It's a Stickup
© Frank
Ford 2004; Photos by FF
Here I have some little Neodymium cylinder magnets - .300" x .300" that I've pressed into brass holders:
Just for fun, I turned them to look like old apothecary balance weights:
They're incredibly handy for tacking up notes like this list of fret positions I used to mill up a clamping caul for guitar fingerboards:
I use 'em to stick down some sheets of neoprene as a way cover, too:
Keeps things a bit cleaner, but mostly the rubber sheet keeps the lathe from getting dinged up when I drop stuff, which happens more every year. Click here for a bit more on the rubber sheeting. You may notice the center drill holder I made immediately after reading John Stevenson's suggestion in the Home Shop Machinist Forum. It's a real step saver.
The brass covered weights work far better than the magnets did without housings, because magnetic chips don't stick so strongly. These Neodymium magnets are STRONG. My big 2-inch one sticks to cast iron with a pull of 345 pounds, or so they say. Gotta keep that one in a cage! Here's how I use it, if you're interested.
I also made up some slightly larger ones using .60" x .60" magnets and aluminum.
I use one of these holders to keep my "spider" handle in place on my milling vise:
It keeps the handle in place without any effort at all, and pops right off when I want to remove the handle.
Here, the magnets hold up a temporary cover on my mill - old bedroom drapes that finally bit the dust this year after only 30 years covering the windows:
I do a fair amount of wood working, so it pays to keep machine tools covered at times.
I have my little reference book stuck to the side of the Kennedy box I use for measuring tools. Hanging on a magnet, I take it with me to the mill or lathe and hang it there, too:
