How to make a magnet??

[Pete Simmons]

Can anybody explain how to make a magnet, using another magnet?

I want to use a piece of soft steel rod about 0.5 dia and 6 inches long.

I would like to make it a magnet by using another magnet.

Doesn't rubbing the same pole of a magnet repeatably along the axis of the rod work?

Can this work?

If so How long will it hold it magnetic properities?

I can, but do not want to mess with passing it thru an electromagnet.

I am not looking to make a really strong magnet. Something maybe 10-25% of what an Alnico magnet of this size might be.

[Bruce Page]

Pete, do a google on how to make a magnet and you will get over 3 million hits.

[Shaun Gidcumb]

You can make a magnet from a piece of steel by placing the steel inside an external magnetic field.

If you were to rub a pole of a permanent magnet along the bottom of a steel rod you would be able to magnetize a small portion of the steel near where you are rubbing. I'm not sure the strength of the magnet you have to do this, but I'm guessing that it's not strong enough to magnetize that much steel.

Your best bet would be to wrap a coil around the rod and pass a DC current through the wire. This way you will magnetize the entire rod and not just the ends.

Either way you decide to go, this won't be permanent. I don't know how long it will last because it depends on things like whether or not you strike the rod, and what temperature the rod gets to.

[Cliff Rohrabacher]

If so How long will it hold it magnetic properities?

I can, but do not want to mess with passing it thru an electromagnet.

I am not looking to make a really strong magnet. Something maybe 10-25% of what an Alnico magnet of this size might be.

Steel or iron will take on a magnetic field from physical association with a magnet. The longer the contact the more the effect.
How long it'll last is a good question. Alnico 5 is alloyed specifically to be a magnet and to hold it's field strength though it does lose it over time. Steel is not.

You can demagnetize things by giving them a really hard whack with a steel hammer or heating them up with a torch or just using a degausser

[Reed Wells]

I keep a couple of speaker magnets around the shop just for magnetizing my screw bits, screw drivers, etc. I never throw a speaker away without removing the magnet first. Some of those base speakers have some real powerfull ones. Reed

[Russ Filtz]

Take the magnets out of a trashed harddrive. They're small. but powerful!