Magnet Facts

When filling out your Apex custom magnet request form, you’ll come across a section to choose a magnet coating or finish: nickel, zinc, plastic, rubber, epoxy, chrome, gold, silver, or none. Magnet coatings and finishes could help your magnet perform better in your application. They can improve durability, which increases the magnet’s lifetime and reduces overall costs.  If you’re unsure of which magnet coating or finish you should get, or if you should get one at all, this guide can help you decide.  Continue reading →

The oil and gas industry experiences limited natural resources, which means many oil and gas companies have to drill new wells to maintain the oil and gas supply. The process of drilling new wells oftentimes means drilling in different rock formations, new directions, and going deeper into the ground. As a result, the environment is more dangerous and challenging. Oil and gas companies can leverage two magnetic sensors to help minimize operational challenges. Continue reading →

We love seeing headlines about mysterious magnetic space objects “unlike anything astronomers have seen before.” In general, we tend to gravitate toward magnet-related news, but this story is particularly intriguing and attractive, so we wanted to share it!   Essentially, a research team responsible for mapping radio waves out in space discovered an object that releases a huge burst of energy three times per hour. It sends out a beam of radiation, crossing our line of sight, and for roughly 60 seconds every twenty minutes, it shines as one of the brightest radio sources in our sky.  Continue reading →

Whether you own a bar, cafeteria, or restaurant, you’ve probably made unnecessary expenses replacing flatware that was accidentally thrown away. Between both customers and employees, throwing away flatware is inevitable, especially if it's buried in garbage.  Flatware can be expensive, and not having enough can slow down your day-to-day operations. The good news is you can create a trash can retriever to collect flatware before it gets thrown away. No more unnecessary expenditures! Continue reading →

From lifting heavy materials to welding, there's a lot of precision, time, and resources that go into a construction project. Even the smallest mistakes can be expensive and potentially dangerous. By implementing magnets, you can decrease costs, improve accuracy, and add an extra layer of safety in construction projects. Neodymium and samarium cobalt magnets are extremely useful in the construction industry. Neodymium magnets have a high coercivity and temperature stability, meaning they can be applied in high-speed processes. Samarium-cobalt magnets are ideal for fluid applications because of their corrosion resistance. Continue reading →

Gunter Kletetschka, a research scientist from the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ (UAF) Geophysical Institute, discovered a way to locate and define meteorite impact sites that no longer have craters due to erosion. In addition to helping geologists study Earth, this discovery could teach us more about other planets in our solar system. Kletetschka says that the key to this discovery was in “the significantly reduced level of natural remanent magnetization of rock that has been subjected to the intense forces from a meteor as it nears and then strikes the surface.” Continue reading →

Physicists at RIKEN, a Japanese scientific research institute, recently found a way to show how extremely small amounts of heat can be manipulated to control magnetic whirlpools, otherwise known as skyrmions. This could be a stepping stone to creating more energy-efficient forms of computing.  Skyrmions, which are information-carriers, develop when the magnetic flux of atoms move into specific patterns inside a material. Under some conditions, they organize into what’s called a skyrmion lattice.  Continue reading →

Recently, there have been significant innovations in smart textiles, which are “intelligent textile structures or fabrics that can sense and react to environmental stimuli, which may be mechanical, thermal, chemical, biological, and magnetic amongst others,” according to Science Direct. In particular, magnetic smart textiles have great potential because they can be used in a variety of fields, such as medical treatment, smart clothing, electronic textiles, biomedicine, sportswear, protective clothing, and space exploration.  In a recent study, scientists used neodymium magnets to prepare smart textile composites to improve thermal stability and mechanical strength. By doing so, they could uncover ways to improve textile magnetism. This was the first time magnetic textiles were prepared with neodymium magnets, by a coating, to improve magnetization.  Continue reading →

If you keep up with our blog, you probably know there are many industrial magnetic applications. In addition to staying up-to-date on Apex blog posts, YouTube is a great resource to learn about all things magnetic. We’ve compiled a list of some of our favorite YouTube channels — these channels consistently share information and insights about industrial magnets that can be useful for your business. These channels are great resources to learn about industrial magnets and how to implement them. They also feature a variety of industries, including engineering, space, technology, and aviation.  Continue reading →

In a recent blog post, we discussed the various applications of magnets in aerospace engineering. We focused on the beneficial properties of permanent magnets, how neodymium magnets are helpful in this industry, and ways samarium cobalt magnets are implemented. In this blog post, we’re looking closely at electric motors and how magnetics will impact this evolving aerospace industry.  The Current...