homade magnets for your gimmicks

[mflow]

hi guys you can find powerfull magnets inside your old hard disk drive or the laser head of a dvd player!is exellent to make any gimmick!!

[Brandon Pomeroy]

I wouldn't call this "homemade", but it is certainly inventive!

A word of advice to anyone going to try this; if you take the magnet out, you probably will lose everything on your HDD (and void the warranty). So try this on those old computers that are collecting dust before taking a screwdriver to your brand new laptop! This should be obvious, but better safe than sorry.

[haroldross]

The disc platters make impressive throwing knives when the edges are sharpened. A word of warning here though, many of the platters will shatter like glass, so be careful.

[Ecstasy.]

I would make sure you take a finger and toe count before you open one of these up

[Misjief]

HI!

We have a barrel chock full of hard drive magnets at work, so I help myself to a handful every now and then. Having said that here are some tips for you...

To get the 'device' apart usually takes special tools or a destructive rage... So B is right...

DON'T STRIP DAD'S COMPUTER FOR PARTS, YOUNGSTERS!!

NEVER get you fingers between two magnets as the *snap* from the attraction can quick and painful. At work we actually have magnets big enough to easily crush your entire hand in such a fashion and their pull can reach over a foot! If you ever encounter one of these don't mess with them, as they are really nasty! I have actually levitated someone through drywall using those beasts!

The hard drive magnets are generally glued to a metal plate and the best way to break them lose is to put them in a vise lengthwise and then tighten it... hopefully the plate will bend one way and the magnet will go the other. If you go slow you can use a large screwdriver to help pry them loose. WEAR SAFETY GLASSES!! Most of them are shaped like a odd horse shoe - although occasionally you will find a rare square one.

Once they are loose .... The magnets themselves can be rather fragile - especially the thin ones. I fold them in duct tape or better yet cloth gaff tape to help protect them. Just cut a square of tape and then stick the edge of the magnet in the middle and fold the tape over it, and press the tape around it. I leave a fairly large tab of tape as the best way of breaking a magnets grip (especially with another %&*#$ing magnet!) is to twist it loose, and having the strip to grab and hold on to helps considerably. Also if a uncovered magnet grabs a painted surface you will probably scratch the paint getting the darn thing loose, again. YES! They are that strong! If you use black gaff tape as I do, it also helps with the camouflage and the like. Also you can use the tab to anchor your magnet to you gimmick be it a 'pull' or the like.

It is funny this topic came up as I just finished making a Magic Magnet Kit...

Here are some ideas I came up with (and built)

A poor man's PK 'Half Wing'

I bent a short coat hanger wire into a "U" that fit my around my finger. I attached a small trapezoid magnet to the middle of it, at an angle with gaff tape. Imagine a bull head - the magnet is the head and the wire the horns, if you will. The U goes around my middle finger and the magnet lies flat against my fingers, cradled between the palm and second knuckle. I added short foam board walls to help me grip it with the two outside fingers, and covered the entire thing in flesh colored paper mache. Again, it is difficult to imagine, but think of a squat pink monopoly house (just the roof and no chimney!) It is a little too flat and square because of the shape of the magnet, but if your fingers are curled around it, it is almost impossible to see. If I softened the edges with some flesh it would blend better but I would lose a lot of my magnetic field because I buried it. It has just now hardened enough I can play with it, but I was very pleased with the result and expect great things from it.

Balancing Wand

I made a wand and one side of it has a store bought round magnet and the other end has my patented zombie gripper gimmick in the other end sans the magnet (it wouldn't fit!). I bent a coat hanger wire in to a "U" with a short tail that doubles back. The U slips between my fingers and grips my palm and the tail slips into the wand and supports it. On top of the wand a metal tray is balanced (and grabbed by the magnet) and on top of that goes a "thirsty glass" with a iron ferrite core. [The thirsty glass is a cup with a inner chamber that traps liquid poured into it!] It takes some slight skill - but it is very doable to balance the whole thing upon the palm of your open hand.

Still another use...

I packed the hollow wand with iron ferrite to make it heavier and then took yet another coat hanger wire and bent it in a wide v. One end slips into the wand and the other has a fairly wide but light tabbed magnet anchored to it. The idea being I can set the wand on the edge of a table... and hang the wire and magnet off of it (and out of sight). Now I can use it to ditch all my iron ferrite cored props (which is most of them!) I can pick up the wand and use it in a limited fashion to easily justify it sitting there.

Magnetic Grippers and Hooks

I made a bunch of wire S or Z hooks as to be able to anchor a magnet to the back of chairs and the like. On side has a short leg and the other has a longer one (Like me!) set at 90 degrees from one another.

I also took bullclips and attached them to magnets so the clips could hold a card, useful for the back of a table or inside a jacket. To attache it, put a toothpick inside the u of the clip and then extend it beyond both sides of the clip. Use the gaff tape tab to anchor it to the magnet. You can do the same thing with a safety pin to attache a magnet inside your clothing. Dollar tree has elastic wraps supports for your wrist and elbows that you can use to secure magnets to your body.

I took the security devices apart and used the 'mylar' slims wrapped in fold of gaff tape to make magnetic targets. These can be attached to light non-magnetic objects with magicians wax to make them magnet friendly.

There are some ideas as what to do with your new found magnets that should keep you busy for a while. Let us know what else you come up with!

I can take pics but it is a pain in the keister so unless someone asks I will forgo it!

-misj-

[DidiMoco]

I have half objection and half ask:
is the magnet too strong, for example, hampering to do tricks where the object "appears" (reverse trick)?

[haroldross]

If the magnet is too strong, it can be encased in tape or cloth material. I recommend encasing the magnet with cloth material for 2 reasons- 1) prevent the magnet and object from talking (making contact noise) and 2) prevent the magnet from shattering when the object is drawn to it.

[DidiMoco]

Originally Posted by haroldross

If the magnet is too strong, it can be encased in tape or cloth material. I recommend encasing the magnet with cloth material for 2 reasons- 1) prevent the magnet and object from talking (making contact noise) and 2) prevent the magnet from shattering when the object is drawn to it.

Good tips, haroldross. I have a hard drive with me. The real difficulty is to open it. Another thing, the screwdriver to do this. I have not and do not know anyone who has one.

Perhaps the best thing is to ask in a shop that fixes computers. There we can get one magnet.

[haroldross]

Look on the internet or local hardware store. You can find the 'Torx' style wrenches/ screwdrivers.

After the dive is disassembled, the magnets can be difficult to remove from some of the support pieces of the drive. I usually put the one end of the bracket in a vise and grab the other end with pliers and bend it slightly. This will allow you to get a blade under the magnet to pry it loose.

Good magnets are also available online for reasonable prices.

[DidiMoco]

So is the screwdriver called 'Torx'? I will see it. Thanks again.

[Misjief]

Usually it is a Torx #8.... Rarely a #6 (laptop!) - Both can be real buggers to find at a hardware store.

once you crack a drive open you will find the magnets attached to a steel plate. If you put the plate in a vice end to end and smoosh it, the plate will hopefully pull away from the plate. Once they are loose the magnets are surprisingly fragile, I recommend wrapping them in a layer of duct tape (leave a overlapping flap) to protect them and help separate the silly things from one another later.

-misj-

[DidiMoco]

Originally Posted by Misjief

Usually it is a Torx #8.... Rarely a #6 (laptop!) - Both can be real buggers to find at a hardware store.

once you crack a drive open you will find the magnets attached to a steel plate. If you put the plate in a vice end to end and smoosh it, the plate will hopefully pull away from the plate. Once they are loose the magnets are surprisingly fragile, I recommend wrapping them in a layer of duct tape (leave a overlapping flap) to protect them and help separate the silly things from one another later.

-misj-

Thank you Misjief!
I did not get the tool, but I did something simpler. I asked a friend who work with computers to get the magnet for me.
Notice: it is really strong! .
I already had a gimmick with another magnet. But it was not very good. Now I'm making some changes in disign the new . I think it will be very close to the original.
When I have access to academy I'll post some photos for you.
See ya.

[Membrisho]

thanks! I have a old pc in the closet... a project for this weekend

[Ciarmageddon]

are those neodymium magnets?

[haroldross]

For the most part, yes they are. I usually remove the chrome plating and cover them with packing tape before I put them in a gimmick. The magnets are very brittle and crack and shatter easily.