Free rare earth magnets(almost)

[Ben E Hana]

since my last couple of posts weren't really constructive heres a good shop tip.If you are looking for rare earth magnets to incorporate in sheaths or just help hold things around the shop,you can find two small but powerful black epoxy coated rare earth magnets on the bottom of every sonicare disposable toothbrush head.My whole family uses sonicare and when they go to replace the heads every 6 mos is recommended,
they pry off the magnets and give them to me.
These electric toothbrushes are really popular so it isn't hard to find people who have them.Plus sonicare works great.I hope this helps someone.
troy

 

[E__WOK]

Dang it, I threw all mine away. How did you learn about it?

 

[Ben E Hana]

I set the brush head down on a metal table and couldn't figure out why it was so heavy all of the sudden.
troy

 

[Dannyc]

Hi Troy!

Another good source or rare earth magnets would be from those dead hard drives, believe it or not.

Being in the computer industry for quite some time, I've gotten quite a bunch of those dead drives, and I just cannibalize them (after making sure they don't work anymore) and get anywhere from two to four pcs. of those very strong magnets. They're just small, kidney-shaped magnets but can lift quite a few pounds each! Heheh... saw someone even selling them over at EBay.

Dan

 

[Ben E Hana]

I have one of the kidney shaped ones that came from a magnet science kit.The ones on the brush head are smaller and rectangular.
Where exactly in the drives are they located I have an old drive to take apart.
troy

 

[Ben E Hana]

Nevermind I found them.There were 2 thin but large magnets and they are probably the most powerful small magnets i have ever played with .They were at the base of the arm that reads the disks .Isn't magnet science fun

troy

 

[Normark]

Hey Guys....

Yup I agree.. I have a stack of old drives in the garage for just that purpose!!

I save the magnets,, but I've been more interested in the platters...

I make some Really nice sounding wind chimes from them...
The other thing I use them for is pellet gun tagets... They make a Really nice Ping when hit with a pellet doing 1100 fps..

Another thing is that they are durable as anything... I have one that has been hit several hundred times,,and although it look like it's been through hell I haven't punched a hole in it yet...

Anyone know what they are made from ??? I'm thinking Titanium or something...

ttyle Eric...

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Eric E. Noeldechen
On/Scene Tactical
http://www.mnsi.net/~nbtnoel
Custom made, High Quality
Concealex Sheaths and Tool Holsters
Canada's Only Custom Concealex Shop!

 

[Ben E Hana]

I don't know what they are made of ,but I got a new pellet gun last week and I know what I am going to be shooting at tomorrow.

Normark do you ever use magnets in your sheaths?
troy

 

[Bladewiz-]

Since I am also into magic tricks, as well as sheaths and knives, a source for getting the rare earths is www.wondermagnet.com
..Its chaeper to get them off of their site than what they are going for on the magic section of Ebay...

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Nonmetalic G-10&Carbon Fiber(and now metal knives also!):http://www.geocities.com/bladewiz/bladewiz.html

 

[Jackal]

Yep, hard drive magnets are REAL fun!!! They are attached to the drive spindle. Dunno what the platters are made of, but they DO make cool wind chimes. I guessed Ti. also.

-AR

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- AKTI Member ID# A000322

 

[Dannyc]

Hmm.. platters are probably made of some form of steel, with a very thin coating of duh! (dunno what the coating is made of either!)

Though the magnets are great!

You can get very powerful ones from SCSI drives, rather than those ATA-type drives.

Believe me, I pinched my skin with these more than a couple of times, each time shrieking in pain.. lol..

To be on topic, can these magnets be used on determining the critical temp or non-magnetic stage of the blade steel during heat-treating?

If so, where do we put them on to test? on the glowing part? What if it's still magnetic? so the magnet gets heat-treated alongside the blade?

Dan

PS. Pretty good stuff for destroying floppy disk data, and other drive data too, so be very careful where you put them! It does wonders to color TV screens too!

 

[Normark]

Hi Ben....

No I don't use magnets in sheaths at all...
There is absolutely No reason at all to use a magnet in a Concealex sheath...

I can see them being very useful in leather or other material type sheaths,, but not for Concealex..

I know a few people use them,,but for what reason is beyond me....

Let me know how the pellet gun target works out...

ttyle Eric...

------------------
Eric E. Noeldechen
On/Scene Tactical
http://www.mnsi.net/~nbtnoel
Custom made, High Quality
Concealex Sheaths and Tool Holsters
Canada's Only Custom Concealex Shop!

 

[Dannyc]

platters couldn't be Ti, coz the drive stores info on the platters magnetically, and Ti is non-magnetic, right?

Hmmm... 440V? hehe..

Dan

 

[e_utopia]

Actually, the platters could be Ti (I don't actually know if they are), because the information is stored in a ferrous coating on the surface of the platter.

--JB

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e_utopia@hotmail.com

 

[Chuck Richards]

The rare earth magnets I am familiar with are NEODYMIUM. I have checked out a web site that has them and they appear quite impressive. They even have to publish a discalimer to try and prevent people from getting hurt. They have a 1/8" thick x 1" dia that will pick up 40lbs. It is the wondermagnet site mentioned earlier.

 

[TimmyTheTalkingToilet]

well actually the platters are made with aluminum and are coated with a magnetic substance.

 

[primos]

Looks like there are a lot of computer geeks in knifemaking (and I use the term geeks affectionately). The platters are usually aluminum. The coating depends on the method used and the density of the drive.

Older drive platters used what is known as oxide media. It was a compound which used iron oxide as the "active" ingredient. Oxide media layers were about 30 millionths of an inch thick.

A later process used is called plated media, which is a form of electroplating. The aluminum platters a coated with a metallic film in a chemical bath. The final layer is a cobalt alloy magnetic material which is about 3 millionths of an inch thick.

Yet another process called sputtering has been utilized. The platters are coated in a near vaccuum atmosphere with nickel phosphorous, then a thin coating of cobalt alloy magnetic material. The magnetic layer in this process is about 2 millionths of an inch thick.

There is probably a more sophisticated method in use as of this writing. I haven't worked with hardware in 10 years. Everything I work on now (with respect to computers) can be fixed from the keyboard. If it involves a screwdriver, it ain't my job.

[This message has been edited by primos (edited 03-21-2000).]