More Water and Magnets

[jnash]

This being my first evening on the site, I've been surfing about looking at what's hot, and what's not.  The issue of gathering filings from the wheel water received some press.

I recently started collecting a number of the Aussie-developed Magswitch tools.  If you are not familiar with the product line, they are what the name suggests, a on-again/off-again magnet activated by rotary switch.  I have it in mind to see how one of these would benefit the craft in our work.

Take a look and see what you think @ http://www.magswitch.com.au/.  The products are for sale on both Ebay and Amazon.

Regards, Joe

[Super7]

Seems like overkill,  bringing a cannon when others have pea shoots.

I have 2 rare earth magnets (about the size of a 25 cent piece) on the inside, steel washer on the outside of the water tray.
I think it cost me about 75 cents.  I've used them for the last 8 years.

[jnash]

Thank you for the reply. Point well taken.

Owning a Tormek product in the first place is a example of what is termed, "conspicuous consumption".  It is a privilege to have a Tormek product sitting one one's bench, not a necessity.  If you ask me, I get approximately the same results on the worksite with a belt sander and a strop made of an old belt.

A friend of mine likes to sew.  She uses a Husqvarna/Viking sewing machine. She could likely get the same results from a Wal-Mart Taiwanese import.  Part of the enjoyment she gets is using the best tool availa ble for the job.  Goodies come and goodies go in her hobby.

All snobbery aside, I guess there comes a point in one's life where you don't always need to consider practicality and price, especially when the improvement adds enjoyment and convenience to one's hobby, hence my suggestion. 

My post was borne out of a novel application of an existing product, the MagSwitch, to a topic that has been trapsed across numerous times on this site.  Such a product may in fact extend the life of one's equipment by cleaning up ferrous filings more efficiently.  How many Tormek users would appreciate a more efficient method of cleaning up filings, hence longer wheel life?  Me for one.

For scale, a small MagSwitch costs about the same as three tubes of honing compound, or USD $27. 

Regards,
Joe