Tooling Demagnetizer

[YotaBota]

Not something I really paid much attention to until someone, no names (you know who you are @David_R8), mentioned that hanging my bits and tooling on magnets magnetizes the tooling and collects swarf. Okay so now in the last month or so I started to notice it and now it's bugging me be having to wipe off the tooling all the time.
I went in search of a solution and found this video and built my own demagnetizer, 2:00 and 6:00 minutes are the most useful bits.
WARNING - this video contains a lot of fluff and could have been done in about a minute or two so be forewarned. An important take away is that the magnets are arranged in opposite polarities.

Here are the pictures of my demag tool,


.500 steel shaft 3/8-24 thread, .750 x 1.750 diameter aluminium disc to hold the magnets (glued in) and a plastic cap to protect the magnets. The magnets are .250 dia and are from Lee Valley, they have a red dot marking one side for polarity. I put it in the 3j chuck of the lathe, spun it at about 100 rpm and it worked well, as I dragged the wrench across the cap the swarf just fell off the tool. I tried it with drill bits and center drills and worked just as well. I didn't try any other rpm settings yet but AC is 60hz so it may work even better at a different rpm.
Hope someone finds this useful.

 

[garageguy]

My welder sits beside my drill press. Never leave your drill bits on the welder.

 

[Susquatch]

I went in search of a solution and found this video and built my own demagnetizer, 2:00 and 6:00 minutes are the most useful bits.
WARNING - this video contains a lot of fluff and could have been done in about a minute or two so be forewarned.

You are AWESOME! Thanks for thinking of us youtube haters! It is appreciated way more than you could ever guess.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

Thanks for posting. That seems like a tool that every machinists toolbox should have. I hate when tools get magnetized. At work we have a degausser near the grinders. At home, I take things to work. . I will be making one (maybe 2) of these shortly.

 

[Arbutus]

Useful tool! I'll be making one too.

 

[Canadium]

You've reminded me that I scored a demagnetizer at an auction last year and still haven't done anything with it. About time I cleaned it up tested and set it up in my shop! Yet another project on my to do list! How would you test a demagnetizer?

 

[YotaBota]

Magnetize a screwdriver, pick up some filings then wave it around over the demag and the filings should fall off. There are lots of videos about how to magnetize tools.

 

[TorontoBuilder]

Not something I really paid much attention to until someone, no names (you know who you are @David_R8), mentioned that hanging my bits and tooling on magnets magnetizes the tooling and collects swarf. Okay so now in the last month or so I started to notice it and now it's bugging me be having to wipe off the tooling all the time.
I went in search of a solution and found this video and built my own demagnetizer, 2:00 and 6:00 minutes are the most useful bits.
WARNING - this video contains a lot of fluff and could have been done in about a minute or two so be forewarned. An important take away is that the magnets are arranged in opposite polarities.

Here are the pictures of my demag tool,
View attachment 31886View attachment 31887View attachment 31888

.500 steel shaft 3/8-24 thread, .750 x 1.750 diameter aluminium disc to hold the magnets (glued in) and a plastic cap to protect the magnets. The magnets are .250 dia and are from Lee Valley, they have a red dot marking one side for polarity. I put it in the 3j chuck of the lathe, spun it at about 100 rpm and it worked well, as I dragged the wrench across the cap the swarf just fell off the tool. I tried it with drill bits and center drills and worked just as well. I didn't try any other rpm settings yet but AC is 60hz so it may work even better at a different rpm.
Hope someone finds this useful.

I subscribe to Mark, but he does like to run longer than required.

I don't mind too much, since he sounds like Cleaver Greene aka Richard Roxburgh from the aussie TV show Rake.

Two years after the video you posted he did another. No narration, just the machining steps, cad, 3d printing and cnc steps.

 

[YotaBota]

At one point I saw that video and then promptly forgot about it,,,,,, don't ya love getting older.

 

[TorontoBuilder]

At one point I saw that video and then promptly forgot about it,,,,,, don't ya love getting older.

I have so many saved videos lists... just for this very reason.

 

[rodm1]

That is very cool if only they made a Aluminum magnet other then my fingers. Will add it to my long list!

 

[Canadium]

My saved list is so long I can't find anything in it anymore!

 

[TorontoBuilder]

My saved list is so long I can't find anything in it anymore!

Yeah that happened to me too initially with "watch later" so I made a ton of very specific private lists. Youtube needs to let you search your lists

 

[Susquatch]

Yeah that happened to me too initially with "watch later" so I made a ton of very specific private lists. Youtube needs to let you search your lists

Gezz, it let's everyone else search YOUR lists...... Dunno about some of them.....

Jusk kidding!

 

[TorontoBuilder]

Gezz, it let's everyone else search YOUR lists...... Dunno about some of them.....

Jusk kidding!

There are public, unlisted and private lists.

I have them all... you have only scratched the surface