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PostPosted: Tue Oct 08, 2019 9:51 pm 

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No pictures here, and no boards to id, but a few months ago, I noticed that my harddrive magnet that I wear as a pendant (to make the ladies pacemakers flutter when they hug me) was slightly attracted to a lot of brass items in the thrift stores. Now I'm not talking about brass plated or brass items with iron screws or iron wire rims, but honest solid cast brass
Then, in the last couple of days, while working up some old telephone equipment which had junctures (late at night and I can't remember the real name) ---should have taken a photo).. anyway, a steel clamp with bolt where the telephone wire is inserted and a 1/8th inch by one inch copper connector bar runs to the other side of the block, where a wire continues on. The tiny bar is copper inside, but has a very shiny (I assumed chrome) plating, but when I tested it with the laptop magnet, it had a weak attachment, enough to keep from falling, but could still be shaken off with no trouble, whereas steel on the same magnet requires two hands to remove.
I first thought maybe there was iron in the copper, which isn't usually a good alloy, but then decided maybe the copper is nickel plated.


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 5:26 am 
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Meowpher the Ninth wrote:
whereas steel on the same magnet requires two hands to remove.
I first thought maybe there was iron in the copper, which isn't usually a good alloy, but then decided maybe the copper is nickel plated.

your problem is ..Neodymium magnets ..

im lazy and its almost bedtime so im going to steal from webpage..

Code:
Neodymium magnets are known as the strongest magnet material available and have the highest holding strength to these metals. They are called ferromagnetic metals containing mainly iron, nickel and rare earth alloys. On the contrary, paramagnetism is the very weak attraction between other metals and magnets for which you can barely notice.

The most commonly used metals to be attracted by magnets or magnetic devices are ferrous metals which contain iron and iron alloys. Steels, for examples, are widely applied and can be easily handled by lifting devices containing neodymium magnets. Due to the fact that these iron electrons and their magnetic fields can be easily aligned with external magnetic field, it is easy for neodymium magnets to attract to them. And based on the same theory, neodymium magnets composed of iron can be induced by powerful magnetic field and retain the magnetism. Stainless steel alloys on the other hand do not have this property and cannot be attracted to a magnet. Elemental nickel and some nickel alloys are also ferromagnetic, such as Aluminum-Cobalt-Nickel (alnico) magnets. The key for them to attract to magnets is their alloy composition or which other elements do they have. The nickel coins are not ferromagnetic because they contain majority of copper and a smaller portion of nickel.   

Metals like aluminum, copper and gold show paramagnetism or weakly attractive. When placed in a magnetic field or close to a magnet, such metals create their own magnetic fields that weakly attract them to the magnet and do not persist when the external magnetic field is removed.



Quote:
source Armstrong Magnetics, Inc
.

if lostindos does not post here [i belive he will ]i will explain why a bit better latter.


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 12:44 pm 
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Without getting scientific which would take a few pages... evil is correct. Neodymium.
All metals, most transitional metals, and some earths ultimately fall into two categories: magnetic and diamagnetic. Much to the chagrin of science teachers everywhere: no other magnetic category or class holds up against a strong enough magnetic field.
It sticks or repels.
No metal produced by man (above the size of a few atoms) is truly pure. That’s why government gold is listed as .99, .999. .9999.
Consumer brass is typically copper and zinc. But most contains small amounts of nickel, silicon, and tin.

I have used an old magnet from an 8” hard drive to baffle people for years because it’s strong enough to to stick to not just any brass and stainless, but glass from tv screens, gold coins from the 1800s, and clean ceramics and clay.

FYI, the jury is still deliberating but it’s generally not a good idea to have that directly over your heart. You won’t be doing any sci-fi horror movie stuff like sucking the iron out of your blood but there is evidence it’s a strong enough field disruption to cause things like arrhythmia.

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PostPosted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 12:47 pm 
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The plating is probably nickel or tin.

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PostPosted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 5:56 pm 

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The plating is hard and mirror like, not the soft look of tin.. You say it affects heart rhythm? Maybe that is why mine now beats regular without skipping every 4th beat like it did for 40 years. Also, in scrapping, I had been using it on "stainless" and discarding a lot because the "that magnet' stuck to it, but not a regular microwave donut magnet. I bought 300 pounds of Stainless Steel bolts nuts and washers and some sizes had the faint magnetic pull with the strong magnet...I'm too tired to try to spell that long name. The lesson here, as Evilrick pointed out, too much magnet, so get a weak one for testing metals for scrap.
While on the subject of magnets, I buy the flexible magnets by the 500 from Marietta Magnetics in Marietta Ohio. I noticed on their blog the other day, that back about 5 years ago, they were talking recycling computer magnets. Don't know if anything came of that. Do know that when one is seriously scrapping out some items, he gathers plenty of magnets...I had to buy extra file cabinets and refrigerators just to have some place to stick them


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PostPosted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 8:17 pm 
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Meowpher the Ninth wrote:
I had to buy extra file cabinets and refrigerators just to have some place to stick them



Lol. I finally sold a couple of large cases worth just to get rid of them. The problem with magnets is they stick to things. Just like lint and blonde hair.

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PostPosted: Thu Oct 10, 2019 11:42 pm 
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Meowpher the Ninth wrote:
Also, in scrapping, I had been using it on "stainless" and discarding a lot because the "that magnet' stuck to it, but not a regular microwave donut magnet. I bought 300 pounds of Stainless Steel bolts nuts and washers and some sizes had the faint magnetic pull with the strong magnet...
same here .. many missed paydays....


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PostPosted: Fri Oct 11, 2019 12:44 pm 
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Actually I found neodymium to be a solution to my stainless smalls issue. Things too small to hit with my angle grinder. Steel sparks. Different colours and lengths based on the alloys. So I simply spark test any large pieces that don’t stick to my normal key chain magnets.
But a lot of smalls won’t stick to my keychain magnet. I I test them with my ND magnet. Nobody wants to try holding a case screw to an angle grinder. Lol.
That helps me sort things out. Like separating stainless 1060 screws from aluminium in hard drives.
I have three small bins for stainless.
Sticks a bit to my keychain (junk stainless)
Sticks a lot to my ND(not so junk)
Sticks a little to my ND (show me da money)
So I keep “mr jumbo” around.

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