trying to find magnets for puzzle boxes

[Jim Broestler]

WOOD magazine had a couple plans for some puzzle boxes, one of which, the Sandfield Box, requires a 1/4"x1/4" rod magnet and 1/4"x1/2" steel pin for the lock mechanism. They sell them online for a buck a set, but I'm building a bunch of these as Christmas gifts and I'm trying to find a source for such magnets, since steel rod is easy enough to find and cut. They look like ceramic magnets, not rare earth, which are too strong for this application. I googled it, but the sites I looked at were kinda confusing and didn't have much. Any ideas?

[Andy Haney]

Don't know about your size, but I bought ceramic (?) magnets at a Walmart in the crafts section. Maybe....

Andy

[Josh Reet]

Amazon has all sorts of round rare earth magnets for fairly cheap. Strong little suckers, too.

[Paul Steiner]

I have bought magnets on ebay. Most sellers sell them in lots of at least 10.

[Mark Osgood]

"K and J Magnetics" sells rod magnets that may work for you.

[Stephen Edwards]

I think that you can find something at these places that will work for you:

http://www.magnet4less.com

These folks have great prices:

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/

Search ebay for rare earth magnets. The size that you're looking for can be bought in lots of 50 or 100, IIRC. The smaller size magnet that you're looking for isn't too strong in the rare earth magnets, in my experience, for a magnetic lock. Of course, I'm sure that depends on the design of the box.


Hope this helps.

[dan sherman]

I have bought magnets on ebay. Most sellers sell them in lots of at least 10.

+1 For eBay

here is one for you 150298196510 52 1/4" x 1/4" cylinders for $15 (not related to seller just the first listing that I hit).

[Ron Kellison]

Lee Valley. http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=40076&cat=1,42363,42348&ap=1

[Doug Shepard]

+1 for kjmagnetics

[Rob Young]

+1 for http://www.magnet4less.com (http://www.magnet4less.com/)

All kinds of goodies to play with! Need a magnet with 500lbs pull? That should keep your puzzle box closed! :D

[Jim Broestler]

Thanks for all the help everyone. Most of the sites, though, carried only rare earth magnets, which I've found have way too much pull and won't release the locking pin. I did, however, find this site, which I'll post the link for just in case anyone in the future is trying to find a similar item and comes across this thread in their search:

http://allmagnetics.com/ceramicdiscs.htm

The 1/4 x 1/4 ceramic magnet I ordered was .15 ea. when ordering 100+, with approx. $5.00 S&H with three day UPS. The magnet strength is .2 lbs. Way cheaper than paying $1 + shipping to buy one magnet and one steel pin from WOOD.