Ace Hardware Magnet

Burchtree

Burchtree

KnifeMaker & Moderator
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Mar 15, 2002
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I usually use a round magnet with a cabinet knob on it for cleaning up flats, but I found this little gem at Ace about a month ago. I think it cost me about 10 bucks and it is strong as hell -- works well for quieting my anvil too. Anyway -- just thought I'd share. The metal on the bottom is a piece for a folder, not part of the magnet. ;)

magnetpic.jpg
 
If you wanted to demagnatize it, you could pick up a demagnatizer from Sheffields, or a nice one from MSC.
 
I am not a Harbor Freight fan but for $3.99 they have a 100 Lbs. magnet that is only 1" wide by 4" long. It works wonders for holding onto blades while grinding and even filing. Better yet it takes alot of grinding before the magnet gets hot. My grinder has a steel platen so the magnet evens out the pressure against it better then my hands because of the slight amount of pull.

It's one of those little items that has allowed me to increase my blade quality and production by 500%. I refer to it as my magneticaly chucked manual operated vertical surface grinding jig. I posted a thread about using magnets and some pictures over on another forum and all I heard was the sound of a light breeze in the desert and a few yawns.

If you have not tried one yet you would be nuts not to. Anything that cost's $3.99 and can double your knife grinding skills is worth a shot. The one pictured above witha handle is a very good idea but would not allow even pressure against the platen.
 
Burchtree said:
If you wanted to demagnatize it, you could pick up a demagnatizer from Sheffields, or a nice one from MSC.
Click to expand...
o ok but just how big would i need
as large as the blade or can i have some over hang
 
If anyone was at the Hammer-in last fall, you may have seen and experienced my scary-strong magnets....i watched one get passed across the table and saw about 15 damascus billets rattle in their case on the table....ive been trying to figure out what I could use them for in knife grinding....they are 1.5" spheres in diameter and can hold (get this) about 150 pounds of steel each....9000+ gauss at the poles....if you put on on each side of your hand, you will feel them actually begin to push the bones in your hand apart trying to get to the other.....there HAS to be something I can use them for.....Ive been contemplating putting one in a plastic bag and hanging the bag near my grinder....i wonder if that would suck every miniscule fiber of iron out of the air and collect it....they will pull a bottlecap off a table from about 18" up....
 
i have some computer hard drive mags that i was thinking about using at the grinder also not sure what i could use the grindings for but i do save the cpm 3v grinding just not the 440c or ats34
thinking that i could use the cpm dust as fill in canaster damascus theres got to be something good left in the dust right
 
Tiktoc, it sounds like you have a good start at making a small MRI machine with those magnets. They would without a doubt collect all of your cuttings from the belt grinder but it would take an interesting setup to be able to remove them from the magnet.:eek:
 
B Finnigan said:
. They would without a doubt collect all of your cuttings from the belt grinder but it would take an interesting setup to be able to remove them from the magnet.:eek:
Click to expand...


thats not a big deal you just hav eto keep the magnets in a heavy plastic bag then turn the bag inside out and pull the magnet away
clean magnet and bad full of dust
ive been doing it a while now
 
I was thinking about that, too....I have no idea how I would get anything off these. One stuck to a hammer and I had to literally pry it off with a 1/4" aluminum plate...I have not met a man on earth yet who can pull the two apart without using his fingers or some other object as a prybar. I was thinking that I could possibly put the magnet on the other side of a large aluminum plate. The grindings would collect on that plate, then I could simply remove the magnet and the grindings would slide off the plate.....

I also wondered....could magnetic forces that powerful ever actually affect the internal structures of the steel at temps approching critical? I can't imagine they would.....

The downside is that I need to be sooo careful with them....if they jump to a piece of metal and your hand or any other body part is in the way, it is not going to be pretty....I am fairly confident they would break bones in your hand if they jumped together and your hand was in the way. Even worse if a 15" bowie jumps off the table to the magnet in your hand.

In the end, probably just a really really dangerous set of toys....feels good to know that no one else on earth has a set like them. They were a one-off set custom made for a scientist that i bought them from...as far as I know, the largest N50 Neodymium spheres in existence!

Here is something truely scary.....
3"x3" Neodymium cylindar. Think about that, 3"x3"......881 pounds of pull force.
http://cgi.ebay.com/Neodymium-Magnet-3-x-3-N48-Cylinder-HUGE-STRONG_W0QQitemZ7585862317QQcategoryZ53142QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
 
wow now thats strong
the plastic bag would surely rip before letting go you would have to use a layer of canvasor something like it
man i think thos would be fun to play with
and yes i just about cut myself badly when the magnet grabed a blade i was working on:eek:
 
butcher_block said:
o ok but just how big would i need
as large as the blade or can i have some over hang
Click to expand...


Here's the one I got from MSC years ago(it's to the left of the RR track anvil, right behind the fan, with the red switch on the right front). It works great and wasn't very expensive at all.
You turn it on and place your hands on the part so you can space it off the top of the demagnetizer and draw it across the top and away(you'll feel the pull from the demagnetizer). That's all you need to do usually. Might do it a couple of times.

The demagnetizer will act like a magnet and slam your blade onto it's surface and that's why you have to be careful so you don't scratch your work, or the surface of the demag.
 
Those look fun! Ive wanted for some time now to get a HUGE ring one, tie a long rope to it, and drag it behind a boat....i'd like to see what it'd pick up from the bottom of lakes....
 
Mike Hull said:
Here's the one I got from MSC years ago(it's to the left of the RR track anvil, right behind the fan, with the red switch on the right front). It works great and wasn't very expensive at all.
You turn it on and place your hands on the part so you can space it off the top of the demagnetizer and draw it across the top and away(you'll feel the pull from the demagnetizer). That's all you need to do usually. Might do it a couple of times.

The demagnetizer will act like a magnet and slam your blade onto it's surface and that's why you have to be careful so you don't scratch your work, or the surface of the demag.
Click to expand...
Boy!!! You and Higgy should hang together. Clean Freaks.:eek: :eek:
 
On somewhat related note, MRI's can be very dangerous due to extremely strong magnetic fields they generate. People that work with metal need
to have their eyes examined, to make sure there's no metal slivers.

There was a story about a patient killed by oxy cylinder that flew into
the MRI fron accross the room - hit him square on the head. Construction
crew left it there .

All the chairs etc etc in room must be secured.


I agree 100% on HF magnet - I have the same PN.
 
Yup....had an MRI last year. When I told them I grind knives, they shot me right up to the xray room. They said a sliver of iron that i didnt even know I had could have over time migrated to the back cavity in the eye, and be pulled through the eyeball by the machine....sounds like something I wouldnt want to experience!
 
An excellent source of reasonably sized strong, probably Neodymium, magnets is from dead hard drives. They are oddly crescent shaped but are attached to a base plate used for mounting them. You'll need a set of small torx bits to open the case.

Allen
 
indian george said:
Boy!!! You and Higgy should hang together. Clean Freaks.:eek: :eek:
Click to expand...


Are you kidding? That part of the shop was cluttered and dirty when that pic was taken.:eek:;)

I work better in a clean organized shop.:D
 
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