On Sat, 9 Feb 2008 23:10:22 -0500, "Tom Gardner"
wrote:

My dear sister asked me how to retrieve a key on a ring that had fallen into a
crack next to the stoop at home. I handed her a 2" dia. by 1" niobium magnet.
When I got to the house that night, I was a bit surprised to see her purse
mounted on the side of her front left fender. Boy, was she ****ed about driving
15 miles home like that! I especially liked the twine tying her purse shut. I
didn't plan it...HONEST!!!

ROFLAMO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Gunner



"Pax Americana is a philosophy. Hardly an empire.
Making sure other people play nice and dont kill each other (and us)
off in job lots is hardly empire building, particularly when you give
them self determination under "play nice" rules.

Think of it as having your older brother knock the **** out of you
for torturing the cat." Gunner

My dear sister asked me how to retrieve a key on a ring that had fallen into a
crack next to the stoop at home. I handed her a 2" dia. by 1" niobium magnet.
When I got to the house that night, I was a bit surprised to see her purse
mounted on the side of her front left fender. Boy, was she ****ed about driving
15 miles home like that! I especially liked the twine tying her purse shut. I
didn't plan it...HONEST!!!

Tom Gardner writes:

I handed her a 2" dia. by 1" niobium magnet.

Don't you mean neodymium? A magnet that size is a hazard, not a prank.

On Sat, 09 Feb 2008 22:42:19 -0600, Richard J Kinch wrote:

Tom Gardner writes:

I handed her a 2" dia. by 1" niobium magnet.

Don't you mean neodymium? A magnet that size is a hazard, not a prank.


Yabut only a hazard to Tom's health :-)


Mark Rand
RTFM

Tom Gardner wrote:
My dear sister asked me how to retrieve a key on a ring that had fallen into a
crack next to the stoop at home. I handed her a 2" dia. by 1" niobium magnet.
When I got to the house that night, I was a bit surprised to see her purse
mounted on the side of her front left fender. Boy, was she ****ed about driving
15 miles home like that! I especially liked the twine tying her purse shut. I
didn't plan it...HONEST!!!



If she had any credit cards in that purse do they still work?.

Richard J Kinch wrote:

Tom Gardner writes:

I handed her a 2" dia. by 1" niobium magnet.

Don't you mean neodymium? A magnet that size is a hazard, not a prank.

I sure wouldn't want to be between it and something it found attactive

Tom,

Where did you get a neodymium magnet of that size. I would love to have one
that size or bigger.

I have some that came out of hard drives and they are powerful, to say the
least.

j/b

"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
news
My dear sister asked me how to retrieve a key on a ring that had fallen
into a crack next to the stoop at home. I handed her a 2" dia. by 1"
niobium magnet. When I got to the house that night, I was a bit surprised
to see her purse mounted on the side of her front left fender. Boy, was
she ****ed about driving 15 miles home like that! I especially liked the
twine tying her purse shut. I didn't plan it...HONEST!!!

Tom Gardner wrote:
My dear sister asked me how to retrieve a key on a ring that had fallen into a
crack next to the stoop at home. I handed her a 2" dia. by 1" niobium magnet.
When I got to the house that night, I was a bit surprised to see her purse
mounted on the side of her front left fender. Boy, was she ****ed about driving
15 miles home like that! I especially liked the twine tying her purse shut. I
didn't plan it...HONEST!!!


Wait until she tries to use any of her credit cards, security
access cards, etc. She's NOT going to get happier!

Jon

jusme wrote:
Tom,

Where did you get a neodymium magnet of that size. I would love to have one
that size or bigger.

I have some that came out of hard drives and they are powerful, to say the
least.
Probably out of some 8" hard drives from Sun or SGI
workstations, or similar high-end gear from the mid 90's.

Jon

jusme wrote:
Tom,

Where did you get a neodymium magnet of that size. I would love to have one
that size or bigger.

I have some that came out of hard drives and they are powerful, to say the
least.

j/b

"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
news
My dear sister asked me how to retrieve a key on a ring that had fallen
into a crack next to the stoop at home. I handed her a 2" dia. by 1"
niobium magnet. When I got to the house that night, I was a bit surprised
to see her purse mounted on the side of her front left fender. Boy, was
she ****ed about driving 15 miles home like that! I especially liked the
twine tying her purse shut. I didn't plan it...HONEST!!!





In Europe I know these guys do big magnets
http://www.supermagnete.de/eng/magne...oup=blocks_big including
some the size that was mentioned. They do have a policy though of not
selling to the US or Canada IIRC. Some people that supply magnets for
wind generators do ones this big so maybe try them. I know I have seen
links to supplier of large magnets in the US such as
http://www.magnetsales.com/Neo/Neorect.htm

My dear sister asked me how to retrieve a key on a ring that had fallen into a
crack next to the stoop at home. I handed her a 2" dia. by 1" niobium magnet.
When I got to the house that night, I was a bit surprised to see her purse
mounted on the side of her front left fender. Boy, was she ****ed about driving
15 miles home like that! I especially liked the twine tying her purse shut. I
didn't plan it...HONEST!!!


And who helped you pry the pedestrians and that Honda motorcycle off
the fender....? G
Ken.

On Sun, 10 Feb 2008 12:34:16 -0600, Jon Elson wrote:

Probably out of some 8" hard drives from Sun or SGI
workstations, or similar high-end gear from the mid 90's.

Been inside a lot of Sun and SGI gear since 1990, never seen an 8" hard
drive in either of the types. The best drives for magnets are the old
full-height 5-1/4" form factor hard drives - Wren IV through Wren VII
models come to mind. The platters (aluminum) make great windchimes if
you're into that sort of thing, as well.

jusme wrote:
Tom,

Where did you get a neodymium magnet of that size. I would love to have one
that size or bigger.

I have some that came out of hard drives and they are powerful, to say the
least.

j/b

http://www.unitednuclear.com/magnets.htm

About halfway down the page. You can get a 3"dia x 3" long cylinder too.

"jusme" wrote in message
...
Tom,

Where did you get a neodymium magnet of that size. I would love to have one
that size or bigger.

I have some that came out of hard drives and they are powerful, to say the
least.

j/b

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetai...od=DY0X0%2DN52

jusme wrote:
Tom,

Where did you get a neodymium magnet of that size. I would love to have one
that size or bigger.


Here's one more place. I bought some magnets from them to make a
diamagnetic levitation demo a few years ago,

http://www.forcefieldmagnets.com/catalog/

http://home.comcast.net/~jwisnia18/jeff/diamag.html

Jeff


--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.98*10^14 fathoms per fortnight.

Dave Hinz wrote:
On Sun, 10 Feb 2008 12:34:16 -0600, Jon Elson wrote:


Probably out of some 8" hard drives from Sun or SGI
workstations, or similar high-end gear from the mid 90's.


Been inside a lot of Sun and SGI gear since 1990, never seen an 8" hard
drive in either of the types. The best drives for magnets are the old
full-height 5-1/4" form factor hard drives - Wren IV through Wren VII
models come to mind. The platters (aluminum) make great windchimes if
you're into that sort of thing, as well.


I got a bunch of Seagate Sabre V IPI-2 drives. They are massive
blocks of aluminum with roughly 8" platters. They were off Sun
machines, but may well have been pre-90's. I've been salvaging
them mostly for the aluminum housings, but saved the motors,
magnets, platters, etc.

Jon

On Sun, 10 Feb 2008 12:37:50 +0000, David Billington
wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:
My dear sister asked me how to retrieve a key on a ring that had fallen into a
crack next to the stoop at home. I handed her a 2" dia. by 1" niobium magnet.
When I got to the house that night, I was a bit surprised to see her purse
mounted on the side of her front left fender. Boy, was she ****ed about driving
15 miles home like that! I especially liked the twine tying her purse shut. I
didn't plan it...HONEST!!!



If she had any credit cards in that purse do they still work?.
Dunno about credit cards, but a bank employee complained that I hadn't
signed my "client card" until I pointed out to her that I had, indeed,
signed the card, but, over the last several years and many trips
through our domestic laundry equipment, the matte finished signature
strip was only about 3% there. She went out and got me a new card to
sign.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

On Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:50:07 -0600, "jusme" wrote:

Tom,

Where did you get a neodymium magnet of that size. I would love to have one
that size or bigger.

I have some that came out of hard drives and they are powerful, to say the
least.

j/b

"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
news
My dear sister asked me how to retrieve a key on a ring that had fallen
into a crack next to the stoop at home. I handed her a 2" dia. by 1"
niobium magnet. When I got to the house that night, I was a bit surprised
to see her purse mounted on the side of her front left fender. Boy, was
she ****ed about driving 15 miles home like that! I especially liked the
twine tying her purse shut. I didn't plan it...HONEST!!!


I have one, 1/4" dia. x 1" long that I regularly drop thru a 3/8"
copper tube to confuse observers.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

On Feb 10, 7:06 pm, Gerald Miller wrote:
On Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:50:07 -0600, "jusme" wrote:
Tom,

Where did you get a neodymium magnet of that size. I would love to have one
that size or bigger.

I have some that came out of hard drives and they are powerful, to say the
least.

j/b

"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
news
My dear sister asked me how to retrieve a key on a ring that had fallen
into a crack next to the stoop at home. I handed her a 2" dia. by 1"
niobium magnet. When I got to the house that night, I was a bit surprised
to see her purse mounted on the side of her front left fender. Boy, was
she ****ed about driving 15 miles home like that! I especially liked the
twine tying her purse shut. I didn't plan it...HONEST!!!

I have one, 1/4" dia. x 1" long that I regularly drop thru a 3/8"
copper tube to confuse observers.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

so the diameter does not need to be a close match then?

Reminds me of the movie " The Big Easy " where they put a big magnet
(intentionally) next to a magnetic video tape of a cop taking a bribe.
Blank video. Case dismissed. Seems the cop called the evidence tech and
asked him if he was ready for a promotion, and where to place the big magnet
that came in on a vandalism case.

Steve

I do that, too, Gerald.

Has anyone on here used these magnets to separate aluminum and other
non-ferrous metal?

j/b


"Gerald Miller" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:50:07 -0600, "jusme" wrote:

Tom,

Where did you get a neodymium magnet of that size. I would love to have
one
that size or bigger.

I have some that came out of hard drives and they are powerful, to say the
least.

j/b

"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
news
My dear sister asked me how to retrieve a key on a ring that had fallen
into a crack next to the stoop at home. I handed her a 2" dia. by 1"
niobium magnet. When I got to the house that night, I was a bit
surprised
to see her purse mounted on the side of her front left fender. Boy, was
she ****ed about driving 15 miles home like that! I especially liked
the
twine tying her purse shut. I didn't plan it...HONEST!!!


I have one, 1/4" dia. x 1" long that I regularly drop thru a 3/8"
copper tube to confuse observers.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

On Sun, 10 Feb 2008 17:17:55 -0800 (PST), Brent
wrote:

On Feb 10, 7:06 pm, Gerald Miller wrote:
On Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:50:07 -0600, "jusme" wrote:
Tom,

Where did you get a neodymium magnet of that size. I would love to have one
that size or bigger.

I have some that came out of hard drives and they are powerful, to say the
least.

j/b

"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
news My dear sister asked me how to retrieve a key on a ring that had fallen
into a crack next to the stoop at home. I handed her a 2" dia. by 1"
niobium magnet. When I got to the house that night, I was a bit surprised
to see her purse mounted on the side of her front left fender. Boy, was
she ****ed about driving 15 miles home like that! I especially liked the
twine tying her purse shut. I didn't plan it...HONEST!!!

I have one, 1/4" dia. x 1" long that I regularly drop thru a 3/8"
copper tube to confuse observers.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

so the diameter does not need to be a close match then?
Nope, works just as well to slide a disc across an aluminium cookie
sheet.
Gerry :-)}
London, Canada

On Feb 10, 9:50*am, "jusme" wrote:
Tom,

Where did you get a neodymium magnet of that size. *I would love to have one
that size or bigger.

I have some that came out of hard drives and they are powerful, to say the
least.

j/b

There are several inexpensive sources for these magnets. Since
China got into the industry, the price of these dropped like a rock.
Custom magnet sizes of small quantities are still very expensive.
I gotta warn you, though. If you want one of these, you need to
think about several things. Not only will skin squash out between
them and ferrous materials, so will bone and just about anything else
you value highly. I work with very powerful magnets on my job, and
can't tell you how many times just the little ones have caused me
pain. Since magnets become more powerful as an inverse square of the
distance, just the acceleration alone will hurt, not just the static
pull force, and when they smack together, neo magnets chip badly and
send pieces flying, which are also bad for flesh in the area,
including our eyes. I highly suggest you be serious about owning
large magnets, mostly due to the safety aspects. We have a special
wooden cabinet where we store all our magnets, packed in cardboard,
bubble wrap, and whatnot. Our most common packing method is a piece
of steel flashing with cardboard or cork glued in place to keep the
field under control and to make things more separable. You also want
a box that puts the outside of the box four or more times the diameter
of the magnet away. There is a way to handle magnets that minimizes
the hazards that has to do with holding them so the poles oppose each
other when holding them, and bringing them together at right angles,
with materials between them during handling so you can arrange them as
you need. As odd as it sounds, you need to hold them as if they are
trying to pull together at all times, with tense muscles, so that if
and when the pull strength pulls them together, your body is ready;
you'll never be able to react fast enough unless you're already
tense. Strong fields are also a no-no for those with pacemakers or
other implanted devices.
The magnet suppliers ship the larger ones with plastic separators
between them, wrapped in bubblewrap very carefully. I advise you to
mind that your watch, credit cards, and other magnetic media,
electronic equipment, and a number of other items are all at risk when
strong fields are present. If I see that my watch has stopped for a
certain period, I know that I've been working at the exposure limit.
By the way, my watch is analog for that reason.

What's that Lassie? You say that jusme fell down the old
rec.crafts.metalworking mine and will die if we don't mount a rescue
by Sun, 10 Feb 2008 11:50:07 -0600:

Where did you get a neodymium magnet of that size. I would love to have one
that size or bigger.

www.kjmagnetics.com has them.
--

Dan

Thanks, Tom and all of the others for the links.

j/b


"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
...

"jusme" wrote in message
...
Tom,

Where did you get a neodymium magnet of that size. I would love to have
one that size or bigger.

I have some that came out of hard drives and they are powerful, to say
the least.

j/b

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetai...od=DY0X0%2DN52

Carl,

How do I say what I want to say in reply to your reply to me?

I most certainly do not want to make an enemy and I really know that you
meant well and only want to prevent me
or others from some amount of grief in handling these magnets. Further, I
don't wish to embarrass you but, call it a personality disorder or quirk
however, I really get agitated when I am 'nannied'.

I have been around since dirt and have tinkered with just about everything
except fissionable material - would love to do so.

I am getting closer to the dirt so, unless it is something that swoops down
and grabs me in ways that I cannot see, taste, smell, hear, such as CO or
something else that a normal person who keeps informed would know about,
please let me splatter out my little brains while not wearing a seat-belt or
a crash helmet or get - if I had one - my Pacemaker in an electrostatic
and/or an electromagnetic field, or eat wild mushrooms without knowing the
good from the bad or walking down a dark alley in the ghettoes of Detroit at
3 a.m.

Thanks and please, no offense meant

j/b


"Carl M" wrote in message
...
On Feb 10, 9:50 am, "jusme" wrote:
Tom,

Where did you get a neodymium magnet of that size. I would love to have
one
that size or bigger.

I have some that came out of hard drives and they are powerful, to say the
least.

j/b

There are several inexpensive sources for these magnets. Since
China got into the industry, the price of these dropped like a rock.
Custom magnet sizes of small quantities are still very expensive.
I gotta warn you, though. If you want one of these, you need to
think about several things. Not only will skin squash out between
them and ferrous materials, so will bone and just about anything else
you value highly. I work with very powerful magnets on my job, and
can't tell you how many times just the little ones have caused me
pain. Since magnets become more powerful as an inverse square of the
distance, just the acceleration alone will hurt, not just the static
pull force, and when they smack together, neo magnets chip badly and
send pieces flying, which are also bad for flesh in the area,
including our eyes. I highly suggest you be serious about owning
large magnets, mostly due to the safety aspects. We have a special
wooden cabinet where we store all our magnets, packed in cardboard,
bubble wrap, and whatnot. Our most common packing method is a piece
of steel flashing with cardboard or cork glued in place to keep the
field under control and to make things more separable. You also want
a box that puts the outside of the box four or more times the diameter
of the magnet away. There is a way to handle magnets that minimizes
the hazards that has to do with holding them so the poles oppose each
other when holding them, and bringing them together at right angles,
with materials between them during handling so you can arrange them as
you need. As odd as it sounds, you need to hold them as if they are
trying to pull together at all times, with tense muscles, so that if
and when the pull strength pulls them together, your body is ready;
you'll never be able to react fast enough unless you're already
tense. Strong fields are also a no-no for those with pacemakers or
other implanted devices.
The magnet suppliers ship the larger ones with plastic separators
between them, wrapped in bubblewrap very carefully. I advise you to
mind that your watch, credit cards, and other magnetic media,
electronic equipment, and a number of other items are all at risk when
strong fields are present. If I see that my watch has stopped for a
certain period, I know that I've been working at the exposure limit.
By the way, my watch is analog for that reason.

On Feb 10, 11:51 am, "Tom Gardner"
wrote:

I remember the Mythbusters using some of those to climb up the inside
of air ducts in one of their episodes. You have to be very careful-
they are just as much of a pinch hazard as the largest sheet metal
brakes or shears.

"Tom Gardner" wrote:

My dear sister asked me how to retrieve a key on a ring that had fallen into a
crack next to the stoop at home. I handed her a 2" dia. by 1" niobium magnet.
When I got to the house that night, I was a bit surprised to see her purse
mounted on the side of her front left fender. Boy, was she ****ed about driving
15 miles home like that! I especially liked the twine tying her purse shut. I
didn't plan it...HONEST!!!


Assuming you are not giving up trade secrets, why did you buy one that big?
I can imagine it would suck wire fragments out of certain areas you don't
want them in.

Wes

Tom Gardner wrote:

My dear sister asked me how to retrieve a key on a ring that had fallen into a
crack next to the stoop at home. I handed her a 2" dia. by 1" niobium magnet.
When I got to the house that night, I was a bit surprised to see her purse
mounted on the side of her front left fender. Boy, was she ****ed about driving
15 miles home like that! I especially liked the twine tying her purse shut. I
didn't plan it...HONEST!!!


You should hide. For a LOOOOOONG time!


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

David Billington wrote:

If she had any credit cards in that purse do they still work?.


One of the "Broadcasters" (Army DJ) i worked with bragged that he ran
his girlfriend's work ID card over a bulk tape eraser. the problem was,
she worked at the pentagon, and nearly got arrested.


--
Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I've got my DD214 to
prove it.
Member of DAV #85.

Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida

"Wes" wrote in message
...
"Tom Gardner" wrote:

My dear sister asked me how to retrieve a key on a ring that had fallen
into a
crack next to the stoop at home. I handed her a 2" dia. by 1" niobium
magnet.
When I got to the house that night, I was a bit surprised to see her purse
mounted on the side of her front left fender. Boy, was she ****ed about
driving
15 miles home like that! I especially liked the twine tying her purse
shut. I
didn't plan it...HONEST!!!


Assuming you are not giving up trade secrets, why did you buy one that
big?
I can imagine it would suck wire fragments out of certain areas you don't
want them in.

Wes

I bought it for an idea that I had that I couldn't use a spring to apply
pressure. The idea was changed and the magnet became a curiosity and is
great for pulling little pieces of wire or swarf from fingers or feet...that
happened a lot.

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote:

You should hide. For a LOOOOOONG time!


I have a feeling she has round flat spots everywhere that magnet was
attached.

Wes

Wes wrote:

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote:

You should hide. For a LOOOOOONG time!

I have a feeling she has round flat spots everywhere that magnet was
attached.

Wes


Just wait till she finds another, and makes Tom a pair of earmuffs
out of them!


--
My sig file can beat up your sig file!

"jusme" wrote in message
...
Thanks, Tom and all of the others for the links.

j/b


"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
...

"jusme" wrote in message
...
Tom,

Where did you get a neodymium magnet of that size. I would love to have
one that size or bigger.

I have some that came out of hard drives and they are powerful, to say
the least.

j/b

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetai...od=DY0X0%2DN52





Don't hold one close to your noodle or your boys!

"jusme" wrote in message
...
Carl,

How do I say what I want to say in reply to your reply to me?

I most certainly do not want to make an enemy and I really know that you
meant well and only want to prevent me
or others from some amount of grief in handling these magnets. Further, I
don't wish to embarrass you but, call it a personality disorder or quirk
however, I really get agitated when I am 'nannied'.

I have been around since dirt and have tinkered with just about everything
except fissionable material - would love to do so.

I am getting closer to the dirt so, unless it is something that swoops down
and grabs me in ways that I cannot see, taste, smell, hear, such as CO or
something else that a normal person who keeps informed would know about,
please let me splatter out my little brains while not wearing a seat-belt or
a crash helmet or get - if I had one - my Pacemaker in an electrostatic
and/or an electromagnetic field, or eat wild mushrooms without knowing the
good from the bad or walking down a dark alley in the ghettoes of Detroit at
3 a.m.

Thanks and please, no offense meant

j/b

I want to go peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather...not screaming in
terror like the passengers in his car!

On Mon, 11 Feb 2008 14:51:52 -0500, with neither quill nor qualm, Wes
quickly quoth:

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote:

You should hide. For a LOOOOOONG time!


I have a feeling she has round flat spots everywhere that magnet was
attached.

That'll test one's mettle.

--
The only difference between a rut and a grave...is in their dimensions.
-- Ellen Glasglow

Sure, right - ha.

I have already had my fuse lit.

j/b



"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
...

"jusme" wrote in message
...
Thanks, Tom and all of the others for the links.

j/b


"Tom Gardner" wrote in message
...

"jusme" wrote in message
...
Tom,

Where did you get a neodymium magnet of that size. I would love to
have
one that size or bigger.

I have some that came out of hard drives and they are powerful, to say
the least.

j/b

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetai...od=DY0X0%2DN52





Don't hold one close to your noodle or your boys!