dough
Member
Hi Brewers,
Anybody know where in Australia I can purchase stir bars made from neodymium magnets? Failing that, import some at reasonable cost.
I figure the stronger the more likely they are to stay spinning in the middle of my unevenly bottomed Erlenmeyer flasks. That spells Neodymium.
It seems the main reason stir bars are made of the magnetically "weaker" Alnico is because when heated that material, retains it's magnetism better compared to Neodymium. Stir plates in labs are, at least sometimes, run hot. Yeast propagation happens at about room temp so why not use stir bars made from neodymium.
I already have a couple of cheap cylindrical stir bars but they:
Neodymium PTFE coated stir bars do exist:
Magnetic Stir Bars - K & J Magnetics - Pennsylvania USA
but the shipping is over $AUD50.
If anyone knows where I can get hold of some suitable neodymium stir bars for reasonable dough please let me know.
Cheers!
Rob
Anybody know where in Australia I can purchase stir bars made from neodymium magnets? Failing that, import some at reasonable cost.
I figure the stronger the more likely they are to stay spinning in the middle of my unevenly bottomed Erlenmeyer flasks. That spells Neodymium.
It seems the main reason stir bars are made of the magnetically "weaker" Alnico is because when heated that material, retains it's magnetism better compared to Neodymium. Stir plates in labs are, at least sometimes, run hot. Yeast propagation happens at about room temp so why not use stir bars made from neodymium.
I already have a couple of cheap cylindrical stir bars but they:
* are noisy - no central ring/ridge on unevenly bottomed flasks
* more easily loose their magnetism than my 10 year old neodymium button magnets, despite storing the stir bars "end to end" as mutual "keepers"
* get thrown occasionally.
So, perhaps time to try replacing the stir bars.Neodymium PTFE coated stir bars do exist:
Magnetic Stir Bars - K & J Magnetics - Pennsylvania USA
but the shipping is over $AUD50.
If anyone knows where I can get hold of some suitable neodymium stir bars for reasonable dough please let me know.
Cheers!
Rob