How to Make a Cheap, Portable Magnetic Stirrer

Step 6: Use it

Place any container large enough to allow the magnetic stir bar to fit and start agitating/stirring! Since this unit is so small, you can place it on your desk and use it to stir your cold drinks. I wouldn't recommend hot drinks though, heat will cause the polymorph stir bar to soften and lose shape. If you want an improvement, you can try embedding magnets in ceramic and glazing the stir bar.

Comments

[limpport]

Are the fan blades necessary to keep attached? It would spin faster without them, unless it makes it spin too fast....

(Then you'll need a resistor or potentiometer!)

[Jimmy Proton]

If you raise the fain up off the surface it'll run more efficiently by allowing the air to flow through.

[Krayzi99]

Would you be able to use hot glue for the stir bar instead?

[foxworrior]

i don't see why you cannot use hot glue instead of polymorph, or you could always make one of each.

[absolutekold]

The only issue i have with ceramics is that some to be properly fired get into the heat range that would effect the strength of the magnets in the stirrer. So i would more be shopping for something that is a food safe polymer resin for general use.. If you're using this for crazy science then be sure it will stand up to what you're doing or consider forming glass. As another aside hacking the fan blades off would help as you are totally restricting air flow and any extra drag is power not going to stirring.. all in all a near concept.

[polerix]

Sculpey / Fimo works well, onced baked, they are just plastic.

[ksexton1]

sculpy/fimo are porous and even water absorbs to a point in them. real stirrer magnets are going to be more durable, and not lose particles in your solution, and are cheap compared to the stirrer that the fan+magnets are replacing.

[greyyguy]

It has been a while since I used it, but I'm pretty sure Sculpey say it is not food safe. I thought it was due to the plasticizers in it, which would mean Fimo is probably not food safe either.

[DeusXMachina]

Baking most magnets (ferrite, neodymium) would render them non-magnetic (I think SmCo have higher Curie temperatures).

[mgalyean]

There are all kinds of "plastic". Not all plastic is as tough or inert as the teflon based stuff used in lab magnetic stirrers.

[kthrun]

Made out of PURE AWESOME! Been looking for something to use to stir yeast cultures for homebrewed beer. Thanks!

[Pfarmkid]

never thought of using this for homemade beer

[Misac-kun]

You could use a usb for power supply since it draws 5v so you could use a potentiometer to regulate the speed based on the source voltage! Now that i saied that i'm going todo one myself now!

[Misac-kun]

Done! Gonna buy/found/scrap a potentiometer for me later today. Going to up load it later too, damn 3G!