Magnets in the Woodshop - 10 of my Favorite Uses

for it to lift a baby - how many do you have to feed it (before anyone freaks - I am kidding - obviously it is dangerous for anyone to swallow magnets)

Definitely excited by that router jig, that feels like a great price for the finished product... Curious though: on your old "Ultimate router jig" you seemed pretty adamant about the use of 1/2" acrylic for rigidity....why the step down to 1/4" for this one?

I'm also curious about the pros and cons between your previous design and this one...particularly the pros... why this was the one to produce and sell, rather than your "ultimate" one?

I don't know how useful this is for general woodworking, but back when I used to fix guitars, magnets were very useful clamps for crack repairs on acoustic guitars. You can't really get a clamp in both sides of the top of an acoustic guitar, so instead you just use magnets to hold the support piece to the top while the glue dries.

I epoxied a magnet to my drill press chuck so I can stick it anywhere on the drill press. I have a sawdust collection bag under under my contractor's saw. I used magnets to attach it instead of the snaps that came with the bag.

I put magnets in the handle of simple push sticks. One push stick lives on my bandsaw guide blocking the blade whenever the blade is slack, no more power cycles with a slack blade. Btw, for push sticks I just wrap tape around the handle and over the magnet to keep it in

I've been using old car speakers magnets around the shop for years.
I love the ones at the drill press best,always have my most used bits and the chuck handy.

You've gradually made the move away from music and flashy video gimmicks in some of your more recent videos to more organized, get-to-the-point content. I certainly appreciate it and enjoyed this video. Thanks for the information.

Strong but brittle AF

A good source of strong magnets is to pull apart old computer hard disk drives. All hard disk drives, with spinning disks (not SSD's) have powerful magnets in them that can be pulled out and repurposed.

Those are some awesome tips, thanks for sharing!

Great video! Magnets are so useful in the shop. I know you know this but one thing to mention, is the difference in the force (pull) along the axis vs perpendicular to the axis of the magnet. That's why you can slide them off of the putty knife fairly easily vs trying to pull them off. Note how the holdfast almost slipped off the side mounted magnets. It would be better supprted if hung under the bench. I have a magnetic fence on my bandsaw that, in spite of some very powerful N52 magnets will slip if too much sideward force is applied.
The trick is how to decide how to use this difference in resistance to your advantage. ..which is what you have wonderfully done with your saw guides.

Not shop related, but the tape measure thing made me think of it. I keep one of these magnets on the end of my can opener to pull lids up/out

You can also use a magnet to find hidden nails in salvaged wood.
I glued a mag to the end of the drill press key, instead of onto the post. I can park the key almost anywhere.

Great advise! I’ve an custom furniture and woodworker and just finished 16 museum cases. The designer speced hinges but “doors” were more like picture frames and had museum acrylic in them. I used 5/8” rare earth magnets and it worked wonderfully. Warning though! I have a pacemaker and you most be extremely careful using these magnets if you have a pacemaker!

Great tips Jonathan.....thanks for sharing!!! I especially love the tips on using magnets to hold the dust collection bags and also putting one on the end of a tape measure to pick up things.

Butt can they be used to make butt joints?

"One magnet can lift up a new born baby." Best unit of measurement ever!

That spider in the drywall segment freaked me out 😩

KATZ... PLEASE return my messages about returning an item. I purchased your dust mask several weeks ago and I've been trying to return / exchanger for a week now with nobody responding. I would expect far better customer service than none at all from a company like yours

Great parenting advice here on JKM as well!! "One magnet can hold up a newborn baby". Holy mackerel, not in a million years would I have thought of that comparison. Now I have to get them dammit. Word of caution, be careful carrying them in your front pocket, especially if you walk near something metallic, it might not look good.

I made a Murphy bed with a fold down table front. When folded up the magnets keep the table up and the legs in. 1/4" x 2 inch round both set into the wood invisible

I've been woodworking for over 20 years and using magnets for around 5 years, and I just got got 3 great new ideas on how to use them. Great stuff!! Thank you!

Wow, great video. I have used a couple magnets as you have but this brought up a lot more uses I had not thought about.
Thank you.😀

Magnets are great, i put angle iron Overtop my mitre station and use magnets to hold the doors where I want them

Cool video.. you forgot to hold the stud magnet up to yourself and say, '..and see, it still works at a Stud finder!'

Don't know why the stud finder thing never occurred to me. Thanks for that. :D

As an A/V Installer mounting TVs, magnets for drywall screws fascinated the homeowner EVERY TIME lol.

I use an electricians version, 3/4” diameter 1/4” thick casing around it with a strong swivelling loop on the back. They were used inside those large green transformers to hold up 2” copper cabling inside. Hard to find but super strong.

All my cordless tools have one zip tied low on the handles to hold 3-4 standard bits, Allen keys, wrenches without interfering.
Zip tied to my tool belt.
Hold up bags while shovelling sawdust.
Sewn inside a wrist band for fasteners.
Holds up umbrellas/snow brushes/weed kit in the trunk, up and out of the way.
DIY Particle Accelerator.
Wards off vampires.

Only Lasers are as much fun with n the shop.

I use countersunk ring magnets and secure then with a screw for holding brackets I need to frequently remove and reattach.

For repeatability I have one magnet mounted on the surface of one part and the other in a hole just over the depth of two stacked magnets. This allows one magnet to act as a locating pin which is pulled into the hole with a satisfying click.

If I need to protect the surface magnet, I 3d print a tapered ring that fits over it and countersink the hole to match the taper.

Great info - thanks. I just started replacing all the cupboard latches in our travel trailer with magnets, so this will be very helpful. Question: you mentioned cleaning up the excess super glue from the jigs - what do you use for that?

I just ordered a set of magnets and a hand full of other thing from your website. I’d be SUPER honored it if you flew to ATL and drove 45mins north on 575/515 to come have some GA-hospitality in Tate, GA. Home of Georgia marble.

Do you seriously have Nick Offerman painted on one of your cabinets? 🤣

Magnets' forces can stack, so if i want to have a stronger single magnetic point, i drill a deeper hole and put 2 or more neodymium magnets.

Great ideas— one more: I epoxied a magnet to the end of the shop vac house nozzle. Now when I am working an object in the vice, I have multiple positions to place the hose to collect most of the sawdust (metal filings, etc.) as they're produced. Magnets for the win!

I used magnets to hold my combo square to the sole of my plane while making a shooting board.

i love all those tips,,,my only tweak is that i attached the magnet to the outside of the shop vac attachment, the magnet is way strong enough to grab screws through the plastic and now the magnet is not in the way of blocking shavings and what not as i vacuum

Hi Jonathan. Q. magnets? have you ever tried to use magnets as a contactless pivot hinge? I would think it would be neat if it worked in both open and close positions. it would also bypass the need to mortise hinge leaves.

I am not in your field at all, but had the idea of using a magnet(s), to fasten a heavy (probably, total 500+ lb) bookcase, full of books, to the wall. Any somewhat simple suggestions? [I thought of a sheet of stainless steel on the wall and magnet(s) glued to wood blocks screwed into of the bookcase, in order to provide contact with the steel plate on the wall, but have no idea if this is a good/preferable idea.]

Excellent video

I particularly enjoyed the stud finding trick. \m/

Magnets are great. I stick everything to my machinery that is used with that machine - i.e. push sticks and feather boards stuck to the table saw, band saw setup bars stuck to the band saw, etc.

Wasn't that her idea and design? When I first saw the episode where she introduced it, I wrote her and told her she should sell them they were so brilliant.

"one magnet can lift a newborn baby" not if you have a non-ferrous baby

Would these be good for a kitchen knife holder? I feel like the answer is yes

Magswitch is the, well you know. I use them everywhere. Love the magnetic tips. Great video

Hey thanks! I used this method on a tricky little project today, and it's working great. I even bought some of those magnets from your link. Couldn't find a 10mm drill bit, so I used 25/64" and it worked like a charm. Only other advice I'd offer is: don't use Gorilla Glue, because it foams up as it dries... AC Glue looks like the ticket.

Hi, when i click on the magnets link on KM shop, i get a "404 page not found" error. Where can we find those magnets now ?

Thank you.

So great🎉

Great tips! Thanks for sharing!