Demagnitizer

mrthe

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I use The Anti-Mag Lap that i have developed with Steve and work great for me i have it ever mounted on a 6" lap on my hone and just i put the graver for 3 seconds on it at the end of the sharpening to degmagnetize the graver.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KbQZ2OKr1G8
 

Brian Marshall

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Paolo,


There is a limit to what you can demagnetize with your anti-mag lap...

And with Sam's watchmakers/tweezer style, and the little ebay thing that Carlos just put up.

IF all you really ever need to demagnetize is a graver bit/blank, then those are fine.

In my shops that is not enough.


Brian


And yes, my flat plate style demag is right next to my hone, just as convenient as the anti-mag lap. And it costs the same...
 
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Brian Marshall

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Over 40+ years I have had to demagnetize vise jaws, engraving block jaws, handpieces, large fixed blade knives, steel belt buckles, odd shaped pieces and parts of various machines - you name it.

I seriously doubt you could demagnetize a standard 2" x 2" practice plate with a demag lap, but maybe?

I don't want to take the time to play with one to find out.


I have the same one you have Sam. Used to use it many years back. (need to put it up for sale, just collecting dust in my shop)

It WILL demagnetize anything you can get through the hole. Therein lies my probem with it... that hole just ain't big enough.

And you need to fix/attach it to the bench, or have 3 hands to use it for anything longer than a coupla inches.

Pressing the button while supporting both ends of whatever long thing you are trying to put through the hole is more'n a bit awkward - if you don't mount it to something.


B.
 
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Robert Morales

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I gave up on demagnetizing, and just keep lumps of White Duck Poster Putty stuck to the column of the drill press stand. It removes anything from the graver including the irritating small dust stuff after sharpening.

I started sticking a small wad of masking tape next to the vice. It will remove chips of brass or other non-magnetic material picked up in the graver lube container.
If you have an electric soldering gun, you can pass the graver through the loop!
 

Sam

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If you have an electric soldering gun, you can pass the graver through the loop!

I would like to see this work. I've tried it and it did not work, despite having read for years that it does. The only way I could get it to work was to pass the graver lengthwise over top of the body of the gun while I pulled the trigger. You can feel a slight magnetic pull and the graver demagnetized perfectly. But passing it through the loop never worked for me, and I wonder if it really does or is it an old wive's tail? You'd think Youtube would have something on this and I couldn't find a video showing it. Makes me wonder.
 

Sam

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Over 40+ years I have had to demagnetize vise jaws, engraving block jaws, handpieces, large fixed blade knives, steel belt buckles, odd shaped pieces and parts of various machines - you name it.

I seriously doubt you could demagnetize a standard 2" x 2" practice plate with a demag lap, but maybe?

I don't want to take the time to play with one to find out.


I have the same one you have Sam. Used to use it many years back. (need to put it up for sale, just collecting dust in my shop)

It WILL demagnetize anything you can get through the hole. Therein lies my probem with it... that hole just ain't big enough.

And you need to fix/attach it to the bench, or have 3 hands to use it for anything longer than a coupla inches.

Pressing the button while supporting both ends of whatever long thing you are trying to put through the hole is more'n a bit awkward - if you don't mount it to something.


B.

Brian: I chose that demagnetizer because it's the same on GRS has in the classroom and I knew it worked on gravers. I used to have an old homemade demagnetizer that was cobbled together from junkyard parts. Wasn't much to look at but it did the job. With that one you passed the object over the top and not through the center of a coil.
 

mrthe

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Yes Brian, exist a limit of what you can demagnetize with it, but the purpose of this tool is just demagnetize gravers after the sharpening using the same hone, near, fast and easy , just this , for biggest things is not the most indicated and i'm sure that don't work :)
 

Robert Morales

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I would like to see this work. I've tried it and it did not work, despite having read for years that it does. The only way I could get it to work was to pass the graver lengthwise over top of the body of the gun while I pulled the trigger. You can feel a slight magnetic pull and the graver demagnetized perfectly. But passing it through the loop never worked for me, and I wonder if it really does or is it an old wive's tail? You'd think Youtube would have something on this and I couldn't find a video showing it. Makes me wonder.

I haven't tried it lately or with a graver but I learned this back in the High School while in electronics class. Since I don't trust my memory, I "GOOGLED" it before I responded. There are references to it such as these below. I'm gonna have to try this myself to see if I can get it to work.

http://www.homemadetools.net/demagnetizing-tool

http://citizenscientistsleague.com/...emagnetize-small-tools-using-a-soldering-gun/
 

Brian Marshall

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Paolo,


My point was that for the same money you can have a demagnetizer that is just as convenient (sitting next to the hone) and it would be of sufficient size and power to do almost everything you'd need in an average metalsmiths shop. Just pass whatever it is over the surface and you're done.

The flat version does use a quick jolt of electricity while functioning (instant on/off) and yours does not need electricity.

Ooops, the power hone it sits on does. The disc has to spin to work.

It also uses up some benchspace, your disc model doesn't require any more than that already taken up by the hone.

The power and capacity/capability of the two tools are very different.

None of the 3 models will work well on a whole military vehicle or even a tractor rim, but most of us on here ('ceptin maybe Leonard) aren't gonna be doin' that.


Sam, what you've got works fine.

But it needs to be bolted down or it gets awkward to use - and the stuff you wanna demagnetize has to fit through the hole.

I used mine until the day I needed something a little less "restrictive"...


Pricewise and general utilitywise the flat version beats the watchmakers version. It's cheaper. At least the import version is.

Footprint of the watchmakers version is smaller than the flat version if that is important to a buyer/user.


Next time you are in Emporia ask to see what they use in their machine shop.

Probably HUGE compared to my relatively small 4" x 6" and 5" x 8" flat ones... ? Or maybe they have HUGE and little ones?


Brian


"Different horses for different courses"... Unfortunately Carlos has probably found out by now that the first horse he bet money on can't run - or jump? Luckily it was a small bet.
 
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Joe Jacob

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The soldering gun technique works for me.
I replaced the standard soldering tip with one made of copper wire wound around a 1/2" mandrel to form a coil of 3 or 4 turns at the end. The coil works better that the soldering tip for demagnetizing.
 

Marcus Hunt

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To be honest Brian, I've never, ever experienced the problems you have. Are you near some electrical transformer or high voltage overhead power cables or is the geography where you live particularly magnetic??? For most of us a graver struck in a particular way or the way it sits on the bench is enough to magnetise it and it's only the graver which gives the problem. I find the watchmaker's demagnetiser more than adequate for my needs and, I dare say, the needs of most of the folks here.

For the cost of them it's seriously not worth messing about with soldering guns and the like and those things the OP showed us are absolutely useless; I have never known one to work or anybody that's been able to demagnetise using them. In fact they make the problem even worse in my experience!
 

Brian Marshall

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Toad,

Yes, that's quite similar to what I use - and those imports can be found for around $40 - $50.

Marcus,

No, I don't live under a flight path for spaceships (at least that I know of), I just work on a wide variety of items.

Or maybe it just seems like a wide variety of items because I've been doin' it a long time?

And there tends to be quite a difference in what passes over a smiths bench and what passes over an engravers bench...

If you actually MAKE the items you engrave, it's a totally different environment from that of someone who just engraves what others make.

The tools and techniques are quite varied - that is one of the reasons I like to make things.

You also have to consider that I was a blacksmith/farrier first, then came silver, gold and platinum fabrication along with stone setting.

So I've always been a metalsmith first, engraver/stonesetter second. That's been somewhat reversed these days...


Brian
 
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Big-Un

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When I was welding on power plants, sometimes the metal structure would become so magnetized the welding arc would literally dance around and there was no way to get any penetration for the root bead. The only way to remedy it was to place a copper buss plate behind the work area which seemed to break up the magnetic field. Of course, I can't do that with engraving, so I just keep wiping the graver with a rag wet with graver lube. That seems to fix two problems at the same time, lube the tip and clean the junk off.

Bill
 

monk

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check sams' thread on soldering iron demag. the gun works, and you can likely make your own from old junk layin around the floor by your bench !
 

Thierry Duguet

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I think that the easiest way to demagnetize any iron base metal is to heat it the temperature is fairly low and should not affect the temper of the tool.
 

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