Hi, everyone. I'm new to this site. I've read some postings and there's some great information. I have a big magnet and wanted to see if I can weld steel to it. I need to attached eyehooks for lifting it and dropping it into water to pick up scrap metal. Does anyone know how I could do this. I've been surfing the web but havn' come up with much. Any info would be appreciated
Probably a bad idea. The heat from welding will most likely demagnetize it, leaving you with an anchor.
Drill and tap it so you can screw an eye bolt into it.
Best regards - Al
Drill and tap is a great idea. I'll see if that will work. Thanks
What material is the magnet made of ? Does it have a steel or other shell around it ?
Welcome to the forum driling, my first post was also about welding to a magnet. If you use the search feature and type in magnet you might find something to help you.
My research found that if the magnet is heated above 400F it can damage it. You may want to contact the manufacturer to verify that and they might have some info to help. How big and what shape is the magnet? You might be able to build a frame around the magnet to hoist it if you leave enough of the magnet surface exposed.
The magnet is rectangular about 2'x1'x1'. It does have a shell around it and I can see where it was welded. also has 2 angles welded to the sideof it. Not sure what material it is.
drilling and tapping might not work, a lot of those magnets are sintered material, they tend to fracture or break apart if attempting to drill them.
i think i'm gonna try building a frame around it off of the existing angles. thanks for the suggestion.
I believe your going the wrong direction to begin with. Using a permenant magnet is a problem. What happens when you make your first lift? Drop in the water, latch onto the steel, swing it over to the drop point.. and It just stays on the permenant magnet as there is no way to turn off the magnetism.
Electromagnetics are another story and to my mind your only real option. Power on, magnet on pick up your metal, power off magnet off drop your metal.
No real issue to welding to an electromagnet as long as you don't heat up the coils to it.
Regards,
Gerald
can the electromagnet go into the water or will it short out? I had asked my boss the same question on how he was going to get the material off and he never anserwed me. lol so i'm definately open to other suggestions on getting the material out of the water.
it would be fine if the wound coils where insulated. Generally an electromagnets coils will be encased in some sort of body to protect them from the contact force, and the wires themselves are encased in an enamel or other dielectric so it acts as a coil and not a hunk of copper.
alternatively you could use a permanent magnet and heat the stuff you picked up to it's curie temp
that's a joke.. but that concept is used in some preheat and post heat furnaces.
Yes it can be done and is done in deep sea operations all the time. Just have to order the right one. I do suggest ordering it and not trying to build it, the level of current that runs through them is not something to take chances on.
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