Welding magnets

[Jim in N.M.]

I'm not sure if this has ever came up before. but I just finished a welding project and wondered if there was (is) an easy way to clean all of the "Chips" from grinding etc. off of my magnets that I use to keep things in place when welding. It seems that as I try to clean the "Chips",they just move to a different part of the magnet, drives me nuts. What do you guys think??? any help out there??? Jim in N.M...Email is open.....

 

[Stan in Oly, WA]

Hi Jim;

I ran into this problem in a slightly different context recently. I was using a strong magnet to pick up roofing nails and staples from the crushed rock in the driveway where I had thrown the old roofing. I kept the magnet in a cardboard box, and got rid of the steel items it had picked up by lifting it out of the cardboard. Could you make a rigid sleeve out of aluminum or some other heat resistant sheet goods so that you could remove the magnet and have the debris fall off?

Stan

 

[Rich_WI]

(quoted from post at 17:59:44 05/11/15) I'm not sure if this has ever came up before. but I just finished a welding project and wondered if there was (is) an easy way to clean all of the "Chips" from grinding etc. off of my magnets that I use to keep things in place when welding. It seems that as I try to clean the "Chips",they just move to a different part of the magnet, drives me nuts. What do you guys think??? any help out there??? Jim in N.M...Email is open.....

I use duct tape. The tape grabs the chips and fuzz and cleans em right up. Just keep sticking and pulling till its clean, same way you clean your truck seat after your dog shed all over it.

If you got a clean magnet and want to keep it clean but still need to drag it around the floor, just throw it in a plastic bag. When done, the chips and fuzz stay stuck through the bag, turn the bag inside out on itself, grab the magnet and discard the inside out bag of chips and fuzz.

 

[Dave Sherburne, NY]

I clean mine with compressed air.

 

[retired farmer]

Use a hand type wire brush, and brush them off. It does work.

 

[jeffcat]

The air works well and I also take a sheet of copy paper around the magnet. Will hold very well and just peal it off afterwards.

 

[ObsoElitist]

I don't like using air as it flings the pointy things all over the place. I use both the tape and bag methods.

 

[JerryS]

You could get one of those Magswitch on-off magnets. But when you check the prices, you'll probably stick with duct tape.

 

[showcrop]

Wow, am I glad this came up! Mine have a lot of steel whiskers hanging from them, but so far cleaning them has not come to the top of the to do list, so other than a quick swipe with a finger they stay there. Interestingly enough that don't tend to get left behind on the work either. But now if it ever comes to the top of the list I have a way to take care of them,

 

[Dusty MI]

Way back when I was in 4-H, for an electrical project I made an electric magnet using a adhesive tape spool and single conductor bell wire, hooked it to my 6 volt electric train transformer.
I've been thinking of making one for on the end of a stick for picking up steel chips/shaving off the floor.

 

[Jim in N.M.]

A lot of answers. But I don't see how the metal chips etc. just "Fall" of of the magnets by putting them(magnets) in a card board box or a plastic bag! The duct tape idea seems it would work best, but you still have to scrape the stuff or let the chips stick to the tape duct tape. It would seem that if you could DE-magnetize the magnet it would be the best way to go. However that's another story in itself..........Jim in N.M.

 

[JerryS]

Jim, Google "Magswitch".

 

[Stan in Oly, WA]

Jim;

Metal chips, etc. will be drawn to a magnet through a layer of non magnetic material such as cardboard, aluminum, or plastic. When you lift the magnet away, the debris is prevented from going with it, and falls off.

I own such a device which I bought at Harbor Freight. It's just a small magnet inside a closed aluminum can. It has a plunger type handle with a spring inside the can which holds the magnet against the bottom of the can. You run it over whatever it is you want to pick up, and then pull up the handle to release what you've picked up. I use it mainly to put miscellaneous fasteners back in their containers after I have spread them out on the counter top to find what I need. The problem with it is that the magnet is very weak, so it won't pick up a lot. It's generally faster to shovel up items with a dust pan if they're on a smooth surface like a counter top, but it's not bad for picking up items from a rough surface.

The welding magnet in a plastic bag would be good for you---when you're done you turn the bag inside out as you remove it from the magnet---but it wouldn't be appropriate for your application because of the heat involved. The principle would work, though.

Stan

 

[Dr. Walt]

Jim:

I have several of those triangular magnets that I use for holding my welding projects together while I weld. When they get gunked up with scale, bits of weld splatter, etc. , I clean them off with a neodymium magnet (much stronger) in a heavy, zip-lock freezer bag. I then turn the bag inside-out over the waste bin and pull it off the neodymium magnet, the gunk drops into the trash, then I re-use the bag (turning it right-side out) putting the neodymium magnet back inside for the next time I need it. HTH

Doc :>)

 

[T.R.K.]

I use one occasionally and I usually just blow it off with compressed air. That gets everything but the splatter which usually sticks to the metal plates just like it sticks to everything else around the weld puddle.

I don't see how you can expect one to 'live' in a welding environment wrapped in a plastic bag or covered with duct tape, due to the proximity to heat.

 

[Stan in Oly, WA]

t.r.k.

I stated that plastic would not work because of the heat, but that a different material such as aluminum would. Dr Walt recommended putting a stronger magnet in a plastic bag, and using it to lift the metal debris from the weaker welding magnet. That would be another way of taking care of the heat problem.

Nobody suggested wrapping the magnet in duct tape. You misunderstood that. You use the sticky side of the duct tape to lift metal debris off the magnet, the way you use a lint brush to remove lint from clothing. As a matter of fact, you can use duct tape the same way to remove lint, too.

Stan

 

[flambeauone]

Light your oxyfuel torch hold down trigger and blow them off the magnet. Molten steel is not magnetic. Thats how we have done it for years at work.

 

[87nassaublue]

That's a great idea. I never thought about doing it that way.

 

[Stan in Oly, WA]

"Light your oxyfuel torch hold down trigger and blow them off the magnet. Molten steel is not magnetic. Thats how we have done it for years at work."

That might not work for all magnets. Some welding magnets---the ones that look like directional arrows with the tip cut off---are made of a plastic or rubber material between two steel plates. At the community college continuing ed (non-credit, open to the public) class I teach sometimes, you can always tell when a student has left one of those magnets in place for the welding instead of removing it after tacking the pieces together. The stink of burning plastic soon makes the whole area unpleasant to be around. It always seems to be too much for the fume extraction system to capture completely.

Stan