Make a magnet sculpture

Build this magnet sculpture and experience the magic of rare earth magnets firsthand. Two powerful NdFeB magnets attract each other making it appear as if the cube on the cord is levitating.

You can get the kit for this project from the MAKE store. The kit isn't required, but makes acquiring the materials a breeze.

Step 1: Care and Feeding

This project uses some serious magnets, and with that comes serious potential for damage and injury. Here's the obligatory lecture to help you avoid trouble...

The rare earth magnets used in this project are an alloy of Neodymium, Iron, and Boron (NdFeB). They are very strong, capable of affecting each other from more than 18 inches, but not indestructible. Their protective nickel plating can chip and break through repeated impact, sending fragments flying. Do not machine, drill, heat, or ingest these magnets.

Keep these magnets at least a foot away from all magnetic media, including computers, hard drives, floppy disks, cassette tapes, VHS tapes, and credit cards. Keep them away from consumer electronics, including computer monitors, VCR's, TV's, cameras, cellphones, and personal music devices. Keep them away from things you don't want magnetized, like watches and tools. Keep them away from people with pacemakers or other implants.

Bear in mind that magnets will jump to each other (or anything ferrous) if given a chance. It's better to stick a magnet on something large and stable to keep it out of trouble than to let it wander around.

These magnets are for use by responsible adults, keep them away from infants and children. Handle with care to avoid being pinched. End of lecture, have fun.

Comments

[Dumchicken]

grrrrrrrrrr does that mean i cant have one of those magnets just bcaus im 10???!!!

[day-veed]

No. Just be responsible. Don't play with them while using the computer and don't go messing up peoples electronics. Use them wisely and have fun!

[Dumchicken]

k :P

[day-veed]

Though if you get pissed at someone with an iPhone...
:D

[Blueberry]

Magnet's don't affect iPhones. They don't store any information magnetically, and the only magnetic sensor is the magnetometer - you can stick as many rare earth magnets to the metal edge of an iPhone and the magnetometer still works fine - it recalibrates remarkably effectively by looking at other sensors like the accelerometer, gyroscope, and gps. Technically, the accelerometer and gyro are also affected by magnetism, but it's not significant unless the magnet is inside the computer chips itself (which is how the self test modes on those chips work!)

Similarly, magnets don't affect most computers. Hard drives are quite well insulated, and many portable computers rely heavily on magnets in their design. All recent apple laptops use several rare earth magnets to latch the screen shut and detect when the computer is closed. They also use magnetic power connectors. The iPad features several magnets in it's design to attach to covers and the likes. Really, the only reason to worry about putting fixed magnets near computers is if you're still using floppy disks. Some smart phones use wireless charging matts, which are pretty much identical to a degausser - a magnet eraser - in their operation, and near-field communication in many modern smartphones is also effectively an electromagnet transmitting data as magnetic shocks through the air. RFID tags are powered by oscillating 'degaussing' electromagnets too - that RFID readers don't erase your credit cards when you stick your wallet up against one is a testament to just how good we've gotten at making magnetic data storage which resists strong magnets.

The real risk is personal injury. Rare earth magnets are extremely strong and get stronger as they get closer to each other. They're strong enough to slice through skin if you pinch yourself between two of them. They're also quite fragile and can shatter in to sharp pointy pieces. Be careful! It's not unheard of for people to play with rare earth magnets by doing things like sticking one on each side of an earlobe, only to find it impossible to remove until eventually they squeeze straight through, piercing a huge hole through the lobe! You'd also do well to try not to put your head in to high power oscillating magnetic fields - if you had some big magnets spinning around for example. Strong oscillating magnetic fields are medically similar to electroshock therapy - and are increasingly used for that purpose medically. Small rare earth magnets are nothing to worry about though, so long as you're careful not to pinch yourself!

[unominame]

You just contradicted yourself :P

[ThaAWESOMEducttapeguy]

Grrr I can't find any magnets!!!

[timnitro]

if you put small magnets in random order instead of one on the bottom you can swing the magnet on like a pendulum and it will randomly travel back and fourth in different directions

[itssnowing]

 this is cool :D

i'm guessing you can pull it away, and it pops back up?
what if you pull it all the way down?

either way, it's very creative :D

[Rob K]

I made a project for my art final using magnets and wood. Used some stong mounting magnets and chain mail. It is not a full supension but I think it still looks good.

[Punkguyta]

That's pretty sweet man, but I would have used something other than a metal mesh

[Rob K]

Late response. Its nickle silver 3/16 ID rings.

[Rob K]

I didn't really want to hijack the comments but OK. I do have a few more pictures. One is when I started making it and the other one is more of a top down. The ring is 14 inches across inside and 16 inches across outside. Wood was a cheap pine board. The dowels are 4 inches long. I built this in a weekend started cutting the wood Friday night. I used a rotozip with a circle cutter bad idea, Don't try that. Sanded it till it was mostly round/rounder than it was. Saturday night it was glued and Sunday it was stained. The netting is 3/16 inner diameter nickle silver done in a Japanese 3in1. Magnets were 1/2 inch mounting magnets used for boxes. It looks a bit rustic just because I did not have time to varnish the dark stain.

[lucianoabcd]

Hey, can you tell us more about your sculpture? Thanks!

[gmjhowe]

i like that, very nice, how big is it? you should make like a pocket sized version, that could double up as a time machine.

[Rob K]

Its to big for a mantel. It is 18" in diameter. The mirror inside is 12" in diameter.

I got the idea fromhttp://www.artmagnetic.com/ but mine did not cost over $30.

[gmjhowe]

u did a good job, urs looks more rustic than those on that site, well done! i mite try summit like this, got a whole stash of magnets out of hdds

[berky93]

I used to make these all the time, but just out of paperclips and some really tiny magnets. this one looks really nice, I should make a new one thats a little better.

[gamerguy314]

since i can't find a magnet of that shape, i'm guessing you can also use the magnets from the magnetexs toy?

[Admiral Puffinfresh]

I doubt those magnets are strong enough. Also, an oddly shaped magnet would be awesome. DOWN WITH UNIFORMITY! If all else fails, you can just buy the kit they advertise; it's magnets are perfectly square.

[berky93]

they are strong enough, you just have to make a slightly smaller sculpture

[taytaylor]

briliant

[Obsessive]

Awesome instructable! I made a similar magnet project with more low-grade magnets that I keep on my dresser. I used fishing line. This way if you were looking from a short distance or put it in place with a white backdrop, the magnet (Which looks like a small red marble) looks as if its floating. I understand the use of the wire though. Fishing line wouldn't stand against these earth magnets.

[Allmann]

Good idea, can you tell us more about your sculpture? Thanks!

[m32825]

I'd be happy to. That's a pretty open-ended request. Can you be more specific about what you'd like to know?

[Hannibal420]

Very unique in it's universiality. I plan on making this this weekend. In your disclaimer, (may the lawyers truly be the first against the wall) you state that a relatively safe distance from electronics is approximately one foot. I was wondering whether this was a personally researched distance, or just good S.O.P.? I was planning to put it on top of my 36" CRT, as a visual reminder of safe danger, and was curious. Thank you very much for eloquently and simply creating a quite decent instructable.

[m32825]

The distance recommendation comes from reading the cautionary material provided by rare earth magnet suppliers with their products. The goal of the lecture section is to help people avoid doing unwitting damage, rare earth magnets can surprise you if you've never encountered them before (and even if you have). I wouldn't recommend putting rare earth magnets anywhere near your big CRT. You'll note serious picture distortion a foot away. My concern is that if you get too close you're risking permanent damage.

[m32825]

But if you try it, let us know how it goes... :)

[locofocos]

my bro's crt monitor has this function one of the buttons on the front does called something like degauss. When you press it, the image gets all misshapen and tie-dye for a moment like a really strong magnet came into contact with it for a split second. I think it might be to undo the effects of magnets on it. He had offered me to buy it for $20 when I got my first computer, but my dad offered me a free flat screen. Being new to computers- one old, big monitor vs. one thin new FREE monitor. And now I know that the flat-screen I still have can only go up to 1024x768, and the CRT my bro was gonna sell me can go up to 1200x freakin 1600!!! Of course he won't sell it to me now :(

[iansmith]

The degauss function of a CRT is only to erase VERY WEAK magnetic fields from the screen. It would be totally useless against any lingering effects from a rare earth magnet. You can easily cause permanent damage to a CRT with a rare earth magnet, so keep them far away. Great project though... I think I'll make one to go with (but not next to!) my dimagnetic levitator.

[hylian11]

i made one! brilliant idea! i made an even larger one for my cat to play with! its quite hilarious!

[beado4ever]

Very nice and straight forward instructions. I wonder how difficult it would be to put pivots halfway up the dowels and have it rotate 'head over heels' style?

[m32825]

Good idea. The center of gravity is going to be above the halfway point because both magnets are at the top, but you could locate it with a little experimentation.

[gmjhowe]

hey, very good, where have i seen this b4, ive seen this exact same thing elsewhere, was that u?

[m32825]

If you saw it in the Make blog, that was me. I thought others might be interested in building one, so I put together this Instructable and collaborated with Make to produce a kit for their store. The nice thing about the kit is that you don't have to run down all the parts, and you don't need power tools.

[gmjhowe]

that would of been where i saw it, i always check out makezine, one of my daily stops. great job mate.

[BillMills323]

(removed by author or community request)

[m32825]

Most people like to pull the cube down to see how low it can hang on, so you're definitely on the same page with them. The closer it is to the top magnet the stronger the interaction, it's a lot of fun to play with.

[GorillazMiko]

Nice! The picture's are really good. I like it a lot. +1 rating. And where did you get a cube magnet?

[m32825]

The cube magnet is from Amazing Magnets, see "Parts needed" for the part number and a link to their site. Cube magnets with holes come in two flavors: magnetized axially with the hole, and magnetized perpendicular to the hole. You want the axially magnetized version for this project.