Lead Time for Magnet Suppliers

[idylldon]

Just wondering what the normal lead time is for the usual Alnico 5 rod magnets that are common for pickups. My usual supplier was four weeks back earlier in the year and is now six weeks. It seems odd to me that they would always have to order and not keep an adequate supply in stock. Are there suppliers that usually have good stock or is this kind of the norm?

Cheers,
--
Don

[Chris Klein]

Lead time on my order was 65 days. Well that was for an order of 13,000 pieces. The lead times are just something you have to deal with. You may find some small stocks around some suppliers but, you will have to pay more.

[DoctorX]

Chris,

Were those magnetized before they were shipped, or did you do the charging after they arrived?

Thanks,

Doctor X

[Chris Klein]

Doctor X,

The mags came charged. I was given the choice when buying them.

[DoctorX]

Chris,

Thanks for the reply. If you don't mind me asking, how did they ship 13,000 magnetized pole pieces? I have seen them shipped between layers of corrugated cardboard (end to end in alternate rows), but that was for amounts a lot less than 13,000. Shipping that amount in corrugated cardboard would take a lot of space.

Thanks,

Doctor X

[Chris Klein]

Doctor X,

The pole pieces were shipped end to end in boxes that were 5 pole pieces wide and had 900 pieces in each box. The individual boxes were about 4-5 inches wide and about 2-3 inches high and about 4-5 inches deep. They were shipped in a prefabricated Styrofoam cartons which held 4 boxes of 900 in each layer. They were completely surrounded by Styrofoam and the total order was shipped in 2 different boxes. 3 layers of Styrofoam were the most they would ship in 1 box due to the weight of the boxes.

[DoctorX]

Chris,

Thanks for the info. One last thing...was there a price difference between shipping the magnets charged and uncharged, and would you have gone the 'uncharged' route if you had a suitable magnet charger at your shop?

Again, thanks for your time.

Doctor X

[Chris Klein]

Doctor X,

There was no difference in price having the magnets charged or uncharged. I go charged as that is 1 less step in the process of making pickups. I check the strength of the magnets and charge them if they have lost any strength.

[DoctorX]

Chris,

I didn't expect that. I figured there would be some sort of extra cost for charging the alnico.

Thanks for taking the time to share this info.

Doctor X