Magnetizing a screw driver

[daviddoria]

I thought by wrapping wire around a tube and connecting it to a power source and putting a screw driver in it it would magnetically charge the screw driver. I tried this, but the power supply turns off when i connect it to the coil because it is essentially a short.

how do you do this?

thanks
david

 

[Mat]

Magnetic driver

Temporary magnetism, your method might have set the screwdriver rotating wind insulated wire around a driver shaft the full length ,..then connecting the o/p to a supply: car battery for a short period only seconds might give the tool the mystery of magnetism which if successfull will gradually revert back to in technical terms a non picker upper,

Simple remedy a redundant audio speaker larger the better, remove from the cabinet break off the magnet put near w/bench: away from other magnetic sources, or as i have at the side of a filing cabinet and periodically stroke the driver from N/S lifting the tool after each stroke repeat,... the power source you used was unable to handle the current flowing just a few turns of wire on your former" tube"
would effectively be a dead short.

 

[daviddoria]

i dont understand that. can someone explain a tad better?

any other ideas?

 

[kinjalgp]

What you require to do is wind large number of turns of coil around the screw driver to increase the resistance which will stop your power supply from tripping due to short circuit.
This thing will magnetise your screwdriver as long as current is passing through the coil. Once you switch off the supply, it will come to its original state after some time.
To permenantly magnetise it, rub your screw driver onto a permanent magnet bar in one direction for about 10 minutes.

 

[daviddoria]

ya the idea is a temporary magnetism, i duno how long, maybe 10 minutes? so really all i need is a longer coil then it will work? i'll try that and get back to you

 

[kinjalgp]

You can try winding large number of turns of coil or the other thing you can try is: remove the coil wound on a plastic bobbin from a relay and put your screw driver inside it. Energise the coil and you'll get what you want.
Sounds easy as compared to winding 5000-10000 turns of wire, isn't it?

 

[jane]

i am trying to make a magnetic crane. I found this experiment online at energizer. I made a power pack with two D battries and connected the wire to a knife switch and another wire to a nail. It should become magnetized when the switch goes on. I can't get it to work can someone help?

Thanks Jane

 

[kinjalgp]

Have you wound a coil of wire around the nail or knife? If not then it won't work since the magnetic filed developed around just a piece of wire is not enough to magnetise and produce a visible effect of its magnetic properties. You require coil of very long wire to see the magnetic effects.

 

[daviddoria]

hmm i'm still confused. what was it you said about a relay? all i know is i'm definitely not winding 5000 turns lol.

 

[kinjalgp]

You might have seen a coil inside a transparent relay. Remove this coil carefully which is fitted on a metal shaft in the relay and use it instead of winding one yourself.

 

[bogdanfirst]

here is what i found: old screwdrivers get magnetized better, i dont know why, probably because they contained more steal, apart from the newer ones that have other metals in there composition.
if i remember well someone told me that on some screwdrivers says "non magnetizing" or something like this and so you cant magnetize them.
i also found out trying more ways to magnetize them, that you magnetize them faster with less windings and more current then with more windings, from a relay coil, and less current.
my advice is to take some insulated bell wire and wire turn near turn from one end to another and the back to the other end and put is at a suply, maybe have some load in series with it so you will have somewere around 1A and maybe even more, but you might overheat the wire and the insulator will melt.

 

[Gene]

Jane - Energizer didn't give you much info. One wire from your battery pack wraps around the nail and continues to the switch. The wire on the otherside of the switch goes to the other terminal of the battery pack. You do not connect a wire to the nail. Good Luck!

 

[star882]

I have magnetised a screwdriver by putting it into a coil and connecting the coil to a 330uF cap charged to 100v.
Beware that this method will make a very loud pop.

 

[daviddoria]

so i have to use AC to power this coil?

how many wraps should i do? what gauge wire? wrap around what?

did you make the thing you used or buy it?

sounds like you know whats going on
david

 

[kinjalgp]

AC or DC both will do but AC will produce a magnet whose polarity will keep on reversing at the frequency of AC signal. Never use wall scket AC supply or you'll get to see a big boom.

 

[daviddoria]

star882:
how did you get 100v without using the wall outlet?

 

[Gene]

Temporary magnitism can be achieved by attaching a perminant magnet to the shaft of your screwdriver. Check out your local tool company - about $2.

 

[daviddoria]

thats no fun though gene

 

[Gene]

I know but I couldn't help myself. The key is lots of wire (lots of resistance) and a source for DC. As you said, winding 500 turns of magnet wire is no fun either. You could use a coil from a small old motor, a relay coil (removed from the relay) as was already recommended, or you could buy a roll/spool of magnet wire (be sure both ends of the coil of wire are sticking out of the spool). Even this can be a problem because the magnetic field created by winding in one direction (say, N -- S) can be negated by the next layer of winding (say, S -- N). Enjoy!

 

[daviddoria]

haha ya my friend suggested that

i was like "we'd have to wind this 3000 times" and he was like "why not just use the spool?"

so i am going to try that on 12v but from what i read it will take more than that.

maybe i'll go with the non-electro magnet idea lol