Dumb Magnet Question

[Daver]

If you have Alnico bar magnets of different grades and/or magnetic strengths and stick those magnets together will the gauss change for any of them? Thanks.
Dave

[copperheadroads]

yes
i would store all grades of charged alnico magnets separately unless you refresh the charge before putting them in pickups ,then it really don't matter
A5 with A5 ,A2 WITH A2 .......................

[Daver]

That's exactly what I wanted to know. Thanks!

[J M Fahey]

I wouldn´t even let them stick together but have, say, a piece of wood with rows of holes, keeping them at least one inch apart.
My experience with Alnico is that every time you let them move along their BH curve, they end up having less energy, so the less messing with them, the better.
Unless I had a magnetizer and could give them a good jolt after final assembly.

Note: in fact I *do* have a powerful one, but I build speakers, not pickups of any kind, and I know it´s a piece of gear not widely available everywhere.
Note 2: your question is far from dumb.

[Daver]

Thanks! I've just been experimenting with different types of magnets in humbuckers and was concerned about how to store or keep them.
Dave

[big_teee]

If you buy different types of magnets, when you get them they will all be stuck together in a brick.
As long as You keep them stuck together NSNSNS, Everything is Fine.
I actually discharge the Rod Magnets before I Make Single Coil Pickups.
Then I recharge them with NEOs when I'm done.
Good Luck,
Terry

[copperheadroads]

your question is far from dumb.

I agree
a Dumb question is one you don't ask (Buts its a learning curve)

[ReWind]

So what do you guys actually use to store your magnets at your benches?

I'm envisioning something along the lines of a wooden card catalog cabinet from a library. I've been trying to figure out the best way to store mine as well. I was going to use parts bins or drawers or portable parts boxes, but they won't give that 1 inch of separation mentioned above.

[J M Fahey]

The 1 inch separation was mentioned simply as distance beteween holes on a piece of wood, which lets you pick them with your fingers, nothing critical about that.
What puts me nervous and was trying to avoid is a fist sized ball of magnets randomly "glued" (magnetically) to each other, where you "fish out" the one you need at that particular moment.
As I said, working an Alnico magnet along its BH curve, which happens when you insert and then pull it from the pickup and much more so when it sticks to another magnet and then you pull them apart, makes it do exactly that.
The classic example is when you disassemble a speaker magnetic structure, typically because of some hard bump causing misalignment: if a regular speaker it loses snap and efficiency, if a driver it loses all highs.
In a pickup, having *inches* of air gap, plus going for sound and not efficiency, such effects may be masked, some people actually preferring the "mellow sound" of "vintage pickups" instead of the "brittle" sound of modern (or reedition) ones, but really all it can be translated into magnetic energy lost along the way.
Sorry for being somewhat obsessive about efficiency and keeping my hard earned Gauss, as I said before I make Speakers and not Pickups, to each his own.

[big_teee]

When I buy a bunch of magnets, they will come two different ways.
Mojos usually sells their Alnico Magnets UnCharged.
So those I charge at time of use.
If I buy magnets from a source that has them PreCharged (Addiction-FX, or Magnetic Hold) they will come Packaged by type stuck together.
Bar Magnets I Mark them with a Sharpie the North edge and write on the Magnet Example: A2-A5 on Each side.
I stick them together by type and stick them all in a Drawer.
Rod Magnets I don't care because I always discharge them when building the Flatwork.
Wind the pickup and recharge after they are built.
If you don't recharge them at time of use you really have no idea of the strength of the magnet, and it is a Crap Shoot.
Ceramic Magnets are Charged very strong, and usually hard to alter, and not as Fragile as Alnico Mags.
Buy some NEO Magnets if you don't have capability of Charging Alnicos.
Good Luck,
Terry

[copperheadroads]

When I buy a bunch of magnets, they will come two different ways.
Mojos usually sells their Alnico Magnets UnCharged.
So those I charge at time of use.
If I buy magnets from a source that has them PreCharged (Addiction-FX, or Magnetic Hold) they will come Packaged by type stuck together.
Bar Magnets I Mark them with a Sharpie the North edge and write on the Magnet Example: A2-A5 on Each side.
I stick them together by type and stick them all in a Drawer.
Rod Magnets I don't care because I always discharge them when building the Flatwork.
Wind the pickup and recharge after they are built.
If you don't recharge them at time of use you really have no idea of the strength of the magnet, and it is a Crap Shoot.
Ceramic Magnets are Charged very strong, and usually hard to alter, and not as Fragile as Alnico Mags.
Buy some NEO Magnets if you don't have capability of Charging Alnicos.
Good Luck,
Terry

This works for me as well