any one know what that bracket is made from. it seems to be a strong anti magnet metal of some kind.
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any one know what that bracket is made from. it seems to be a strong anti magnet metal of some kind.
neodynium a rare earth metal from what I hear.
The magnet itself is neodymium, the bracket is Permalloy.
I got this from The Irrationalist's web blog.Quote:
Because NdFeB magnets corrode in air fairly quickly, nickel is electroplated onto the magnet and bracket.
These magnets are quite powerful, almost dangerous if they are strong enough. This poses a threat to computers, seeing as most data is magnetically sensitive (at least to some degree). To combat this problem, computer engineers make the magnet’s brackets out of an IRON, NICKEL and MOLYBDENUM based alloy called a permalloy! Permalloy has an extremely high magnetic permittivity, meaning it will stop most magnetic fields.
I have a bunch of these. Do local yards usually buy them or do they need to be shipped to an escrap buyer?
E-bay them
How do you ship them? These things are strong. Pack a box full and it will be stuck to the delivery truck. ;)Quote:
Originally Posted by parrothead
I have 20 or so pairs that are 1/2" thick magnet attached to a 1/3" thick casting (where the plate would be in a smaller version). Get a finger between two of them and you will be hurtin' for certain. Set a shipping box with those babies on a metal cart and you may have to ship the cart too!
Bill
Most yards do not currently set a price at the metals true value, many will not recognise it. There are specialist buyers however who will simply reuse the alloy its it's permalloy form. Because of this, theya re able to give the highest prices. If you can find these buyers and have the quantities to suit their needs, it currently holds a value of around $7 lb.
You are correct they are very strong magnets. But the distance at which they stick to metal isnt very big. Try it once yourself. Try sticking something metal to the backside of the magnet while its still on the bracket. It wont stick. Now if you have a box full they tend to stick to each other magnet side to magnet side and usualy once in the box nothing really sticks to the box. Thats been my experience anyway.
That is cause the bracket is doing exactly what it is designed to do.Quote:
Try sticking something metal to the backside of the magnet while its still on the bracket. It wont stick.
The metal bracket actually stops the magnetic waves from passing through it. Take that same magnet off the bracket and then try and stick something to the back of the magnet...Quote:
Originally Posted by PartTimeScrapper
So where is the scrap value; the magnet or the bracket? I would think the nickel in the bracket would be what would draw a buyer. That would mean a better price for the bracket alone. Of course that leaves the unshielded magnet to contend with. Hmmm ...
Well then what I said is right a box full of them wont stick to the delivery truck. :)
Being that the ups and fed-ex trucks are mostly plastic and alum. sidewalls, there isn't much to stick to, otherwise you could just "hang" a box of those magnets on the wall.
Both have value, the permalloy if you can get enough of it and the magnets sell well on ebay. I used to buy them myself 'till I realised Icould get much bigger stronger magnets for free. Only problem is loads of other people know as well now as their prices have dropped a lot and there's more for sale.Quote:
Originally Posted by mrbillbus
your not wrong about price slump, good 'ole China with its bargain prices, pooping on regular folk trying to make a dollar!
http://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_t...4&_sop=3&_sc=1
Well, how do you get said magnets off the bracket? Without destroyin the bracket or magnet, of course.
The magnet is I think is simply glued to the bracket. So I take two pairs of pliers, hold the bracket with one and with the other I try to bend it. As soon as it bends a little, the magnet can be removed easily.Quote:
Originally Posted by TheHoss
I do it this way because I don't have a vice. I think with a vice it's even easier.
HAHA... I guess it's a matter of how you organize the parts inside the box.Quote:
Originally Posted by PartTimeScrapper
Lol, so basically I have a bunch of brackets/magnets stuck to my tool boxes I can't do anything with now since I don't do E-Bay.
I like to use the holes that are already in the brackets as mounting holes, and I put screws through them and make a row of the magnets on the studs on the wall that my bench sits against. I use them to hold screws in items I am taking apart in order of removal (top to bottom), and also keep the most commonly used bits for my driver their, like phillips and various common sized of torx bits. Keeps them handy, and I can spend more time working and less time looking for the proper bits and tools!
I do the same thing on my work bench. It has tools hanging off magnets all over the place. Sometimes I have to take a sorting session time out! I end up with so many handy easy to reach tools that I can't find anything!
I have found it handy to have magnetic screwdrivers
(once you stick steel to a magnet, it turns magnetic, or just wipe it across the magnet a few times)
as they keep the screw attached to the screwdriver when you pull it out.
Sometimes a screw gets cockeyed just at the finish of the thread & jams in there, the magnetic screwdriver (actually its a 'Screwturner') helps to stop that happening.
Well u could sell (or give) them to me I am in desperate need of a few trusty magnets!
I have a hard time understanding how magnets can be so scarce in parts of the country. Isn't the 1st time people have asked for some.
Then again I did bunch a buy off ebay cuz I am always misplacing them.
I should paint them a neon color so they're easier to see.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scrap Metal Mike
I just sent you some and your asking for more?
no i want to buy more:) it was a joke, btw did u get what i sent back? i sent a small thank you.
Any suggestions as to how to find such places? Are any of them in the US? What kind of a quantity would be needed to get such a price?Quote:
Originally Posted by harrisvh
It's a lot of work; but, here's how I do it:Quote:
Originally Posted by TheHoss
1) Sort magnets into matching groups. (If you ignore this step, you'll wind up regretting it.)
2) Have some scrap plexiglass handy, either hanging or leaning against a non-magnetic surface. (I like strips that are about 4 to 6" wide and about 12 to 18" long.)
3) Have a metal surface, covered with a mat or a piece of plexiglass, handy. (This is extremely important; since, these magnets will bite the daylights out of you, given even half a chance!!! Even with just 1/8" thick magnets, if you get skin trapped between them, about all you can do is grit your teeth and tear the skin off... If they're not on a magnetic surface, they WILL jump several inches to get to another magnet.) Putting them directly onto a metal surface makes them VERY hard to get back off. With a mat or plexiglass, it's possible to slide them to the edge.
4) I use a metal beam with an end cap, attached to the old "feet" from a scrapped out semi-trailer; but, some folks use a securely mounted vice, to hook one end of the bracket into. I have a pair of vice grips attached to the other.
5) Bend the bracket just until you hear a quiet "pop."
6) Slide a break-off blade razor knife into the small gap; and, CAREFULLY work it along the length of the magnet until it comes loose.
7) Set magnet on the covered metal surface.
8) Remove vice grips and toss bracket into one of 2 buckets: Clean or needs further cleaning. (I also have a bucket for the ones that aren't nickel plated.)
9) CAREFULLY pair the magnets on each side of the plexiglass. WARNING: They will try to grab onto the mags you're reaching over; so, I try to work from the far side to the near side, to minimize having to reach over already placed mags. (They're a bear to get apart, if you let them stack!)
10) Clean all plastic, brass, etc. from the "to be cleaned" brackets.
11) Find somewhere that's willing to pay decent for the brackets. (I'm still looking...)
12) Find a project for the magnets. (I'm working on some alternative energy ideas for my own use.)
OR....
Blow off all of the above, keep all of your skin on your hands intact, and give me a shout... ;p If the price is right, I'd probably be interested in taking them off your hands; especially if I can find a decent market for the permalloy...
Ha! Thanks for the tips KR :)
The price I got at the time was from people in the US. I think Gustavus mentioned getting that price amongst others. I weighed some pairs of brackets and they came in at 50-70g for the older ones giving the largest at 70g a value of $1.08 per pair. I haven't taken any brackets in as permalloy or Mu-metal scrap myself but it's usage and the fact that they are getting smaller and thinner with newer hard drives suggests strongly they hold value. If nickel goes back to its old highs the brackets will be worth triple what they are now.Quote:
Originally Posted by KR74868
I have also been saving the neodynium magnets with a neodynium price of about $160/kg and roughly 30g per pair for the larger older ones gives them a value of $4.80 per pair scrap value. I have no idea where you might sell them however but suspect that in time there will be somewhere. Neodynium bubbled at $480/kg last august (giving the magnets a scrap value of $14.40 per pair) but considering it started at $6/kg in 2008 that kind of whups silver and golds ass in price increase. I will save mine and see what the future brings.
They seem to be popular here, quite a few completed auctions.
hard drive magnets | eBay
they lose alot of the magnetism when you have 20 pounds stuck together, it wont stuck to anything trust me, try sticking a 20 pound ball of these to the side of a fridge, its not gonna happen =) there is too much scrap steel mixed in to cause it to stick to anything when you have that much mass
I keep all mine. I had a pretty good size container full, brought them to school last year (for those who don't know i'm an Auto Tech student), and all my classmates got a kick outta how strong they were...well needless to say half my stash was gone...come back for 2nd year and everyones using the magnets to stick their paperwork onto their toolboxes so they don't blow away from the fans blowing...made me feel good knowing i could help my friends out a bit.
I like Ur sense of humor. That sucker would be stick'n to perking meters, car bidies etc. Hahaha. Thanks 4 the chuckle friend. :) lbQuote:
Originally Posted by mrbillbus
I had a couple of the old fatboy magnets, I dropped one in each pocket of my coveralls, then attached screwdrivers, crescent wrenches, a hammer, etc to the 'outside' of the pockets. Got a few strange looks walking around the jobsite :p
I did that once and erased all my credit cards. Found out at the store.:DQuote:
Originally Posted by grouchyolddude
Eric
Many people think the brackets are a nickel superalloy called permalloy or MUmetal in fact magnet brackets are low carbon steel. Pure iron is one if the best flux carrying materials to use. Cold rolled low carbon steel is a trade-off for manufacturability. The brackets are plated in a nickel alloy and the unique dual polarity of the magnets allow for one direction magnetic field.
This made me laugh about being stuck to the delivery truck. I could see the fedex driver trying to pick it up of the floor of his truck and not getting any whereQuote:
Originally Posted by mrbillbus
I now have a stack of the magnets, about a metre (3') high. I am certain that the backing/mount plates are more than plain low carbon steel, based on the sound they make as the hit together in the bucket. they have a much higher resonant sound than any steels I have experience with. They have a high pitched ring to them when tapped with a screwdriver, a bit like a cymbal. I am saving all my brackets up to melt and cast into ingots, at which point an XRF reading will tell me what the composition is.
I have had great luck removing the magnets by holding the bracket in a vice, then with pliers, bend the brackets slightly. Resisting the urge just to lever the magnets off (they tend to break) I spin the magnet on the bracket and slide it off from there. Sliding them off the bent bracket has made it so much easier to get the magnet off in one piece.
I have been experimenting (playing) with magnetic levitation for a while now, and as soon as I get enough of these little Neo's, I am going to make a hoverboard, a replica of the one from "Back to the future"