So we were goofing around in the conference room (as we do), pretending to work when the topic of conversation drifted over to rare earth magnets. I always thought that they were the perfect Christmas gift for kids of all ages, but in about 30 seconds the editors threw out four or five cool uses for them. Besides silly amusement, I mean.
Studfinder that works
A way to find nails in floorboards so you can patch without trashing your blade
A way to cleanup nails in a sawdust pile, (or over a whole floor)
A hidden latch for cabinet doors
a clamp for gluing braces inside a guitar (not a homebuilding task, but what do you expect coming from Bickford?)
When I got to thinking, “Gee Dan, wouldn’t that make a cool two-page article right around Christmas time?”
Surely there are more uses than I can possible read before next December, and I almost regret asking before I even hit the “post” button, but I’ll pay $50 for each one I use.
Thanks in advance,
Dan
Associate editor
Replies
I use one on all of my bench power tools to hold the right sized allen wrenches for that tool.
I used a 3/8 inch rare earth magnet and the washer that L.V. sells to stick them to for a pocket door latch. It's just the right amount of resistance to keep the door closed without being a bear to open.
zak
Edit: by the way, they are not the perfect gift for kids of all ages, as has been noted here in the past. They are particularly dangerous if swallowed- I believe that a child was killed when he swallowed two rare earth magnets, which stuck together in his intestines and pinched a loop off.
Edited 2/3/2006 12:04 pm by zak
I have several on the side of the tool box to collect drill bits that need to be sharpened. I made picture frames/bookends for Christmas out of steel. The mags were strong enough to hold the glass in place with no backer. I replaced the mag on the end of a telescoping magnetic wand, now it REALLY works!
yeah, I've got 4 rare earth magnets on the end of my telescoping magnet wand. I've used it to grab my tape measure out of the crawl space, which I did not want to go crawling around in, and to pull all the nails out of my woodstove after burning scrap wood. I love them things.
zak
One more note on "kids of all ages"
John and VaTom also commented on this, and the comments are serious. The biggest I let the grandkids play with is a 1 in. square by 1/2 thick magnet, and with no other NeBFe magnets around. Even so, the 7 YO did manage to cut his finger between the 1 in sq magnets and a 1" cylindrical Alnico magnet.
The biggest I've seen is a 3 in. sq by 5 inch long big guy that was part of a magnetic clutch. Take a plate of copper and drop that big guy and it just 'floats' down. Some of the other guys at work use them for bearings with high temp superconductors, about any size NeBFe magnet will levitate above any superconductor.
Junkhound, any kid who gets to play around your house will come away with enough fun and good life experience that a little cut here and there is a small price to pay! Of course unsupervised play around there even by adults could easily get someone in serious trouble!
Now here's a nice demo for you to do with the kids: take a 1/2" rare earth magnet and drop it down the centre of a piece of 1/2" (5/8" OD) copper pipe. The magnet will fall very slowly down the tube (for reasons obvious to ye so knowledgeable in the ways of science). Drop the same magnet down a 1/2" PVC pipe and it falls right out.
When you think about it, it's no more mysterious than dropping a rock into a glass full of gylcerine and watching it take a long time to hit the bottom, but it still has a feel of "magic" to it!
Put a small one on your differential or transmission drain plug to collect filings.
Don't put one near a CRT. It will leave a permanent mark on the screen.
Keep away from credit cards or any magnetic media. These are reasons why they do not make great toys.
One day my 3 year old son was poking at his ear, I looked inside and there was a hearing aid battery inside. I had a stack of 4 of them (they are more powerful when stacked) and it sucked the battery out immediately. I've also used them to pull metal slivers out.
If you need a pair, just rip open an old hard drive. They are almost impossible to unstick from the bracket they are mounted on. Don't heat them, that will demagnetize them. They will demagnetize your credit cards, too. They are so powerful that if you place one in your hand and the other under, it will hold thru your hand.
They're not such a great kids' toy. The inverse square law being what it is, the larger ones can deliver a painful pinch.
I have a big 1" cube, 97 pound magnet that I use for finding studs in old lath and plaster. It works better than modern stud finders because they get confused by the uneven thickness. It finds the numerous tiny nails that hold the old lath to the studs. But in modern drywall, the conventional Zircon works better because the Piffin screws are fewer and farther between.
You can also use them to hold finger boards, etc, on the top of the table saw.
One problem with powerful magnets is that they pick up any tiny metal crud that's floating around, like filings and rust particles. And that stuff isn't easy to get rid of. So, I keep mine in a heavy walled plastic bag. That way, I can carefully pull it out of the bag in a clean area, and let the particles fall away.
The other thing to watch out for is that they can chip and break if you drop them.
Here's where I got my magnet:
http://www.rare-earth-magnets.com/
-- J.S.
I've duct taped them to the inside of my shirt cuff so I could keep a buncha screws there for easy access.
Be screwed
andy
The secret of Zen in two words is, "Not always so"!
When we meet, we say, Namaste'..it means..I honor the place in you where the entire universe resides, I honor the place in you of love, of light, of truth, of peace. I honor the place within you where if you are in that place in you and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.
I have various grades of sandpaper glued to glass which I use dry with a guide for sharpening chisels and plane blades. Put a couple rare earth magnets in a film canniser and wipe it across the sandpaper after use. It works like a crepe rubber block on wood sandpaper to take the filings out from between the grains of abrasive, extending the life of the sandpaper enormously. And it not only works better than using compressed air, it also doesn't blow the filings all over your shop for you to breathe them in. When you're done, just open the top of the film cannister, reach in and pull out the magnets- the filings/steel dust fall right into the garbage can.
Fasten to a stick and pick up wire scraps before you pour concrete.
SamT
This should prove to be a thread worth saving...I'm looking forward to everyone's response.
Here's a few.
Nothing extraordinary here, but have used them to retain speaker grills on several projects. Imbedded in cabinets prior to veneer, epoxied in grills and covered with felt dot.
Used two rows of big ones on an unusually large custom pie-cut Lazy susan to stop rotation in correct place for door to close. Mounted radially on shelf and cabinet bottom.
I have a few in my driver drill case...several uses. Keeps extra and different screw tips in one gob...doubles as stud finder.
Used them to locate position of hole or hardware on opposite of panels with out drilling.
Killer fridge magnets
I'm sure I'll remember more...
PJ
Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.
In the current job I'm trimming out I have to install a door in the library such that it looks like the wall paneling. This door is to be able to swing both ways. Consequentially I can't use any door stop so I'm installing two 1" earth magnets,one on the top of the door and one in the jamb. Hopefully this will align the door when closed. Unless of course I install them backwards.
I have used them to hold the access panel to a number of Jacuzzi tubs.
For fun you could put a smaller one up your nose to hold an earring stud to fake someone out, just don't snort!
I went on a magnet buying spree today at TSI(Tractor Supply) I got a magnetic pickup with release for cleaning up spills, got a pair of large clips with magnets built in meant for fridge but I want to clip them to my collar and use the magnets to hold bits I swap for predrill and drive. got a a large round one to put in shirt pocket so I can put screws on outside of pocket so I don't put holes in my pockets or fingers. Got 4 rectangular ones that I plan to inlay into my carpenter pencils for easy access.These ideas were brought up in the gadget post and they got me inspired.
ANDYSZ2I MAY DISAGREE WITH WHAT YOUR SAYING BUT I WILL DEFEND TO THE DEATH YOUR RIGHT TO SAY IT.
Remodeler/Punchout
I bought a hundred of the 3/8" round ones on eBay because.... well because, they're fun.... and of course I am always thinking of clever things to do with stuff like that.
One of the most useful ideas that I have put into operation is sticking few onto my drill press so that I can, in turn, stick the chuck key to the magnets. This is certainly the first chuck key that I haven't lost shortly after its first use.
Aside from that, I toy with the notion of perpetual motion and matters of electro-magnetism when I fell like tinkering.
The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -Albert Einstein
http://www.peteforgovernor.com
Edited 2/3/2006 6:32 pm ET by PeteDraganic
My drill press chuck key hangs on a piece of chain. There's a hole you're supposed to keep it in, but the chain makes it drop proof.
-- J.S.
2 of them would make a nice money clip for the $50 award.
I made a very easy to use jointer knife 'register'.
I bored five holes almost through a flat piece of soft cedar. (at exactly 90 degrees to the edge. on the opposite side I scored a line with a knife) .
by resting the cedar on the outfeed table, tight against the fence you can 'suck' those jointer blades right up there into the score and tighten them down. worked great.
another one -- sorry, I've been using these so long for so many things, I forget til I notice them around the shop.
they are perfect for spacing old (or new) circular saw blades of every size so the teeth don't get banged up.
they also hold my japanese saw safely out of the way in my truck box (under the lid) along with all the screwdriver tips and or drill bits that I use fairly regularly.
the best use though, and I appreciate this one every day is as a mount for my pen on my clipboard. It'll hold a pen (the kind with the shirt clip) so tightly to your clipboard and yet you can pull it off in a heartbeat. I've taken corners too quickly in the truck and everything goes flying, yet that clipboard will still hang on to that pen. -- then when your flipping pages the pen actually will hold several pages back by sticking it to the magnet.
i'm sure I'll have about ten more in a minute.
Something I learned from a luthier friend was to stack them up as clamps (however much pressure you need) when you can't get a normal clamp into position. Works like a dream.
Also a good way to lose some skin if you aren't careful. Kids of all ages? I don't think so.
PAHS Designer/Builder- Bury it!
The best "free" rare-earth magnets can be found in the brush head of a sonicare toothbrush. Once the brush is used-up, you will see two small rectangular magnets at the base. They aren't glued on as far as I can tell. They can be slid off and work great.
For bigger magnets, I use one as a sort of stop on my table saw. If I have to cross-cut several pieces to the same size then I set the first piece in position on the miter gauge then place a strong magnet at the end of it (a few inches before the piece reaches the blade). Now I can cross-cut many pieces exactly the same size. The magnet is strong enough so that it doesn't slide around, but if I accidently bump it then I can easily reposition it with an already cut piece.
The best "free" rare-earth magnets can be found in the brush head of a sonicare toothbrush. Once the brush is used-up, you will see two small rectangular magnets at the base. They aren't glued on as far as I can tell. They can be slid off and work great.
I've been using mine from my sonicare heads for years. They are terrific for holding small hand tools that get lost in my bucket boss(es). I just glue them to the inside of one of the "holsters" and stick the tool to the outside. It works especially good on driver bits that are too small for the pockets. But since I pay for the sonicare heads to start with, they aren't "really" free ;>)
I mount a large disk magnet to a chalk line reel which I hang my plumb bob from. Use it to plumb metal door frames, steel stud work, anything it will stick to.
You could possibly save on energy costs by strategically placing one on the gas meter. Intermittently, to avoid suspicion.
Another idea is to stick one on the shaft of any screwdriver to make it magnetic also... helps keep screws on the tip while starting them in.
The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits. -Albert Einstein
http://www.peteforgovernor.com
There was a thread around here a week or so ago on stud finders, and some poster (I don't remember who) uses a rare earth mag to find studs in a lath and plaster wall. As I recall, he stuck a washer to the mag, and then tied a string to the washer; swing it back and forth acrosss the wall till the mag finds a lath nail. As someone who does a lot of renovation work, I thought this was a slick idea, since stud finders are useless in these situations. The guy deserves to get the credit, so you should do a search on stud finders, and I'm sure his post will show up.********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
Well thanks nikki, that was me...Buic
Here's the rest of that post -
68822.3 in reply to 68822.1
" This one isn't electronic, but it works every time, it's small, and it's cheap.
Buy two 3/4" rare earth magnets, a plain 1" steel washer, and a foot of string (braided fishing line works well).
Loop or tie the line thru the washer. Put a magnet on each side of the washer. You're done.
Hold the line so that the magnets are hanging down about 4 inches or so and move along the wall.
It'll find the nails in wood studs. It'll find a metal stud thru double 5/8" rock, or the screws. It'll find a metal stud thru most stucco.
Great to have when you need to "fish" for something.
Snap it onto the side of a screwdriver to magnetize it temporarily.
Drop it in the pocket of your tee shirt and it'll hold a bunch of screws to the outside of the shirt. Like when you're on your back, under a countertop or in a cabinet, it keeps the screws where you can find them.
And at about $4 the price is right" ... Buic
I'm glad you found this thread, since you should get credit for that idea. And the $50 if DM does the mag piece in FHB.And he should include your idea, since finding studs in lath/plaster is one of those PIA problems, and yours is an effective solution. I actually tried it, and the key is the washer and the string.********************************************************
"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
I have a bunch of old hard drives lying around, how does one go about getting the magnets out?
DCS Inc.
"Whaddya mean I hurt your feelings, I didn't know you had any feelings." Dave Mustaine
I have a bunch of old hard drives lying around, how does one go about getting the magnets out?
You need to take the hard drive apart. The magnets are used (or so it seems to me) to suspend the arm that reads the disc. To take mine apart, I drilled out some aluminum screws that went all the way through the case.
-Don
Take the hard drives apart completely. When you see the hard drive disks inside, like like really clean shiny cd's, the magnets will be in the corners. They will almost be a banana shape and they will be in there very well, but you'll be able to pop them out. They are a silver metal on the front and back. You can either drill out the screws for the HD or you can use screw drivers but they need to be the really really small tips, and if I remember right they will be the torx drive screws. Lowes, HD and Sears all have the screw drivers that work.
Be careful when you try out the magnets for the first time, even if you think your prepared for the force, they will still surprise you. You'll find all kinds of uses for them. The most beneficial for me is when I do some finish trim, hang cabinets, etc and need to find the studs, you just move it around a bit and it will grab on the drywall screw. I just leave it there and do me work, you know exactly where the stud is and you don't need to make any marks on the wall.
Your magnets will look something like this one, the first pic is the back, you'll see that when you get inside the HD.
>Be careful when you try out the magnets for the first time, even if you think your prepared for the force, they will still surprise you. He's right. Some of them stick so hard to a metal door, you may have to get vise grips to get them off. But they do come in different "strengths". Just because they are hard drive magnets doesn't mean they're going to be super strong. I've had to try a number of them before getting one that was strong enough to reliably find a drywall screw.
Great to have when you need to "fish" for something.
Wow, that's scary close to one of mine. If you are wiring in an item like a portrait light fixture, you can line up the soon to be new jbox with where you want the feed to come in from above without needing extra hands. Stick a regular (not r/e) magnet on the end of your fish tap, fish pole, whatever and lower to around where it ought to be. Go back to the room and switch on the stud finder--it will find that magnet like it's nobody's business.
I'd not use a rare earth magnet as it might "stick" to something in the cavity, and create more problems than it solves.
Edit to add: I'm liking the washers & r/e magnets Idea, and it's going to get used (stud finder a little be useless in my all wood sheathed house).
Occupational hazard of my occupation not being around (sorry Bubba)
Edited 2/6/2006 3:31 pm by CapnMac
Just yesterday placed two directly above my work truck's sagging sun visors. They hold the visors up out of the way until needed.
Have used them to retreave dropped tools when placed on a chaulk line hook for tool fishing.
For hammers without a nail starter slot/magnet, a simple 1/8" magnet countersunk in the hammer's head makes picking up dropped nails much easier.
Beer was created so carpenters wouldn't rule the world.
Not as useful as some of the other suggestions, but even a small one inside a Tim Horton's take-out coffee cup will hold it on the roof of someone's vehicle at speeds of up to 40 mph. And two will hold an empty donut box beside it.
Doc - The Old Cynic
sounds like some time and $$ was spent on the research of this........I would apply for Govt. funding If I were you, for more extensive R&D....hahahah
Hmmmmm....That does open a whole new line of inquirey - Never tried it with a full cup. That might change the whole dynamics of the stunt.Doc - The Old Cynic
now thats funny with the coffee cups, not that I would ever leave a cup full of that sweet nector from the gods up there. LOL
>Not as useful as some of the other suggestions, but even a small one inside a Tim Horton's take-out coffee cup will hold it on the roof of someone's vehicle at speeds of up to 40 mph. And two will hold an empty donut box beside it.That's hilarious. Just think of all the stares & honks you'll get. I'm going to have to try it!
I'm thinking may be an empty six-pak !!!
Mr. T.
There's a steering-wheel in me pants and it's driving me nuts!!!
Nobody put one of these up yet, calc for pull strength.
http://www.magnetsales.com/Design/Calc_filles/PullDisc.asp
BTW, for a set of steel keys to have over 1/2 pound pull towards a pocket with a 1" cube Ne magnets, the keys need to be < about 1 inch away
...and an empty pizza box.Scratch the Tim Hortons idea, this one's better.
I have a van with a huge gap between seats. It is filled with a flip top surplus storage cabinet.
I use the rare earth mags to hold my pager and cel phone on the front of it, another series of magnets to hold my double cofee cup holder, and a vintage 50ish telephone roll message center on the top, another smaller one holds the stapler.
This means I can lift the lid without everything on top going helter skelter.
and I got a whole two other accesible sides to expand to.
I use other magnets to hold oils and cutting fluids on the top of my drill press, misc keys and tools on the side of it, They are also used to hold notes to the surfaces of my 50ish vintage fluorescent over my handwork station, bar magnets to hold driver bits just under the surface of my assembly table,
I can never have enuf of em.
Eric
I've got little plastic boxes with earplugs stuck to all my heavy machines. One magnet in each box holds it anywhere you like, and is easily removed if the lid wears out, as they do after a while.
John
I just remembered another one.
whenever I go fishing, there are always a few hooks, leaders, swivels etc. that seem to not get filed into the tackle box.
a couple of magnets on the underside of the 'lip' of the truck box keeps the hooks safely away from me or anyone else til I get around to putting them away.
another one -- here on the coast I don't want to make the mistake of using a non-stainless fastener. sometimes they get mixed up, but a rare earth magnet soon separates the men from the boys.
oh yeah, and you know those two router wrenches. stick one there and never go searching for the second again. the magnet will stay stuck on one or the other, and when you're done they'll stay nicely conjoined til you need them again. (of course, I hang those same wrenches on my metal cabinet with you guessed it, another magnet)
I place a rare earth magnet in electrical boxes that I install for possible future use. The boxes just get rocked over but are easy to find later.
For a toy car project, use two of them on each wheel frame. Make pointed steel axels almost as long as the gap between magnets and you have an almost frictionless wheel bearing. For wheels, use old cd or dvd disks mounted to the axels.
My variation on the hammer trick is to drill out a hole in end of the handle. I can retrieve things that fall into small spaces, pick up nails from the ground and retrieve screws(drywall) and nails from my nail bag pockets without stabbing myself under my fingernail.I use the 8 pound strength and glue them in the hole with 2P-10(a super glue).Kirk
I recently posted about this. I use them to keep my chisel from cutting through my pouch:
I simply place my chisel inside its pocket, then I place the magnets (2 stuck together) on the outside of its pocket. When carrying the chisel in an inside pocket, the magnets go in front of the blade. When carrying the chisel in an outside pocket, the magnets go behind the blade.
The magnets are strong enough to hold through the leather. When I pull the chisel out, the magnets drop into the large pouch. When I slip the chisel back into its pocket, the magnetic force pulls the magnets right back onto the chisel pocket.
This way my chisel stays razor sharp because nothing touches its edge. My bags stay in tact because my chisel's edge never reaches the bottom of its pocket. Because the magnets are always positioned to fall inside my large pouch, I don't stick to things on the job site. Finally, I have a rare earth magnet handy (actually 2 stuck together) whenever I need it.
-T
I use my magnets to meet women and as a conversation starter. I was talking to my customer and two of her girlfriends about some possible work in their kitchens. I had just used my most powerful magnet in the HO bathroom to fish a broken screw out of a plastic anchor in a tile wall.
So we are all standing there talking and one of the women had her car keys in her hand and all of a sudden the woman's hand shoots to my pocket with the magnet in it. It happened so fast everybody sort of jumped because the magnet pulls with about 150 lbs of force. She did not want to let go of her car keys and was tugging at my pants for a few moments.
Of course the magnet was in the lower corner of pocket and this activity looked very suspicious to the other women.
I finally pulled the keys free and explained what happened and we all had a good laugh for quite a while.
Hence the expression, "chick magnet." LOL
good thing she wasn't carrying a butcher knife.
Wow, never thought of that senerio, I could of been typing that story in a high sqeeky voice!
Now that's funny!!!
What a great thread! I have a couple of magnets that I keep around for the obvious uses like picking up nails and "tool fishing" but you guys have come up with uses I hadn't even dreamed of. Thanks to all!
BILL
I use my magnets to meet women and as a conversation starter. I was talking to my customer and two of her girlfriends about some possible work in their kitchens.
You win the contest. Make sure they don't have loose knives in the kitchen or you might lose your chick magnet status...
Billy
Edited 2/7/2006 1:36 am ET by Billy
I always have a magnet in each pocket when when I go to the super market nowadays. Once in a while a women will bump into me with a shopping cart and I will get stuck to it. For some reason the women sometimes will feel like taking me home along with the groceries.My social life has never been better!
I can see that working really well with a magnet in just one pocket because your pants will tent out towards them when they walk by you with a shopping cart. It must look impressive (Is that a cobra in your pocket, or...) But with a magnet in each pocket it might scare them...
Billy
You can use them to find Meteorites in your yard!!!
put one inside a plastic baggie.
rub it aorund on the ground
little bitts of metal will sitck to baggie.
examine bits with a hnd lens or a microscope.
some will be man made but some are meteors!!
they will look like tiny little pieces of slag.
you can increase your "haul" if you search by your downspouts, as this concentrates the ones landing on your roof into a smaller area.
but you will also pick up more roofing nail chips, which are more angular in appearance.
Do I get a prize for coolest answer???
Mr. T.
There's a steering-wheel in me pants and it's driving me nuts!!!
i used them to make a super shower curtain liner for my clawfoot tub. i glued one to the inside of the liner about every 18". stuck a non-slip pad on the outside of the liner.
my new super liner has two advantages:
1) it is well secured to the tub, so no more 'getting attacked' when taking a hot shower.
2) i cut the liner off just below the magnets, so there isn't a big expanse of liner that sticks to the tub, stays wet all the time, and grows mold.
I've recessed one in our door casing to hold a key.
You got steel keys? Please elaborate.Bill
no steel keys, I stand corrected, the magnets grabs the key ring, not the key
I recessed several into the wooden open shoulder tote I carry for finish work. A couple hold my block planes up against the side of the tote and out of the blade dulling-clutter, others keep my framing square and ryoba in their proper places, and I put two on the handle to hold stray bits and screws. This is especially handy when installing passage sets and deadbolts. All those little screws and stray parts are right there ready to grab.
Take a look at these:
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=32065&cat=1,42363,42348
Screw up the magnetic strips on your wifes credit cards..."priceless"
Bud
Dan, I run 'em over the black stripe on the back of my wife's credit cards. <G>
Andy
"Never try to teach a pig to sing. It wastes your time and annoys the pig." Robert A. Heinlein
"Get off your dead #### and on your dying feet." Mom