The Strongest Magnetic Clasp

Jewelry Discussion
1

Does anyone have a source for a very strong magnetic clasp? I’m
looking for one that will simply pull apart, but with a good amount
of force. I’ve had a few that must be turned and then pulled apart,
but I don’t want that. All of the rest that I’ve tried are pretty
feeble in their holding force. I would like an inexpensive one (not
gold) in silver or white metal. I have a few customers who have such
bad arthritis in their hands, that they have to just about use their
knuckles instead of their fingers. They can’t work any necklace clasp
unless it’s magnetic. Any suggestions for a good source?

Thanks,
Lauren

2

Does anyone have a source for a very strong magnetic clasp?

I know Rio Grande have several in their catalog, I personally have
never used these with my designs but I’m curious about them. I just
had a request from one of my clients who has a problem with
traditional clasps/toggles. Her fingers are a bit numb due to back
surgery, so I’m all ears on this subject from those who have used
these.

Thanks,

Dawn

3

The Rio Grande catalog has really great, strong magnetic clasps.

4

http://mag-lok.com
We use them all the time, our customer’s love them !

Blessings to all,
Tina in Texas
CreatedWithFire Studio’s

5

If you custom make the cups, the strongest magnets I have found on
the market which look nice are Lee Valley’s Rare Earth magnets.
Somebody held up their gerbil on the fridge with four of them. Not
that I condone the action and hope that people reading this won’t
grab their cat and make it into a wall display.

http://www.leevalley.com

-k

6

There has been an advertisement on TV here on the West Coast lately
selling this exact thing. I Think you could get a set of 6 gold and
3 silver and 2 extension chaises for around $20.00 + shipping and
handling (which often is half again the cost of the item(s). If I
see this ad again I will write down the ordering info for you if you
are interested. Let me know.

John Dach
http://www,MLCE.net

7

Hi Lauren; Ballou makes a pretty good one.

8

Lauren

For the times I have used magnetic clasps, I made them myself. Try
these guys,

http://www.magnet4sale.com/xcart4/home.php?cat=256

DO NOT break the coating on the magnets, and do not heat. Treat it
like setting a stone.

Terry

9

Hi,

I have been using the stronger versions that also have a twist. The
wearer does not need to twist the jewelry for it to stay together, it
merely increases the surety of connection.

The other option is something like the very strong magnets for
magnetic bracelets…they do not need wire to hold them as they are
so strong. They are expensive…I might have found them at Shipwreck
Beads.

Kim

10 
I Think you could get a set of 6 gold and 3 silver and 2 extension
chaises for around $20.00 + shipping and handling. If I see this ad
again I will write down the ordering info for you if you are
interested. Let me know.

I think you’ll find that these are gold and silver colored, not
the actual metals. Magnetic clasps are not hard to find from
legitimate sources, and I would avoid the “As Seen on TV” no matter
how persuasive the sales pitch. Our local jeweler’s supply stores
carry them, and even the craft stores.

Al Balmer
Sun City, AZ

11

It strikes me that these would be a good idea for young children too.
I have a God-daughter who is coming up three soon and her mum has
already had her ears pierced so I thought about making her a little
necklace. At least with a magnetic catch there wouldn’t be the risk
of it getting caught on something and her being strangled! Has anyone
else used them for children?

Helen
UK

12

Terry

I’ve never done it, but that was my first thought, too. That link
looks good - there are also many on EBay. Search for NdFeB, neodymium
or rare earth magnets. Very large ones are dangerous, if you’re
thinking about playing around with them, but the clasp-sized ones are
just powerful. A 3-4" N50 magnet will alter a TV screen from across
the room and pull knives off of shelves. A couple of 1"ers will crack
your finger if they snap together. Just some experience on my part,
but the little 3/8" ones are fun. If you’re making catches, more
power will only be better up to a point, at which point they won’t be
able to pull them apart. As Terry points out, it only takes around
200F to demagnetize them - very heat sensitive.

http://www.donivanandmaggiora.com

13

Hi John

One thing I have learned from all of you, when working with a new
material or substances, check safety issues. That is why I regard
Orchid as my most valuable magazine subscription. Reading the posts
have been so instructive and saved me from being an example of bad
practice on several occasions.

Do not penetrate the skin of these magnets, it is bad stuff.

I have never played with the big ones, after reading your post, I am
pretty sure I never will. The 0.5 lb are good enough for my use.

Terry

14

Be careful. When I ordered rare earth magnetic clasps for my
jewelry, they came with a little notice that they should not be used
on bracelets of people who would be using computers–that the
strength of the magnets was capable of compromising computer hard
drives. I had used some from Rio that seemed to be strong, but I had
two aunts whose bracelets were “stolen” by their cars. Apparently the
magnets were attracted to their cars when they reached to open the
door and they almost lost their bracelets. I ordered the rare earth
magnets and now my teenage grandchildren play with them. I have gone
back to the Rio clasps and put a safety chain on all bracelets when I
use them–that seemed to be a good compromise for the convenience of
a magnetic clasp.

Ann Lacava

15 
Do not penetrate the skin of these magnets, it is bad stuff.

I have never played with the big ones, after reading your post, I am
pretty sure I never will

Terry, I’m not some sort of magnet expert - I’ve made several
magnetic tumblers and have a handful of 1/4" size, too. It’s just a
good place to educate, especially since there was a link to a place
that sells them, and they’re pretty fascinating, too. The “skin” is
nickel plating almost always, and that’s mostly because Nd (don’t
make me spell it out ;} ) - neodymium oxidizes very quickly in air.
It’s not good for you but it’s not that bad for you either, it’s
mostly that they will oxidize away pretty quickly if exposed. They
are the most powerful magnets on earth. I won’t reiterate, seach
wikipedia for “neodymium magnets” if you’re interested, but they can
lift 1300 times their own weight. Up to about 1" size they’re just
powerful and pretty fun. I’m pretty strong in my hands especially,
but I cannot separate two 1"x1/2" magnets by pulling on them, I have
to slide them apart. Nor can I stop them from coming together, only
slow them down. Up to that size or so they are manageable, it’s when
SOME people just NEED to get some 3" ones that sit way up on top of a
cabinet because I’m a little scared of them (yeah, yeah, yeah…)
that it gets important. Put yourself between one of those and a safe
door and you’ll have bruises. But if any are put off by all this,
don’t be. Small ones are used in children’s toys, nowadays, and the
ones that are clasp sized are mostly just fun to play around with,
even larger. It’s just the big ones that are scary. Remember it’s the
volume of material - a 1/4"x1/4" magnet has .049 cu" of material, a
1"x1/4" magnet has .78 cu" - not 4 times as much but 16 times as
much. BTW, I use this: http://grapevine.abe.msstate.edu/~fto/tools
quite often for this sort of thing…

16 
on bracelets of people who would be using computers--that the
strength of the magnets was capable of compromising computer hard
drives.

Credit cards or anything with a magnetic strip, too. We have mass
transit tickets like that, for instance.

17

Since there has been mention in this thread of the use of small
magnets in childrens’ toys and someone thinking of using magnets in a
3-yr.old’s necklace, I think it is necessary to add a note of
caution–there have been recent cases in the news of children
swallowingmore than one small magnet with tragic results (perforated
intestines, etc.). An internet search will bring up many news
reports. Please be careful.

Regards,
Pat Zmuda

18

Hi John

Doing my reading before using the small ones, it was a couple of
sites that said it was bad, I took their word for it, I am no magnet
expert either. Tried the site you gave, guess I will have to pull
explorer out of mothballs to see it, it didn’t screen right on
Firefox and I could find nothing on magnets. For the strength of the
magnets, I have always wondered why they don’t use them in DC motors,
maybe they are now.

http://www.espimetals.com/msds’s/Neodymium.htm and
http://www.espimetals.com/msds’s/Neodymium%20Boride.htm

(unfortunately at the moment I do not remember the difference between
‘ide’ and ‘ate’ either way it is only one two oxygen off from boron)
are two of the data sheets I referred to, as my chemistry classes for
the most part are 30 years or better out of date, I vaguely
remembered Lanthanides were not good for you, but, I am really not
sure if I remember them as a problem, or just a cool name.

Thanks for your reply, enjoyed the discussion and the chance to
review research.

Terry

19 
Since there has been mention in this thread of the use of small
magnets in childrens' toys and someone thinking of using magnets in
a 3-yr.old's necklace, I think it is necessary to add a note of
caution--there have been recent cases in the news of children
swallowingmore than one small magnet with tragic results

Since asking the question about their suitability for use in a 3 year
old’s necklace, I thought better of it. If there’s an element of
doubt (and there must be for me to have asked the question) then it’s
best not to do it. I was, however, assuming that such clasps would
not have any parts that the child could take apart and swallow.

Helen
UK

20

Terry,

(unfortunately at the moment I do not remember the difference
between 'ide' and 'ate' either way it is only one two oxygen off
from boron) are two of the data sheets I referred to, as my
chemistry classes for the most part are 30 years or better out of
date

Take for example some compounds of potassium. The compound of
potassium and sulphur, potassium sulphide, is just composed of
potassium and sulphur atoms, specifically two potassium and one
sulphur, K2S.

The compound called potassium sulphate is made up of two potassium,
one sulphur and four oxygen (the term ate refers to the oxygen). The
compound has a formula of K2SO4.

Another example would be sodium carbide, Na2C2, just made of two
sodium and two carbon atoms. Sodium carbonate, Na2CO3 is two sodium,
one carbon and three oxygen atoms.

In such nomenclature, you always name the metal first (potassium,
sodium, calcium, iron, etc) and the non-metal afterwards. If the
non- metal is the only type of atom complexed with the metal then the
second term of the compound will be the name (or part of the name)
of the non-metal followed by the term ide, hence potassium sulphide.
Other examples of this type of compound with a metal and one
non-metal are things like the metal halides. Name is the metal, then
part of the halide name then ide. Example, table salt is sodium
chloride. Others would be potassium fluoride, calcium iodide,
magnesium bromide, etc. The list is almost limitless.

Other examples of non-metal ides would be nitrides, oxides, etc.

Things like sulphates and carbonates are negative ions (anions)
which don’t exist on their own but are complexed with a metal, hence
potassium sulphate, calcium carbonate, etc. Again the metal is named
first (and is the positive ion or cation of the compound) and the
negative, non-metallic part of the compound comes afterwards.

Here endeth the chemistry lesson! I hope all this makes some sense,
it does to me.

Helen
UK