Introduction: Rare Earth Magnet in a Bottle
I use rare earth magnets in my shop mostly for gathering up steel filings and picking up screws and bolts I drop that get swept up in the trash. The trouble with this is it takes a lot of time to clean them off the magnet. Some of this stuff is needle sharp, so I get some of it poked into my fingers.
MY SOLUTION:
I take a small plastic pill bottle, punch a hole in the lid, fasten the magnet to one end of a small brass rod, and let the other end go thru the hole in the lid. I then bend an "L" in the top of the rod. I can now pick up the filings or any other steel, letting it stick to the bottom of the pill bottle. To eject the steel, hold the bottle in one hand and pull up on the top of the brass rod with the other hand.
It works great and costs nothing if you have a magnet from a hard drive or some other source. They also sell new ones on eBay.
7 Comments
9 years ago on Introduction
simple and useful!
Thanks for sharing..
9 years ago on Introduction
What a clever idea! I'll be off to the shed to make one this afternoon
9 years ago on Introduction
good stuff
9 years ago on Introduction
Great idea. Thanks.
9 years ago on Introduction
love it. simple, easy, effective!
Reply 9 years ago on Introduction
Thanks wilgubeast, damianzuch, & kenbob. I could have made one for this post, but it is so simple I just posted an old photo. I've been retired for several years and just want to pass on some simple ideas to the younger generation. It works great for drill press and lathe shavings.
9 years ago on Introduction
This is great! I'm going to install a version of your design to catch metal shavings on my drill press. Nice idea!