• Home
  • About
  • FAQ
  • Hosting
  • Newsletter
  • T-Shirt
  • Stickers
  • Tips
  • Contact

Laughing Squid

A daily dose of art, culture and technology.

Marvelous Hand Cranked Rare Earth Magnet Machine

by E.D.W. Lynch on May 5, 2011

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • More
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • LinkedIn
  • Pocket
  • Telegram
  • WhatsApp
  • Skype
  • Reddit
  • Print

Dave Johnson built this mesmerizing hand cranked machine for rare earth magnets for his father’s 75th birthday. At about the 1:15 mark you’ll witness the remarkable behavior of the ball magnets as they are fed in a continuous loop through the innards of the machine.

This machine manipulates small spherical rare earth magnets, slicing one at a time from the end of a long chain, moving it around a bit, then dropping it back to re-connect at the tail end of the chain.

It also demonstrates a little snippet of science called eddy currents. Watch how slowly the magnet falls through the aluminum tube compared to falling through air: the falling magnet generates an electrical current in the tube, and that current in turn generates a magnetic field that opposes the movement of the magnet, slowing it down dramatically.


Host your WordPress site with Managed WordPress at Laughing Squid Hosting

Related Posts



← Previous Post
Next Post →


  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Tumblr
  • Pinterest
  • RSS Feed

Trending on Laughing Squid

  • Cat Repeatedly Jumps Into a Long Horizontal Box to Be Launched Onto the Bed Over and Over Again
    Cat Repeatedly Jumps Into a Long Horizontal Box to Be Launched Onto the Bed Over and Over Again
  • How the World's First Cruise Ship Tunnel Will Be Built to Bypass the Treacherous Stadhavet Sea in Norway
    How the World's First Cruise Ship Tunnel Will Be Built to Bypass the Treacherous Stadhavet Sea in Norway
  • An Adorable Trio of Rescued River Otters Playfully Battle One Another Inside a Bucket Full of Ice Cubes
    An Adorable Trio of Rescued River Otters Playfully Battle One Another Inside a Bucket Full of Ice Cubes
  • Metal Artist Builds a Fully Articulating Octopus Sculpture Out of a Mystery Box of Bicycle Chains
    Metal Artist Builds a Fully Articulating Octopus Sculpture Out of a Mystery Box of Bicycle Chains
  • Ambidextrous Artist Draws With Both Hands at Once
    Ambidextrous Artist Draws With Both Hands at Once

Powered by Laughing Squid Hosting and WordPress VIP
Newsletter | Affiliate Disclosure | Privacy Policy
© 1995-2021 Laughing Squid LLC, all rights reserved