LumberJocks Woodworking Forum banner

How do you embed rare earth magnets in wood?

42K views 51 replies 31 participants last post by  TomFran 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
I'm in the process of making a project that will utilize rare earth magnets to hold a light in place on a machine.

I was wondering what type of glue to use to embed my magnets into the wood. Hopefully it's something that Walmart, Lowes, or Home Depot carries, so I don't have to order it.

I just know that there's probably many of you out there who have the answer for me, so thanks in advance for your reply.
 
#3 ·
Tom Fine Woodworking Sept/Oct 2007 says to use super glue to stick them in. I thought I read is a magazine while on my trip to use a thin wood cover over the magnet (like a dowel) to hold it in place. Test your magnets through wood before doing it to insure that they have the strength.
 
#4 ·
I've used 15 minute epoxy. I gave the magnet a scuff with 80grit, though I don't know that was entirely necessary. I used a forstner bit to bore a recess. In a lap desk I made for my daughter, I made a little pencil box that pulled out of the desk and attached to the top of the desk with rare earth magnets. I bored a hole in the hidden side on both the desk and the box, and used opposite pole orientation to attach the box. Using two magnets increased the strength going through the wood to make up for a little bit thicker wood needed to keep the forstner bit from poking through. It ended up pretty neat as you can't tell where the magnets are, but the box sticks to the table when we were driving. The entire project has since gotten run over in the driveway, but it worked pretty cool.
 
#5 ·
Tom,
I use a shop made edge guide on my jointer plane that I made with three magnets. Like Tom I used a forstner and glued them in with 2P-10 or how ever you say it( super glue). No problems in the last year. That's a lot of Toms on one page.
 
#6 ·
I've used both Cyanoacrylate (Hot Stuff medium) and Epoxy. Just make sure you orient the magnets to the proper
polarity. I let them hook up and mark the bottoms with a marking pen so I know when they are dropped into the forstner hole they will draw one another. No one wants the mysterious hovering lid/cabinet door!
 
#10 · (Edited by Moderator)
Thanks to everyone who weighed in on my question. Here are some pics of what I was up to.

I needed a light on my bandsaw, and I didn't want to drill holes in the frame of the saw, so I made this so that I could have my light.

Here's a picture of the "magnet mounting block."



Here it is mounted on my bandsaw with a piece of angle iron to support the lamp.



Here is what it does.



This is sweet!

Thanks to all of you for your technical support!!!
 
#12 ·
Yeah, Bob, these things are amazingly strong. There are a gazillion applications for their use.

But, watch out. They are so strong, they can hurt you. There are even warnings on the package they come in. While I was trying to glue these into place, they got loose several times and man, they are hard to pull apart.

I remember reading about them in a woodworking magazine a while back, and then I found some in a local tool store here. I bought a couple packs of them with the idea that, one day I'll find a use for them. Well, that day came today - now I've got that light I always wanted on my saw.

The light I used was a "reclaimed" desk lamp. I "reclaimed" it from the storage, where it wasn't being used. I thought, I can use this.

I know I could have bought one for about $30 and some change, but this was way more fun!
 
#15 ·
Douglas . . . Im thinking a "mysterious hovering lid/cabinet door" would be a hoot to give someone.

A box with a never shut lid. You would need another box to lay on the lid to keep it shut. Hmmmmmm
 
#17 · (Edited by Moderator)
Tom, gotta love the creativity of reusing old stuff! I hate our throw-away mentality here in the U.S.! I have one of those old lamps just hanging around in my workshop. I will get some of those rare earth magnets and make it a work-light like yours. Free up some space on my desk, too!
Thanks for the great idea!
God Bless,
Hawg
 
#18 ·
"I hate our throw-away mentality here in the U.S.!" - Hawg

I agree. Probably the only thing that would make the U.S. a "resourceful" people again would be an economic slowdown. As long as we have pockets full of money, who needs to mess around like this - just go buy what you want. But sometimes, you can't buy what you want, and then you become creative.

My magnets cost me $3.50, and I still have (2) left.
 
#21 ·
Tom, you might also want to consider using a small compact fluorescent bulb. They can handle all kinds of vibrations and since you have that metal cover on the lamp it wouldn't even matter if you were to bang the occasional piece of wood into the lamp, they can take that too. Plus they only use about 7 watts versus whatever the bulb you're using now consumes.
 
#23 ·
Working on another box just now. Since it's another "good neighbor" box, I'll probably have to skip on "the Mysterious Hovering Lid" feature. Maybe if I decide to make a "bad neighbor" box.
Or Zuki can make one for his neighbor that needs a whack. He can use it to store his organo-phosphates.
 
#24 ·
I had a few of those rare earth magnets left over from another project. The guys thought it would be a good idea to glue them to shop tapes so they could be left around the shop, anywhere there was metal.

The problem was trying to center the magnet on the tape box. It wanted to move over top of the tape rather than stay in the center. So I let it. Even with 5 minute epoxy I could not hold it in place.

So now I can put the tape on the bandsaw, or the table saw, or the dust collector pipes, or whereever. Really handy.
 
#26 ·
So they're just "earth magnets" then? There's a name that doesn't make any sense unless they are clods of magnetized dirt.

I'm seeing the next contest challenge - the hovering box lid!.. or a gag kitchen cabinet install - Doors that never close! - handy feature on a childs toybox too - no pinched fingers!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top