Old hard drives are good sources of strong rare earth magnets.

[James MacMillan]

Old hard drives are good sources of strong rare earth magnets.

I am in the process of making three sporrans. One dress (skunk without head) and two for everyday (plain leather, black and brown.) I have the leather, skins, leather dye, etc. I have gathered many ideas and even a couple of patterns from the discussion groups. I have looked at the ones I have, (serviceable but well used and cheaply made.) I’ve looked at pictures on-line, and looked at the sporrans offered at different highland games.

I like many, but dislike most of the closure systems and prices of course. I want something that is relatively secure, but also easy to get into and out of. At one of the games I saw a vender that had magnetic clasp closures. These looked neat! Seemed to work and were easy to open and close. So I went on line looking for magnetic closures, and sure enough, I found some.

But before I had time to order any, I remember someone using “rare earth” magnets to hold on a fancy home-made kilt pin. I also remember a computer article that said that rare earth magnets were particularly strong and were used in computer hard drives.

I have (had) two old, small (20 meg) hard drives that I no longer use, and hadn’t thrown away. I took them apart, and low and behold there are indeed strong rare earth magnets in these hard drives. A little prying with a screw driver, and I now have a magnet that securely grabs a steel washer through four layers of leather. Since I will need the magnet to grab through only two layers, it should work fine.

Just thought it worth passing along.

[Shriner]

Old hard drives are good sources of strong rare earth magnets.

Thanks Bro. James for the info I think I can get my hands on several old hard drive.

Also welcome to the board..

Bro. John Miller

[trojanrabbit]

Old smart thing. Very strong. We've used such magnets at work for many purposes, cause of two big monitor boxes of dead hdd's.
And welcome aboard!

[Raptor]

great stuff! Thanks for the info

[sjrapid]

...a computer article that said that rare earth magnets were particularly strong and were used in computer hard drives.

I have (had) two old, small (20 meg) hard drives that I no longer use, and hadn’t thrown away. I took them apart, and low and behold there are indeed strong rare earth magnets in these hard drives...

James, whereabouts in the hard drive is the magnet? I've got several old hard drives that I could disembowel if I knew what I was looking for.

Best regards

[Arlen]

Thanks for the info. I always need more rare earth magnets.

And welcome to the board. Can't wait to the the finished results.

[Freelander Sporrano]

Just mind they don't wipe your credit cards

[Peter C.]

Thanks for the info.

At the moment I get earth magnets from a shop called "Workshop Tools". Small ones cost $1.50 for three, which I have used to replace the pin for my wifes sash because ladies sashes are very easily damaged by pins, and large ones, 3/4in diameter three for $3.49

Peter

[mkmound]

Just mind they don't wipe your credit cards

Or hotel room card keys, when you're traveling.

[Abax]

As well as destroying magnetic tape info on plastic cards, strong magnetic fields could also cause damage to electronic devices like cellphones, PDAs or mp3 players. I would recommend against carrying strong magnets on your person.

The increased availability of rare earth magnets has caused people to take interest in them, but that does not mean they are without consequence in all situations.

Abax