Re: magnetically quenched gaps

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: "Malcolm Watts by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>" <m.j.watts-at-massey.ac.nz>

On 9 May 2002, at 7:47, Tesla list wrote:

> Original poster: "Ian Smith by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-qwest-dot-net>"
<tesla-at-ian-dot-org>
> 
> On Tue, 7 May 2002, Tesla list wrote:
> > Hi, you can find potent rare earth magnets in hard drives. i just took a
> > commercial hard drive apart and there were 4 awesome strong magnets and
> > quite large. I had to use a pry bar to get them apart. be careful!! one of
> > my friends put one on a finger jokingly and then started to scream it
took 4
> > rescue workers to remove the magnet(he was in dyer agony for 7 minutes!)the
> > finger is ok but the shape will never be the same. cul brian f.
> 
> I have to second the being careful bit.  If you find an older full-height
> 5 1/4 hard drive, those magnets can do serious harm.  Use gloves, or you
> will loose some skin, and the bigger magnets can break bones!
> 
> Check out this one...
> 
> http://www.wondermagnet-dot-com/dev/magnet37.html
> 
> I have several of these magnets, and they are simply the most
> powerful magnets I have EVER come across.  I never hurt myself
> with them from years of practice playing with big drive magnets.
> If two get stuck together, you can't pull them apart with your
> bare hands.  I built a special device just to separate them.
> 
> Let me repeat, if you get some of these for any of your Tesla
> work, treat them like a live power supply.  ALWAYS be aware
> of where they and any metal is.  They *will* jump several FEET
> through the air to get you, and can very easily take off a finger.
> I can not state too strongly just how powerfull these guys
> are.  They will discolor a TV from six feet or more, and
> will maim you if you don't take precautions.

I have yet to see any magnet jump "several feet", and I have 
dismantled disk drives of various types ranging from the old "washing 
machines" to the latest drives for years. The magnets are certainly 
very powerful but the inverse square law is even more powerful.

 Regards,
malcolm

> But if you need powerful magnets for something, these can't
> be beat.
> 
> That site also offers many other magnets, so if you don't need
> them that strong, absolutely go for a less dangerous one.
> 
> --
> Ian
> 
> 
> 
> 
>