Some of you new T4 owners may not remember when we routinely taped or epoxied a rare earth magnet to the water trough. Built in "factory" magnets did not start until the new design of the T7 water tray.
Having a magnet with your water trough will keep all the steel grindings along the edge of the water trough and not recirculating. All you need is a flat round rare earth magnet from the hardware store. (3/4" or 19mm diameter is a good starting point. Exact size is not critical.) I suggest starting with electrical tape, just in case you might eventually decide to move it. I removed the taped on magnet from my original trough (T7, 2009) and moved it to the T4 trough.
It is an easy and inexpensive upgrade.
Ken
I hope Tormek comes up with a similar tray as T7 including the magnet and extension for the T4.
Great tip Ken, I'm assuming you taped it to the outside of the tray. Maybe a dumb question, but might save someone a little grief.
Actually, Mike, that's a very good question. It is on the outside. I placed it on the tapered short side (outside). I don't know if it makes much difference exactly where it placed, as long as it does not interfere with placing or removing the water trough.
I would suggest placing it temporarily first if you have dreams of using epoxy later. i have found that electrical tape works surprisingly well.
Ken
Wouldn't the best place be where the stone enters the water so the magnet would catch the particles as they enter the water? On the bottom as well.
I would think you would want it down further, so any escaping magnetism, wouldn't work on the pores of the stone (wouldn't have to use the grader as quick). I figure it would only be a small difference though.
Doesn't the T-7 water tray fit the T-4? I am surprised they didn't put a magnet spot on it, but that would just be one more not included accessory. That said, I think I would still consider for those old trays or newer T-4 trays, the old magnet in a (screw sized) ziplock bag trick. When you pull the bag from the water, you open it and remove the magnet over the trash can, and the shavings fall in.
Fineline, I have no way of knowing for certain, however, my guess is that the T4 water trough is just part of the production run from the T3. The T4 trough is essentially identical to the trough used by the T7 until it was redesigned. I would not be at all surprised to see the T4 water trough eventually redesigned to resemble the latest T7 trough. I would like to see that.
SADW, the T4 and T7 water trays are not interchangeable. The T4 tray is too small to fit around the T7 stone. The T7 tray will not fit under the T4 wheel.
I have never tried the ziplock bag trick, so I cannot comment on it. Taping the magnet on the (outside) bottom of the T4 trough won't work because it won't allow enough clearance to slip in. That's one reason I recommend taping the magnet temporarily. No sense in epoxying it where it won't clear.
Perhaps another reason for the temporary fitting would be to try different locations to see which works best. I hope that if someone tries this he would share the results with the forum.
Ken
Attaching the magnet to the bottom of the water trough makes it hard to install and remove the trough. It keeps sticking to the Tormek frame. If you really want to improve the performance attach more than one magnet and see which one collects the most steel.
I think that the further from the axis of rotation the better.
I'll leave the physics of magnetic fields to you. I just notice that the little magnet catches a lot of steel particles.
Ken
My simple magnet attached to the end of the T4 water tray with blue masking tape certainly captured a lot of metal particles today. I was impressed with how well the primitive setup worked.
Ken
I ran several grinding tests this weekend with both the T4 and T7. My taped on magnet on the T4 appeared to work as effectively as the built in magnet in the improved T7 trough. The built in magnet looks nicer, however, either way works.
Ken
I have two magnets hot glued to the outside of my water trough. Just make sure that they don't interfere with the attaching or detaching of the water trough.
Good thought, Herman.
My taped on magnet on the T4 tray is on the end where the wheel leaves the water tray. This happens to be the same end where the T7 built in magnet is located. I should try taping another magnet to the other end.
Do you notice if either magnet location catches more ground steel particles?
Ken
My magnets are on the side. I originally attached four but two of them fell off. The other two are still attached after several years. I don't notice any difference in the amount of steel they collect.
I was looking for strong large neodymium magnets but could not find them.
Happened to come across HDD use such magnets.
So if you have some old HDD lying around, you might want to salvage the magnets for your Tormek or some other projects.
(http://i1166.photobucket.com/albums/q614/worldtac/D70A7CBF-4FCD-47EA-8D2C-9071181CC8A8_zpst8uxzx1n.jpg)
I found an ordinary three quarter inch diameter magnet (it looks like a nickel) quite adequate. They are inexpensive and should be available at any hardware store. At present, it is attached to the tray with blue masking tape. I don't recommend the blue tape as a
"forever fix", but it has held up reasonably well. Black electrical tape held up with my old water trough for several years until I removed it to switch it to the T4 tray.
Ken
I use the Harddisk magnet to. inexpencive (if you have a broken harddrive) and pretty powerfull magnet.