Rare earth magnet switches for a jig I am building

[Sean Rainaldi]

I'm making a couple of simple jigs, to over simplify all the jigs are, are ½ inch thick MDF with 1.5 inch dia, 1/4 inch deep holes drilled on the underside in which I will epoxy some 1.25 inch diameter rare earth magnets into, so I can attach the jigs to my steel slab.


What I am wondering, I have seen these jigs in stores for table saws in which they have switches in them to turn off the magnets. Any idea how I could rig up my jigs with this kind of switch?


Because the mags I intend to use I will be placing 3 or 4 on each jig and it will be about a total of around 30 or 40 pounds of fulling force, so they will be hard to get off my steel slab...

[Matt Winterowd]

The easiest thing would probably be to add a lever with an eccentric cam on the end. That's basically how the Magfence (http://www.carterproducts.com/product.asp?product_id=474&cat_id=75)works.

[Will Overton]

You can buy MagSwitch magnets designed for DIY jigs.

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41hOp8DZXyL._SL500_AA300_.jpg (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/images/B001B8HMKG/ref=dp_image_0?ie=UTF8&n=228013&s=hi)

[Sean Rainaldi]

I have a tricky application though, because I need a low profile switch magnet combo, what ever kind of switch I use it needs to be flush with the top of the jig, in other words, the combined thickness of the switch and magnet has to be a half inch or less.