US made pickup magnets ?

[jack briggs]

Fortune cookies.

[JGundry]

Arnold and Thomas and Skinner are the only two magnet makers I know if that formulate and cast magnets in the USA. Permanent magnet used to also but they are out of business. AZ grinds in the USA but with Chinese material the last time I checked. I asked AZ for a quote years ago for cast and formulated int he USA and after a few weeks they sent me a quote that was significantly more than either Arnold or T&S.

The reason USA made is different amounts to history of making magnets for guitar pickups over many decades. That matters because both formulation and heat treating processes affect the tone of the finished magnET and both Arnold and T&S have records as they relate to guitar pickups that go back much further than what you will find overseas.

[Helmholtz]

both Arnold and T&S have records as they relate to guitar pickups that go back much further than what you will find overseas.

That makes sense, but the question is: Are they actually making (or willing to make) the magnets as they used to over 60 years ago?

[J M Fahey]

Who have you been in contact with? All the mag vendors in Italy actually re-sell chinese-made mags. Only the magnetic fixtures specifically made for the military and auto industry are made in the foundries located in Italy, the alnico bar mags and rods for p'ups are exclusively made in China. Who in Germany is actually locally pouring batches for bar- and rod mags for p'ups?

Same here.
There´s only 2 magnet factories left, one specializing in cheap ceramics (think fridge magnets and such), the other in Alnico.

They have tons of highest quality Alnico, because their customer is Argentine Navy.

They reverse engineered (a.k.a. "copied") German made wire guided torpedoes from the late 70´s which we are forbidden to buy since 1982 so the design was "frozen" there ... and that German torpedo used Alnico in all its electromechanical devices so the clones do the same.

Ridiculously expensive?

Maybe, but when has cost been a problem for the Military?

I guess the Iranians are doing something similar with their cloning of 1970´s Hawk missiles and Northrop F5 light fighters.

[LtKojak]

That makes sense, but the question is: Are they actually making (or willing to make) the magnets as they used to over 60 years ago?

Unless they actually inherited the necessary molds, to "gear up" the newest foundries is simply too expensive for producing permanent bar and rod Mags, so I don't think any foundry would do anything different than order the mags from the Chinese foundries, which in most cases are ISO 9000 certified, have all the necessary molds and computer-controlled annealing processes, so accurately reproducing the B/H curves of old mags's been possible for some time now. I've been testing foundries for several years with big success; unfortunately, no bank would grant me the necessary capital to start a business.

[David King]

If the originals are sand cast then there's not much need for a mold, just a plug, usually wood, that the sand gets packed around. The plug is then removed and the mixture is poured into the cavity in the sand. Once it cools the sand is busted up leaving a rough-looking magnet that can then be ground to final dimensions. Typically you would line up several or many plugs in the same sand mold and pour all of them at once.

[Bruce Johnson]

I've been getting my Alnico rods from Cullen-Legois Manufacturing in Sturtevant, Wisconsin. They are a small manufacturer that specializes in magnetic tools for the machine shop. They also stock Alnico rod and bar magnets of many sizes. They buy their raw castings from China, but they cut and grind them in house. They are a little more expensive than other sources, but I like them because their magnets are very accurately sized and consistent quality.

I believe they will cut & grind magnets to custom sizes, with a quantity order.

[jack briggs]

I asked AZ for a quote years ago for cast and formulated int he USA and after a few weeks they sent me a quote that was significantly more than either Arnold or T&S.

And Arnold's pricing has gotten really out of hand!

[mPacT]

Fortune cookies.

That is pretty funny!

[JGundry]

Unless they actually inherited the necessary molds, to "gear up" the newest foundries is simply too expensive for producing permanent bar and rod Mags, so I don't think any foundry would do anything different than order the mags from the Chinese foundries, which in most cases are ISO 9000 certified, have all the necessary molds and computer-controlled annealing processes, so accurately reproducing the B/H curves of old mags's been possible for some time now. I've been testing foundries for several years with big success; unfortunately, no bank would grant me the necessary capital to start a business.

The sand molds are destroyed every time the magnets are cast. The original counter molds last forever and they still have the molds. Watch this video that shows how Alnico is made. The video was shot at the now out of business Permanent Magnet Company.