[constant thinker]

Is there any easy way to remove metal shavings from a permanent magnet. I thought about maybe building a powerful electromagnet and trying to over come the other magnets magnetism, but the regular magnet would probably get stuck on the electromagnet and my problem would never be solved.

[Donaldson Tan]

unless the metal shavings are not Fe.. i could suggest something..

[Corvettaholic]

Try putting the permanent magnet in a vise grip, and secure it really good! You can do this the poor man's way: get a crapload of magnet wire from radio shack and wrap a LOT of turns around a stick of rebar. Be warned, this is a one time use electromagnet. 'Aquire' as many car batteries as you can, and get a heavy duty switch. The switch will also die from this. Connect all the car batteries you can in parallel, or best yet use two banks so you have 24V. Use a really long stick, or something not conductive, to flip the switch to connect the circuit. Circuit being the car battery bank and the wire wrapped stick of rebar. You will get one hell of a field! Unfortunantly, the whole thing will melt and there will be a dead short. You can put limiting resistors (think many megaohm power resistors) to limit current but you'll get less punch if you do this. Could also save your parts from destruction. If the resistors melt, you didn't have enough and you're probably screwed. Figure 500-600 cold cranking amps PER car battery. Beware the batteries exploding. Its rare, but it has happened before. It really sucks, trust me.

[constant thinker]

They are iron shavings, and I think I'll try the electromagnet but not to that extreme of a degree. Thanks for the help cause if I just threw out magnets this happened to I wouldn't have many magnets left.

[Donaldson Tan]

alternatively, you can always electrically shock the magnet. it will loose its magnetism and the iron shavings will drop off by its own. LOL. scrubbing should be able to remove all the iron shaving.

[mithrilhack]

Would hammering it also make it lose its magnetism?

[Mitch]

Would hammering it also make it lose its magnetism?

Mechanical deformations will not make it loose its magnetism. Unless you rearrange it a lot by hammering it.

[mithrilhack]

Well wouldn't it jar and disorganize the magnetic particles?

[arnyk]

It may alter the field shape.

Also if I recall correctly...heating the magnet may cause it to temporarily lose its magnetism until it cools down.

*Corvettaholic: That's what we call "overkill".

[lemonoman]

I wasn't gonna say anything, but I LOVED corvettaholic's solution.  Not that I recommend it, but it was told like a story...and everyone knows that's how magicians are so entertaining...they're able to tell stories and stuff.

Corvettaholic, that was awesome.  Kudos.

P.S. Good luck with the metal-shavings - I hope the forum has been helpful.  I personally have no ideas.

[Jessica]

tsk tsk tsk, it may help in future to cover your magnet with a thin plasic sandwich bag, that way you`ll never get any particles on the magnet itself, and turning the bag inside-out after not only removes your clean magnet, but also keeps what you`ve collected in the bag