general idea: A pocket sized electromagnet on a braided cord for all kinds of activities such as removing keys from a storm drain (yes i know they are brass but the rings are steel!) all of this fits in a D.O. can. Very simple horseshoe shaped electromagnet (double the gripping power) suspended from a cord made of braided: motor wire (enameled) and fishing line for added strength.

PLEASE READ ON!

Step 1:

materials!
1 d.o. can
plenty of enameled motor wire and fishing line
1 battery clip of preferred battery type (9v seems to work best)
1 small bend iron object to wrap the wire around (cut one side off a chain link)
1 toggle switch
a short length of pex and something to cut it with
supper glue or a glue that works well with plastic
-optional
alcohol to clean the labels off the pex
craft foam so it doesn't rattle in your pocket
1 resistor

Step 2:

begin braiding!
this is going to take some time my sugestion is to wrap the wire
around two separate pencils, one for each wire. and let the FL fall to the floor.
the exact amount of wire is not important, it needs to be long enough to be useful
but not exuberantly long! so start braiding

1 left outside string over and to the inside
2 right outside string over and to the inside
3 **repeat until required length is achieved**

Step 3:

Time to wrap the coil!
Start with your coild of wire on some sort of stand.
I used a cd holder and some plastic cord to make my stand perfect for the job!
start @ one end of your metal loop and wrap really tight coil till you get to the other end.
DON NOT BACK-WRAP!!! wrapping forward then wrapping backward will completely cancel each other out! If you would like to add more layers for added strength; then pull a straight line of wire back to where you started and wrap forward. i know some people @ a physics camp who ruined a coil gun by back-wrapping. when you are finished coat the whole thing pretty well in a couple layers of black fingernail polish. i used hot glue which makes my picture look a little distorted but it was nice and clear

Step 4:

there was a good pit of foreshadowing for this step.

wrap the wire up on the pex. Place a small hole in the pex for it to poke through.
this is very important so you can connect the battery and the switch.

Step 5:

Cut the hole!!

Cut a large enough hole so that the pex AND the winding of wire fit!!!
Some trial and error is required....
You will also need one on one of the sides to accommodate your switch if you chose to use one.
You could simply place the switch inside. you could also cut one for the magnet to hide in but chances are it will fit in end of the pex.

Step 6:

WIRE IT UP!!!!

Okay, two options here...
1.Not use it for long @ one time.
2.Add a very very small resistor and use it for much longer with no worry of melted plastic.

okay! lets go to it! basically all of this is in series.
Switch,battery, magnet wires, resistor, and back to the other side of the switch super simple!!

Step 7:

NOW TO GET IT TO FIT IN THE CAN!!

So it's really easy basically just shuffle it until it fits neatly in the can.

Step 8:

well you should be done add a battery and close it up
the pex does slide in and out so it is pocket sized!!
now would be the time to add the foam inside so it doesn't rattle when you walk!
but other than that you are now done!!