Magnet Separator

Strong magnets can be incredibly useful and a lot of fun to play with. However, when two strong magnets get stuck together, they can be a pain to separate. To help with this problem, I built this magnet separating tool. I have found it to be super helpful and I hope you do too.

Tools:

3D Printer and filament

Hex key (I used a 4mm one)

Materials:

4 Screws/bolts and nuts (I used 4mm)

1 rubber band

Print the top, bottom and connector. I used PLA but the magnet separator would likely be better with something stronger such as PETG, Nylon, or ABS. Attached here are the STL files, however at the end I will include the SolidWorks files in case you need to modify the design.

After printing the parts, connect the top and bottom together with a bolt. Do not tighten it too much as the bottom piece will need to slide along the top one. I would recommend using a lock nut if you have one, however I did not and it still works fine.

The next step is to add the connector between the top and bottom piece. Simply line up the holes on either end with the hole in the middle of the handles. Then place a bolt through both, once again not too tightly.

The rubber band is not absolutely necessary but is to have to keep the magnet separator open. First add a screw in the hole in the handle of the top piece. I recommend leaving some space between the nut and the handle to help keep the rubber band on. Push a rubber band through the middle hole in the connector and loop it back to the screw in the handle of the top piece as shown in the picture. Then stretch one part of the rubber band and wrap it around the screw connecting the top and bottom.

Now the magnet separator is fully assembled!

Simply hold your stuck together magnets between the ends of the separator and squeeze as shown in the video.

I hope this Instructable has been at a minimum an interesting read, but ideally helpful and makes separating magnets a little bit easier for you. Also as mentioned before, here are the SolidWorks files.