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Welding neodymium magnets to SS

I'm looking to build chip trays for my lathe with a minimum of modification in order to keep the flat beds as clear as possible form grime and swarfand alll that less than nice stuff.

The simplest solution i came up with was to take the sheet metal i have and make a few bends and then place magnets on the lathe bed and the two steels should stick together and be easily removable. and on top of that the top tray will not be permanently magnetic so it wont permanently have bits of anything magnetic i cut in it

But no plan survives contact with the enemy the only sheet metal i have in my pile is either small bits of aluminum or stainless and the stainless is all 300 series it appears

so i have 2 choices

Do i weld the magnet to the SS tray? and are there any special concerns with doing so?

or do i weld something magnetic to the SS like say a 5 cent piece to ast as a sticking point for the magnet?

Either way this will be done in tig with 308 stainless filler or no filler

I'd like a few opinions before i try it to see that i'm not completely nuts or not missing an easier way to do this

Reply to
Brent
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Reply to
Grant Erwin

concerns

completely

Don't weld - glue. The other problem you will have is swarf being attracted to the magnets and getting in the wrong places. I made a removable chip guard that fixed with powerful magnets but ended up a Christmas tree of swarf.

AWEM

Reply to
Andrew Mawson

I believe that the neodymium material is actually ceramic, and, in any case, high temperatures will demagnetize any magnet. I second Grant's suggestion.

i
Reply to
Ignoramus30966

Another reply that says DON"T WELD. Neodymium magnets will oxidize rapidly so they are nickel plated.

Dan

Reply to
dcaster

Grant Erwin wrote in news:12iq5f3417adec2 @corp.supernews.com:

completely

I tried to "epoxy" a neodymium magnet to a surface using JBWeld. It was interesting watching the metal-filled epoxy creep "up" around the sides of the magnet, following the magetic lines of force from one side of the magnet to the other, covering the magnet. Switched to regular epoxy. :)

Ken

Reply to
Ken Moffett

Neodymium magnets are sintered.

But the high temperatures will still demagnetize them.

Ignoramus30966 wrote:

Reply to
Tim Wescott

I listened and came up with a 10 cent solution

I found a chunk of Al sheet to make the tray out of

i put two rare earth magnets on the cross slide casting but GLUED two nickels to the bottom of the Al tray

the epoxy has set and it seems to have worked for the first slide ina great manner the trays should clip off thne be non magnetic so i Might make temporary swarf xmas trees but they should collapse as soon as i detach the tray to empty it.

Thanks for the help. I'm going to repeat the same process to fully cover my Lathe ways with chip trays to minimze wear

If i dig up a digital camera i will show you my 10 cent solution

thanks to all who replied

Brent wrote:

Reply to
Brent

Neodymium magnets will permanently lose some of their magnetism when heated to 175 degrees F. They will lose all their magnetism when heated above 590 degrees F. They will also ignite if you try to weld them. When burning they give off fumes that are pretty poisonous. Glue them in place. And make a plastic cover for them. This cover will need to be thin where the magnets are supposed to stick to the lathe. The big advantage of the cover will be that when it's removed all the swarf that's stuck to it will fall off. This way the magnet stays clean. What shape of magnet are you using? This matters. The direction of magnetisation also matters. If you are using disc shaped ones then they will most likely be magnetised with the north pole on one side and the south pole opposite. These magnets will work best if mounted in a cup shaped piece of mild steel. The walls of the cup should be about 1.5 times as thick as the magnet. If the walls are too thin they will "saturate". This basically means that the amount of magnetism through the cup will be limited. Thicker walls allow more magnetism to flow through the metal, thereby increasing the pull. Putting the magnet in the cup will make it pull much more on the open end than compared to just the pull of the disc by itself. Have fun! ERS

Reply to
Eric R Snow

Make a small holder - think holster - and slide it in - so it could be extracted or weld over a cover. Put it in a box - have the tray the top. Martin

Mart> I'm looking to build chip trays for my lathe with a minimum of

Reply to
Martin H. Eastburn

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