Sandblasting Permanent Magnets

Will sandblasting hurt the magnets?

I don't expect so (I don't think magnets have feelings), but if in doubt stick some masking tape over them before sand blasting.

Del

Permanent magnets ar brittle. There is a posibility that you will chip the edges. You will not damage the magnetic properties.

The only other concern would be how it is secured. If there is only a bead of epoxy around the edge, sandblasting could remove this and allow them to move.

Sand blasing in general will not hurt a perminent magnet in a flywheel.

I am curious what magnets you are talking about.

The magnets that power up the ignition coil are generally cast into the flywheel if it is aluminum & there is no exposed magnet. On cast iron flywheels there is a pole piece assembly that is attached to the flywheel but the magnet itself is not generally exposed, there are some exceptions.

There are the stator magnets that are on the underside of the the flywheel for generating power for lights or charging a battery. these magnets are exposed to the elements and sand blasting will not hurt them,

I also would not worry about painting the magnets, this will not affect the performance.

good luck

Yes it is in fact a cast iron flywheel with an aluminum pole piece attached...good call!

I was concerned about the static electrical charge that is sometimes generated while sand blasting. Could this cause degradation to the magnets?

Hello "Guest"

A small static charge from sandblasting operation will not cause loss of magnetism to permanent magnets.

If the static discharge is large for example a lightning discharge, the magnets could easily be destroyed, or lose their field strength.

Kind Regards....

Hi,

Sandblasting will not harm the magnetic properties of these magnets, however it may effect the surface finish. If the magnets are ALNICO (not likely), or a rare-earth material such as Neodymium, they may be plated to protect against corrosion. Sandblasting away this plating will indeed cause them to rust. It probably will have no long-term effect, but they will get a film of rust on them. If, however, the magnets are a gray color, then they are they are ferrite (either Barium or Strontium depending on when they were manufactured), and blasting them likely won't even put a dent in them.

Happy blasting . Either way, you should be good to go.

Kind regards ...

USE A WIRE BRUSH OR SAND PAPER HAT ALL YOU NEED.

Go ahead!

The magnets are hard and brittle so they can handle sandblasting as much as the rest of your flywheel.

Beating magnets reduces their magnetic strength so surely it depends on the shot size as to whether or not the sandblasting will affect the magnets.

By the way, what are you guys smoking/drinking/sniffing?

regards

chas