Doug writes:

I recently had surgery and have a cast on my right arm…and it gets VERY itchy after a week or so.  Chopsticks and knitting needles are all too short…but a small magnet tucked into the underside of the cast and then ‘dragged’ along by a larger magnet was a great way to scratch those hard to reach spots.  The workcover people think it’s a fantastic idea!!  :-)

Brilliant…!

Here’s a letter we received from Aussie Magnets customer Ken, who managed to cure a burning pain in his hand using Rare Earth Sphere magnets

Hi Folks,

I have used two flat bar magnets to cure a burning pain in my r/h thumb. One on the underside of thumb and the secound on top taped with sticking plaster. I left this cast on every night for 4 days and the pain disappered and never came back …now 6 years ago. I believe the magnets increased the blood flow to some possible nerve problem.

I made up a coiled band with rare earth ball 2mm magnets, 74 of them in a long chain and coilded them around my wifes index finger and taped them in position. She had stabbed hershelf with a sharp knife while parting frozen hash browns AND THE FINGER HAD TURNED BLUE AND STAYED ICE COLD. There was no blood circulation. The magnets on the first morning after wearing them reduced the blue down to 50% and the finger warmed up again. After 3 days her finger was back to normal… the knife had hit right into the bone …that’s how deep the wound was.

Hope others can experiment and try this out. It works.

Regards Ken Bornman

Well done, Ken! Magnets come to the rescue once more. There are lots of people who doubt the validity of magnets in health and pain relief (to be honest, we share some of those doubts), but it’s always fantastic to hear customers who have successfully cured their ails with a few simple magnets.

Woodford Design have combined our three favourite things (the iPad, our refrigerator, and magnets) to produce the FridgePad - perhaps the ultimate fridge magnet? FridgePad is an iPad case with sturdy rare earth magnets embedded in the back, allowing you to attach your magical and revolutionary device to the fridge, right alongside take-away menus, ignored notices and pictures from kindergarten. Wonderful.

Who said magnets couldn’t be magical?

Lots of Aussie Magnets customers come to us with plans to build wind turbines, but very rarely do we get to see one that’s actually functional. When Maurice emailed us with pictures (and video) of his working wind-turbine, we were thrilled. He took an old ceiling fan, some coils, some glue, some magnets and lots of ingenuity and created a working turbine:

The turbine was producing up to 35 volts AC with only one coil assembly wired in. Further developments will include connecting both coil assemblies to bridge rectifiers to produce Direct Current (DC) that will be used to charge up about three deep cell batteries to use as a off grid backup and to run a couple of motors through a 240 volt AC inverter. Adding an extra run of magnets in the spaces between the current magnets will increase the output from the turbine and having the bridge rectifiers in series or parallel changes the volts to amps ratios. More experimenting will produce improved results and the aerodynamic design of the blades is important to reduce any noise.

Maurice, Aussie Magnets customer

Genius! And it’s not just experimental either - Maurice is producing usable power that could make a real difference to his electricity bills.

Check back tomorrow for a brief video of the turbine in action.

Thanks, Maurice! Your gift is on the way.

#041: Magnetic Key Dish

etsyfindsandwishes found this cool Magnetic Key Dish. We suspect there’s a strong Rare Earth magnet embedded in the dish holding the keys tight. Just make sure your keyring isn’t aluminium, otherwise it won’t hold.

You can attach your own keys to any magnetic-receptive surface using our special Keychain Magnets.

#038: Impromptu Tool Belt

Need help holding your tools while you’re working? Put a few Rare Earth magnets in your pockets and you’ve got a home-made tool belt. Strong magnets won’t let go and will hold relatively heavy tools. You might also keep a magnet in your pocket to magnetise your screwdrivers, ensuring screws don’t fall off the tip.

Any Rare Earth magnet should do the job, but you’ll need to consider the thickness of the material (this will reduce the effective pull strength) and the weight of your tools.

#034: Animag Photo Stands

Photojojo lurrrrve magnets, and their latest magnetic treats are super-cool. These ‘Animags’ are magnetic photo-holders shaped like animals. Check them out!

#029: Magnetic Polaroid Frames

We love Photojojo (they sell great gear for photography nerds), and we love that their online store is increasingly full of magnetic goodies!

Their latest is a nifty magnetic frame for your polaroid photos. Lots of people use magnets to hold photos on their fridge, but these frames give your pics an added retro kick. Nice work, Photojojo!

#014: Removing Stubborn Batteries

Sometimes batteries just don’t want to budge. They’re easy enough to insert, but what happens when you need to change them?

Evil Mad Scientist Lenore M. Edman has been using magnets to remove batteries from toys and other difficult gadgets. It’s safer (you don’t need anything pointy) and definitely easier on your fingers!

A stack of 10 x 10 x 10mm Rare Earth Blocks should do the trick, as should any strong magnet you’ve got lying around the house.