A word on magnetic tool holders

[Jeff Grantham]

I thought I was a real genius when I was setting up my turning space and purchased a few of those magnetic tool holders to hold all my turning tools up on the peg board. Never even considered the fact that my tools could become magnetized and stick on the rest as a result. Doh! I didn't notice at first... don't know if it's gotten worse, or if I've just become more sensitive, but I started realizing that it was practically impossible to make a nice long cut without hesitation along the way, due to the magnetism. Really frustrating.

Anyway, I did alot of searching and found a suggestion that if you hold your tool pointed north and run a super strong magnet up and down the shaft of the tool, with the magnet facing east-west, that it would remove the magnetism... sounded pretty crazy to me but I decided to try it... and by golly it actually worked! No more attraction to the rest! The tools are now all laying on the workbench until I find a new home for them.

Just thought I'd share the experience as a word of warning for anyone thinking about using those, and/or a possible solution if anyone ever finds themselves with the same problem

[Bob Bergstrom]

Been using magnets for 15 years. The mind is an amazing thing. I don't notice the difference anymore and pushing or pulling cuts all feel the same wether a new or old tool. It is kind of like people on Facebook want you to read things backwards or up side down. The mind just adjust to it all.

[Michelle Rich]

mine are on magnet racks too...no problem in over 1/4 century

[Jeff Grantham]

Perhaps newer holders are stronger? All I can say it that it was strong enough that I literally had to tug lightly to lift it off... particularly on my 5/8 bowl gouge. And so it caused resistance whenever I was making cuts that required the tool to slide along the rest, which was annoying enough that I won't be going back to using magnets anymore.

[Dan Hintz]

Anyway, I did alot of searching and found a suggestion that if you hold your tool pointed north and run a super strong magnet up and down the shaft of the tool, with the magnet facing east-west, that it would remove the magnetism... sounded pretty crazy to me but I decided to try it... and by golly it actually worked

The compass direction in which you hold the tool/magnet makes no difference, only the direction of the magnet's poles with respect to the axis of movement. You can buy demagnetizers that are essentially pre-packaged versions of what you did, just run the tool in/out of the opening a handful of times and it randomizes the magnetic field in the tool.

[John Keeton]

Jeff, just to comfort you, I had a similar experience early on and relegated the magnetic holder to holding my Allen wrenches, chuck key, knockout bar, etc.

[Jeff Grantham]

The compass direction in which you hold the tool/magnet makes no difference, only the direction of the magnet's poles with respect to the axis of movement. You can buy demagnetizers that are essentially pre-packaged versions of what you did, just run the tool in/out of the opening a handful of times and it randomizes the magnetic field in the tool.

That makes sense - I thought it sounded a little cockamamey (sp?), but was willing to try anything. I'd read that the store-bought ones weren't strong enough for anything other than small screws, drivers, etc.... but thanks for the explanation and the tip!

Jeff, just to comfort you, I had a similar experience early on and relegated the magnetic holder to holding my Allen wrenches, chuck key, knockout bar, etc.

Thanks John! I appreciate hearing that I'm not the only one (and that I'm not just crazy... [which might be true] but this was real!)

[Dan Hintz]

That makes sense - I thought it sounded a little cockamamey (sp?), but was willing to try anything. I'd read that the store-bought ones weren't strong enough for anything other than small screws, drivers, etc.... but thanks for the explanation and the tip!

You do need a strong magnet (either to permanently magnetize the tool, or to demagnetize it later). The strip I had in our old kitchen (never reinstalled in the new one) had pretty strong magnets... took a good tug to get the knives off of it.

They also sell electric demagnetizers... no need to run the tool back and forth, just stick the tool inside and press a button.

[Chris Colman]

I have been using a magnetic strip to hold tools many years. The only thing I have noticed is the annoying collection of metal filings on the tip if I let it get around them.
I have never noticed any attraction to the tool rest.
Might be nice to demagnetize them, though. I will have to try that.

[Paul Lawrence]

A bit of an old thread, but I did want to respond.

I've been using this "magnetizer" / "demagnetizer" for many years in one version or another. It's the main guts from an old cheap fan motor with the rotor part removed and an appropriate cord attached (safety first!) This particular one has an overheat feature in the line, but you should only be using it intermittently anyway. I usually have this mounted to a part of my bench or a shelf with a push button switch.

Plug it in and place your screwdriver / tool inside the hole or adjacent and withdraw. The screwdriver will be demagnetized.

If you want to magnetize a screwdriver tip, place it inside the hole while power is applied. Then turn the power off. The randomness of turning the power off will leave the part magnetized. I've had to do it twice once that I can remember.

Ain't magnetism fun?

Magnetizer_Demagnetizer.jpg

[hu lowery]

Pretty low heat will demagnetize a tool too.

Didn't notice this thread or had forgotten about it. Reminded me of something that happened back in the sixties. My dad sold Forney welders. Back then these things had huge copper coils, pretty much all they were. There might have been fifty pounds of copper in these machines at one time. In an unusual move the owner of the company quit making welders when he couldn't make the quality of machine he wanted to make at a price he thought they could be sold for. Anyway, magnetizing something with this huge copper coil and 240 volts made a very impressive magnet.

Dad showed a mechanic how to do this. Happened to pass by a few days later and he had magnetized almost every metal tool in his shop! End wrenches and everything was magnetized. Instead of magnetic racks he just slapped the tools against flat bar in his shop, reminds me, that demagnetizes things too, hammering on things that can be hit. You had to take the top cover off of the welder to do this and obviously he had been having too much fun! Came back by a few weeks later and things were back to normal. He had found that having his whole world snap together like dried out spaghetti wasn't really the best idea. sockets and such went to the nearest metal instead of where you were trying to get them to and all of his tools in a tray or bucket had been one big ball. It was funny seeing how excited he had been about magnetizing everything and then how opposite his reaction was once the cool factor went away in a hurry when he tried to work with the tools.

Hu

[John K Jordan]

I also found magnetized turning tools a problem - both with sticking to the tool rest and with dragging a long trail of annoying black steel dust when sharpening with a CBN wheel on the Tormek.

A possibly interesting thing - steel can be magnetized just by sitting in the same position in the earth's magnetic field. You can verify this with a compass with something like a refrigerator or dryer: the N-S needle will swing when moved from top to bottom. I found even steel cans on the shelf eventually got magnetized. Even my lathe tools that never touch a magnet get magnetized, I think it is because they are held generally in the same orientation while turning and the vibration from the turning accelerates the magnetism.

I use a bulk tape demagnetizer I bought many decades ago, probably in the '70s. I don't know if they still make these but I do see special tool demagnetizers on Amazon.

Concerning magnets at the lathe, here is something I do which is a big help. Many people keep small allen wrenches, dental picks, screwdrivers, etc at hand with magnets. For things that won't stick to magnets like pencils and markers, I wrap a few turns of soft iron wire around the ends. This lets me stick them where handy so they are always in the same place. I do this at the lathes, bandsaw, SCMS, etc., anywhere I often use pencils. I use screws to mount the magnets with countersunk holes to places where magnets won't stick.

JKJ

[Dan Hintz]

The Earth's magnetic field is so weak it would have negligible effect on a piece of metal. To convince yourself, use a cheap refrigerator magnet (like the kind they use for pizza store advertisements) and try to magnetize a tool... nothing appreciable, right? That magnet is a couple orders of magnitude greater in strength than the Earth's field.

[Paul Lawrence]

A possibly interesting thing - steel can be magnetized just by sitting in the same position in the earth's magnetic field.

If you have a tool made from a "steel" that can be magnetized by sitting in the earth's magnetic field, you wouldn't be able to cut with it for very long. That's why your standard "horseshoe" magnet is made from "soft" material.

Your tools may be positioned near a motor on your lathe which can create a transient magnetic field when you turn it off and on. Mount your tools in a different orientation to correct this effect.

[Dennis Peacock]

Now....if I could only magnetize all the stuff I need to keep in my brain? That would be ever so awesome!!!