference with drawing a straight line against the level. The plus for me is that I can stick them to the inside of the lid of my truck boxes and they stay there. If you hang a lot of doors then the magnets work for sticking to hinge leaves...
when doing steel studs ...
they pick up crap.
when hanging doors ... not a problem.
The "crap" .. just wipes clean with a whisk of the thumb.
no big deal.
someone else already said it ... the biggest problem is they get in the way of a perfectly straight line .. again .. no big deal.
great tool .... I'd not get a second door hanger w/o the mags.
Jeff
Buck Construction, llc Pittsburgh,PA
Artistry in Carpentry
The magnets are only on one side anyway. The other side should always be clear if you don't want to take the time for a quick swipe over the magnets.
Kevin Halliburton
"The Greek comic poets, also, divided their plays into parts by introducing a choral song, ... they relived the actor's speeches by such intermissions." Vitruvious, (Book V)
I've been looking into the stabilas also. I believe the magnets are now seated behind the flat edge of the level, so they don't get in the way of marking lines. Not positive, but worth looking into. Also, if you do a search here in the forum, there are a couple recent threads on this very topic. The overwhelming winner was the stabilas. I was considering the Irwins because of someone in one of those threads, but then even he bought the stabilas. I can't recall anyone being disappointed with their stabilas. John
43937.1
That's one of the threads about Stabilas, Irwins and other good levels
Edited 6/18/2004 11:28 pm ET by johncollins
"do you even know what a cow magnate is?"
i believe they prefer the term "cattle baron"...
m