Hacked Gadgets Forum

May 10, 2007

Magnetic Viewing Paper

at 6:19 am. Filed under Cool Gadgets, Reviews

We can’t see magnetic flux lines but with an inexpensive piece of Magnetic Viewing Paper we can easily visualize what we are missing. I took the motor magnet out of an old 5 1/4 floppy drive and was amazed at the complex magnetic pattern that emerged. It looks like the outer ring of the magnet has magnetic notches that are read by the electronic circuit. I imagine this is used for speed control, although this seems like a very complex method of regulating motor speed. You can also “watch” a relay energize by holding the viewing paper beside a normal relay while energizing the coil. Thanks to Edmund Scientific for providing the cool magnet viewer.

There is a video after the jump of the Magnetic Viewing Paper being swiped across the floppy drive motor magnet.

“Millions of tiny metal particles are suspended in oil within a 20 x 50mm laminated sheet of plastic. When a magnet is placed next to this “viewing paper”, the particles become magnetized.

This paper is so intriguing because it enables you to view the varying magnetic patterns of individual magnets. Take the obscure and begint “viewing” it like it’s magic. Great for educational demonstrations.”

 


 


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15 Responses to “Magnetic Viewing Paper”

  1. Bill Says:

    This is so cool, I went to the vendor to try to buy some, but they’re out of stock :( Guess I wasn’t the only one who had that in mind!

  2. Kevin Says:

    I love stuff like this… Is there a practical app. for this?

  3. Mr. Maigo Says:

    Bill: Damn D:

  4. Joven Says:

    I can think of a few… finding optimal placement of magnets in
    things like generators, motors or electric guitar pickups. Also,
    if you’re the type to make your own amps or cabents, you can
    find if they’ve been properly sheilded.

  5. Alan Parekh Says:

    The looking for proper shielding is definitely an application, the relay that I tested to see if I could “see” it energize was an automotive type and I was thinking that it may have the spray on shielding inside. Turns out I could detect it energize so there is no shielding.

  6. Alan Parekh Says:

    I was just thinking, it may also be very useful for all of those DIY electro-magnet makers out there, you could probably make your home-made designs more efficient.

  7. J_man Says:

    Yeah, I agree with Joven, this would be great for working with guitar pickups.

  8. ryan Says:

    cool!!! that looks sweetTt!!!!!!

  9. Alan Parekh Says:

    Looks like it’s back in stock. :)

  10. MAKE: Blog Says:

    Magnetic viewing paper

    Hacked Gadgets reveals the hidden world of magnetization with magnetic viewing paper, Alan writes - We can’t see magnetic flux lines but with an inexpensive piece of Magnetic Viewing Paper we can easily visualize what we are missing. I…

  11. Dave Says:

    “It looks like the outer ring of the magnet has magnetic notches that are read by the electronic circuit. I imagine this is used for speed control, although this seems like a very complex method of regulating motor speed. ”
    Actually, the motor is a many-poled permanent magnet rotor (the disk you’re looking at) working against a “coil” formed by the rectangular pattern on the printed circuit board. By pulsing the current through the coil pattern, the poles on the disk are advanced. It’s like the linear motors sugegsted for mag-lev trains, bent into a circle…

  12. Ryan Says:

    Here is another place to get magnetic viewing paper:

    http://www.kjmagnetics.com/proddetail.asp?prod=MV43

  13. stimulant Says:

    A smattering of ketchup

    Again, I’ll be transitioning to del.icio.us. But in the meantime, here goes:

    An LED
    flashlight—I’ve been meaning to make an LED worklamp, too.

    A segment
    on taking pictures covertly from the MAKE blog. Useful for
    headcam/automated

  14. The AV Club Blog » Blog Archive » X-Ray Glasses, Magneto Style Says:

    […] The video pretty much shows you everything you need to see to understand how fun and honestly, educational, this thing is. The 6yr old me would have loved this as much as the older me now wants to play around with it. If you want one, the mad scientist lab that is Edmund Scientific has ‘em. Also, there are more pics of this in action on Hacked Gadgets. […]

  15. Nobody Says:

    Man I had some of this YEARS ago. Also the logo in the middle of the video is way annoying.

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