# Poly Mags ?



## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

High Tech Question > the subject of Poly Mags(like used as T-Jet Field Magnets). I have a rather dumb question and think I know the answer, but... Anyway, what IS the magnetic material USED inside poly mags ? Is it the same Rare Earth(Neodymium) stuff used in Neo Mags, just held together in a Polymer resin mix instead ?


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

I did a little research and found that neodymium-iron-boron and samarium cobalt are both used. The neodymium alloy would tend to be stronger, but Cobalt is more tolerent of heat than neodymium.
Different strengths of polymer magnets are available, including "ceramic grade" magnets. I am not certain how the different strengths are obtained. Either different magnetic particles could be used or the ratio of magnetic particles to the binder component could be adjusted.
Here is a link with more info: http://www.arnoldmagnetics.com/en-us/Products/Injection-Molded-Magnets


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

*ahhhh.... I see, well...maybe*



Rich Dumas said:


> I did a little research and found that neodymium-iron-boron and samarium cobalt are both used. The neodymium alloy would tend to be stronger, but Cobalt is more tolerent of heat than neodymium.
> Different strengths of polymer magnets are available, including "ceramic grade" magnets. I am not certain how the different strengths are obtained. Either different magnetic particles could be used or the ratio of magnetic particles to the binder component could be adjusted.
> Here is a link with more info: http://www.arnoldmagnetics.com/en-us/Products/Injection-Molded-Magnets


 Thank you Rich for the reply :thumbsup: ...but, I see the answer isn't as simple as I thought  I knew their are different grades of Poly mags, and that puzzled me. And seeing I broke(by accident) one of Dash's New Poly Mags, and it still looks the same on the inside, as it does on the outside(ie- shiny/grainy silver) - I was even more confused, especially since his Poly's seem exceptionally strong, almost as strong as some Neo's used as traction mags ! So I guess the answer is, they are an alloy with some Neodymium in them, just different ratios of the other elements !?


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## vaBcHRog (Feb 19, 2003)

So could you in theory get some magnetic powder of grind up say some Dash Magnets. Make a mold of the Slim Line magnets mix up some resin with the ground up magnets and cast your own magnet?


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

vaBcHRog said:


> So could you in theory get some magnetic powder of grind up say some Dash Magnets. Make a mold of the Slim Line magnets mix up some resin with the ground up magnets and cast your own magnet?


 Yeah, well....maybe in theory, but the non pro will have a hard time grinding up the Dash Poly's, as I had to sand one to get it to fit the pocket, and maaan, that stuff didn't sand anywhere near as easy as a ceramic magnet  But I'm sure the manufacturer of those magnets could easier cast up repops of the Slimline ones, and as you know, there would be a market for those ! Maybe Dash should just consider, making some strong magnets for the slimlines ?


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

Regular HO magnets are a ceramic material, there are polymer magnets that use ceramic particles, but those would be weaker than solid ceramic magnets. Creamic magnets are more expensive to fabricate, so they are not being used as much in newer HO cars, hence the popularity of ceramic grade polymer magnets.


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## slotking (May 27, 2008)

when some folks make the poly mags
they can just put the neo particles in the resin and you get what you get


some use a magnetic field to orient the neo in the resin to make increase the strength in 1 direction


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## Rich Dumas (Sep 3, 2008)

One hitch with making polymer magnets yourself is that you have to use particles that are not magnetized. The finished product would need to be magnetized, the zappers that are commonly available for home use are not powerful enough to do cobalt or neodymium. If you did make your own polymer magnets you possibly could send them to an outfit like Koford to be zapped.


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## 65 Wagonaire (Nov 27, 2013)

Dash posted yesterday on Facebook that he's looking into having slimline magnets produced if they can keep the costs down.
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?st...976926205:tl_objid.1699853976926205&__tn__=*s


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## Ralphthe3rd (Feb 24, 2011)

Facebook Post > 

Dash Motorsports


Slimline update: While a repop of the entire slimline chassis has been ruled out for the foreseeable future, we DID send some magnets to our magnet factory, a few weeks ago for the purpose of getting a quote. If the quote comes back favorable without having to order a bizarrely enormous amount of these to fulfill our minimum order quantity, the chances are good that there will be Dash slim line magnets in the near future. We are getting these quoted in ferrite and Samarium Cobalt. Neo is overkill for these. More details as we have them.


Yesterday at 3:07pm · Public


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## Bubba 123 (Sep 10, 2010)

Ralphthe3rd said:


> Yeah, well....maybe in theory, but the non pro will have a hard time grinding up the Dash Poly's, as I had to sand one to get it to fit the pocket, and maaan, that stuff didn't sand anywhere near as easy as a ceramic magnet  But I'm sure the manufacturer of those magnets could easier cast up repops of the Slimline ones, and as you know, there would be a market for those ! Maybe Dash should just consider, making some strong magnets for the slimlines ?


I had 1 or 2 like that.. CAREFULLY used a dremil w/ med grit sanding disk..:freak: :drunk:

but worked...

Bubba 123 :wave:


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