Iron coin

[Mike Nolan]

I am looking for some pieces of iron or steel the size of a coin or thicker. I want to embed them in wood to attract a magnet. I haven’t guessed what to google.

[Bob Johnson2]

I've used washers but knockouts from electrical boxes might work.

[David Bassett]

Try "fender washer", the center hole is small versus the outer diameter when compared to a regular washer.

[John K Jordan]

Round? What diameter? How many? Will they be embedded in a hole or covered with a strip of wood?

Here are 1" dia discs, 1mm thickness. Thin, should be fine for surface mount but perhaps not if embedded deeper. The same supplier has different diameters elsewhere. Some places sell them in batches of 1000. Maybe you don't need that many.

https://www.amazon.com/totalElement-Steel-Discs-Strike-Plates/dp/B081J1SWXW

When I recently needed a couple of rectangles for magnetic latches I just cut some from a piece of fairly soft iron stock. I epoxied mine in a shallow recess.

JKJ

[Bill Dufour]

Buy some of the cheap magnets and deguass them. or be careful of orientation as they get installed.
Bil lD

[Rick Potter]

I second the fender washers. You can get various sizes and thicknesses at a nut and bolt supplier, like King Bolt in my area.

My kitchen has one magnetic oak panel on an exposed upper end, we use as a bulletin board. I planed the flat oak panel down to less than 1/8" and backed it with a metal panel. I was afraid to make it any thinner, but it works OK with cheap magnets, and great with rare earth magnets.

People seeing it for the first time do a double take, and like to play with it.

[Sanford Imhoff]

Lee Valley sells magnets with washers.

https://www.leevalley.com/en-us/search#q=magnet%20washers&sort=relevancy&numberOfResults=24

[Dave Zellers]

... or be careful of orientation as they get installed.
Bil lD
I've done this and it works well if you are planning on hiding them under a thin bung. Play around with the thickness of two bungs (1/8") between two magnets to check the strength. You lose a lot of strength but mine still held the door closed nicely. Pretty cool to not see anything.

[Jim Matthews]

I wonder if metal buttons (from a sewing or craft supplier) would suffice?

[Roger Feeley]

+1 on the electrical knockouts. Call a contractor and see if you can get the knockouts from a commercial project.

[Jebediah Eckert]

If you are going to embed “the catch” why not just us another magnet? That’s what I do when I use a hidden magnet on a door. I have used a washer in the past. I saw somebody else use a second magnet, never looked back, works way better for me.

And as mentioned, check and double check your polarity!

[Ed Edwards]

Mike,
Try these guys.
Sorry it downlosded so big
Ed
StampingBlanks.Com (https://stampingblanks.com/)

[John K Jordan]

Mike,
Try these guys.
Sorry it downlosded so big
Ed
StampingBlanks.Com (https://stampingblanks.com/)

I see most of the rounds are stainless steel but some say "magnetic" and indicate they will stick to magnets, although they are still stainless steel. Some stainless will stick to magnets but weakly compared to iron or mild steel. You might have to buy some to test for your application. (or maybe they would be willing to send you a free sample)

JKJ

[Thomas L Carpenter]

Cut the head off an appropriate size bolt.

[Mike Nolan]

Thanks. Lots of good ideas. I am going to try the fender washers first.