Magnet Question

[Tom Scott]

I have a project that will involve a secret compartment on the bottom. The door to this compartment will be a solid piece of wood approximately 5"x5"x3/8", hinged on one end with small brass rods to the adjoining sides.

My plan was to use 1/4" diameter rare earth magnets at the other end to keep it closed. I don't really want to see the magnets when the door is open, so I was thinking that I would drill a recess into the door and mating wood, epoxy the magnets in place, and then plug over these with a thin (1/8" thick) piece of matching wood.

I have no doubt the magnets are strong enough on their own, but do you think they would be OK with the wood plug over them? Anyone ever try this?

Thanks,
Tom

[Jim DeLaney]

Should work just fine. Were it me, though, I'd try to keep the wood plug as thin as possible. I'd probably try for 1/16" or less...

[JayStPeter]

I've built rare earth magnets into a MDF speaker box, used bondo to fill any gaps, then veneered over it. I used some washers on the grills and they stay on with a ferocity I never expected. I was worried they would eventually slide down with the vibration of the speaker and maybe scratch up my finish.
I imagine for a door that small you would be fine. A veneer strip over the 5" door stop piece may be an easy way to guarantee material as thin as possible between the magnets and catches.

Jay

[Dale Thompson]

Tom,
Magnetic flux density (i.e. attraction) is only influenced by distance and/or other magnetic materials. Since wood is not in the latter category, distance is your only concern. Check out a few plug thicknesses to see which one meets your "pull to open" requirements.

Good Luck!

Dale T.

[Tom Scott]

Thanks for the response. I plan to get some magnets soon and try out there attraction based on various wood plug thicknesses.

Jim, You're right. I probably will try to keep the plug to about 1/16" thickness.

Thanks again,
Tom

[Chris Padilla]

Once you get the magnets, experiment with different distances between the magnets to find what you like.

Ebay is a fantastic source of magnets. I just picked up a lot of 1000 1/4" by about 1/16" (6 mm by 1.5 mm) from this guy:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2981263479&category=1469

I think these will be perfect for some moldings and removable face frames I am designing for my EC. They are small, cheap, and quite strong.