Magnetic swarf remover

Or brass,bronze, and such. Aluminum/bronze has enough iron in it to be ever so slightly magnetic but I haven't tried to "sweep" it with the magnet.
 
Or you can go completely nutz as I did. I made a magnetic pick-up tool from one of those long reach grabbers:

magpickuptool18.jpg

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Here's a link to the whole project:

http://www.frets.com/HomeShopTech/Magnets/MagPickupTool/magpickuptool.html
 
That looks pretty good, what keeps the swarf from following the mag up the side instead of falling off.
 
That looks pretty good, what keeps the swarf from following the mag up the side instead of falling off.

The lightest little dust-like particles do cling a bit to the sides, but are not significant - they jump off with a light tap or wipe. The reason chips don't follow the magnet up the side has to do with the almost 1/8" thickness of the aluminum tube wall. When the magnet is at the bottom it touches the much thinner end cap so ferrous stuff sticks well until the magnet is retracted.

But the really big deal is the way the magnet is mounted. In its little steel enclosure with the copper insulation between the magnet sides and the steel, both poles are directed to the end. Mounted this way, there's effectively no magnetic attraction at the back end or sides of the unit compared to the "business" end.

For those who didn't read the article, here's a view of that magnet end:

magpickuptool11.jpg


As entertaining as it was to make, this tool is not the pickup tool I use the most. THAT one is a simple 2-foot section of broomstick with a strong neodymium magnet set flush into the end. It's super handy for picking up drill bits, screws, and other steel items that hit the deck. I use it more and more these days as the ol' Arthur-itis progresses. . .
 
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I watched Mr Pete's video, then made one almost like it. I use it all the time. Made another one for work because it worked so well. The spark plug is just for size perspective.

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use a golf club, 6 inch aluminum disc, magnets from cpu hard drives.

Gets some of the metal chips, out of our carpet too.




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Charl
 
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