The "Improved" Ferrous Gatherer :)

Now you can gather those filings double time (unless you would rather get some from a copy repair person, an auto repair shop, cassette tapes, or are just plain lucky to have an iron enriched piece of land) and without breaking your back...

It's me again.... I'm deleting the other design until I can get around to working on it, but until then, here's a faster way to collect those filings (especially if you have stronger magnets then I).

Materials:
1. Metal chute (I used a lighting fixture part)
2. Strong magnet(s) (I technically had three, but they weren't strong enough alone)
3. Container

Step 1 A picture is worth....

1. Take your metal chute and place the magnet(s) on the underside.
2. Put your ramp on an angle and pour a handful of dirt (gravel) down it.
3. Using the magnet, shake off the excess dirt.
4. Place the end of the chute over your container and remove the magnet(s). Brush any of the remaining filings off into the container with you other hand.

5. Follow the other steps (grinding and seperating) found in the original mining instructable: http://www.instructables.com/id/EGPTPN17FFES1764M3/
(except instead of using a plastic bag, use a small cupcake paper lining to seperate the filings)

Design improvement idea: Use a magnetic sweeper as the main magnet on the underside of the chute.

Comments

[girrrrrrr2]

i live in az... i am sourrounded by sand... i hate dropping my magnets... this happens... lol can i do anything useful with the filings... and is it iron oxide...

[Vampiriccorn]

duct tape is your friend, just lift up the bits.

[girrrrrrr2]

no i meant can i melt and use them for anything useful or would it be to hard to melt it?

[matstermind]

I do this with sand a plastic bag and a magnet.

[incorrigible packrat]

Say, is that a microwave oven magnet?

[FunkNattidelic]

I got a magnet from the buck store (the ones that you throw together and they buzz...) and i taped a string on it and got sand from someone who had extra down the street, its amazing how much i got. I filled a small plastic container (maybe 100 cubic centimeters...) in a few minutes. Could this be used as the metal powder in flash powder?

[berky93]

it may or may not. it really depends what youve got in there. many ferrous materials are metal, but not all are. its very possible that what you got from the sand is not metal, but its also very possible it is. theres only one way to find out...

[berky93]

a lot of the ferrous material you find in the ground is natural, but what many people don't know is theres also a lot of it from meteroids. every day hundreds of meteors enter earths apmosphere. 99% of them burn up because of friction. but they can cause tiny particles to fall to the ground, some ferrous.

[steven07]

So these filings are naturally occurring pieces of iron (In iron rich soil) ? seeing i was under the impression that almost all natural Fe is in an oxide state. or was a rusty car parked here for a while?

[Vendigroth]

it is, largely, but some of the iron oxides are magnetic, namely the somewhat sarcastically-named magnetite

[steven07]

AH Fe3O4 Thanks building an electromagnet from an old motor may give you a strong enough magnet. in fact i might try and make an instructable about it this week if no one already has.

[bigpinecone]

i'm gonna do that on a smaller scale so i can do it in my room... otherwise that's awesome!!!