Master Magnetics will be featuring their entire line of craft and hobby magnets at the CHA Expo in Anaheim, booth #1826.

Ceramic Magnets, also known as ferrite magnets, are the most popular type of magnet for craft and hobby projects. Available in discs, blocks and rings, Master Magnetics’ craft magnets are made from the highest grade of ceramic magnet material available. Just add glue to the back and they are ideal for an endless array of projects.

For heavy projects, Neodymium Discs with Adhesive offer super strength combined with the speed and convenience of a peel and stick adhesive. These rare earth magnets are the strongest permanent magnetic material in the world providing extreme strength for small spaces. The convenient peel and stick foam adhesive backing eliminates the need for applying glue, making every magnetic project faster and easier.

Neodymium Discs ensure secure holding power without slipping on metal surfaces. The industrial-strength acrylic foam adhesive conforms to the irregularities of rigid substrates and adheres the magnet to a multitude of materials including wood, plastic, ceramic, rock, paper and much more. Use a North and South magnet for added strength and “snap-to” positioning, ideal for closures on cabinets, displays, purses, cases and more.

Flexible Magnetic Tape is perfect for making lightweight craft projects magnetic. It has a strong adhesive with a peel off liner on one side and magnetism on the other. For more information call 1-888-293-9190 or visit magnetsource.com.

Testing assures compatibility with major printer manufacturers for solvent, eco-solvent, UV and now latex inks.

Master Magnetics, Inc. (The Magnet Source™) provides the industry’s widest options for wide-format printing directly on to flexible magnetic material. Available in 42” and 24” widths, PrintMagnetVinyl™ allows for high-resolution printing directly on flexible magnetic material with solvent, eco-solvent, UV and now latex ink systems.

Over the past year, Master Magnetics has partnered with major printer manufacturers to test their flexible magnetic sheeting. Most recently, PrintMagnetVinyl™ printed successfully using latex ink on an HP Scitex LX850. Latex inks provide all the performance characteristics of solvent and UV inks without the environmental and indoor air quality hazards.

Testing for compatibility and quality has been completed with many international printer manufacturers including Mutoh, HP, EFI / Vutek, Gerber Scientific Products, Mimaki, Integra/Grapo, SII – Seiko Instruments USA, Canon, Oce, FujiFilm, Jetrix and is in process with other well-known brands.

New business opportunities that flexible magnetic sheeting provides include a variety of indoor and outdoor applications such as POP displays, signage, message boards, and promotional items such as magnetic business cards, menus, calendars, sports schedules and vehicle graphics.

PrintMagnetVinyl™ saves time and money printing direct to magnet instead of printing on a substrate (vinyl or paper, etc.) and then laminating it to the flexible magnetic sheeting. Another traditional method has been to print on non-magnetized magnetic material, and then magnetize it, also a more time-consuming, two-step process. Printing direct to the magnet is a more efficient and profitable process. Visit magnetsource.com/printdirect for more information.

Master Magnetic’s PrintMagnetVinyl™ sheeting is available in thicknesses of .015”, .020” and .030”, widths of 12”, 24”, 30”, 40” and 42”, standard roll lengths of 10 and 25 ft. and can be cut, slit or die cut for customized widths and lengths. For aqueous ink printers, Master Magnetics also offers PrintMagnet™ flexible magnetic sheeting with a paper topcoat instead of vinyl that allows for printing directly to the magnet.

Master Magnetics, Inc. (The Magnet Source™) will be featuring Neodymium Latch Magnets at the AWFS Fair (Association of Woodworking and Furnishing Suppliers – July 20-23, 2011) in Las Vegas.

These powerful and compact magnetic assemblies are designed to be used as latches for cabinets, chests, displays and more.

The recessed, flush-mount design of the Neodymium Latch Magnets offers a cleaner, more finished look to a project than traditional protruding bar latch magnets. Utilizing neodymium, the strongest magnetic material in the world, allows for strong holding power in a small size. Neodymium Latch Magnets are available in five sizes with pull strengths ranging from 2 to 30 pounds to ensure that the strength of the magnet is appropriate for the application.

Simply attach the magnet in a steel cup to one surface and the strike plate to the other to make a secure closure. Counterbore a hole in the wood for flush mounting. Available as individual pieces or complete kits. Kits include Steel Cup, Strike Plate, Neodymium Magnet Disc, Noise Buffer Pad and Screws.

Testing assures compatibility with major printer manufacturers

Master Magnetics, Inc. features the industry’s widest options for wide-format printing directly on to flexible magnetic material. Available in 42” and 24” widths, PrintMagnetVinyl™ allows for high-resolution printing directly on flexible magnetic material with solvent, eco-solvent and UV printers.

PrintMagnetVinyl™ saves time and money printing direct to magnet instead of printing on a substrate (vinyl or paper, etc.) and then laminating it to the flexible magnetic sheeting. Another traditional method has been to print on non-magnetized magnetic material, and then magnetize it, also a more time-consuming, two-step process.

Over the past year, Master Magnetics has partnered with major printer manufacturers to test their flexible magnetic sheeting. “Working with manufacturers to test our material has proven to be extremely valuable,” said Melissa Thompson, sales manager with Master Magnetics. “Now, individual sign and print shop owners don’t have to determine magnetic material compatibility on their own. The knowledge that high quality results can be achieved with their printer eliminates the trial and error guess work, provides assurance and confidence in the process, and opens up the opportunity for an entire new profit center for their business,” Thompson said. New business opportunities that flexible magnetic sheeting provides include a variety of indoor and outdoor applications such as POP displays, signage, message boards, and promotional items such as magnetic business cards, menus, calendars, sports schedules and vehicle graphics.

Testing for compatibility and quality has been completed with many international printer manufacturers including Mutoh, EFI/Vutek, Gerber Scientific Products, HP, SII – Seiko Instruments USA, Mimaki, Integra/Grapo, Canon, and is in process with other well-known brands.

Master Magnetic’s PrintMagnetVinyl™ sheeting is available in thicknesses of .015”, .020” and .030”, widths of 24” and 42”, standard roll lengths of 10 and 25 ft. and can be cut, slit or die cut for customized widths and lengths.

“In addition to having the industry’s only 42”-wide magnetic sheeting, our custom converting capabilities can meet the requirements of unique applications and is a valuable service we offer our customers,” says Thompson.

Master Magnetics also offers ZipGrip™ flexible magnetic sheeting that can be laminated with a variety of high quality topcoats, such as vinyl or paper, depending on the required function of the magnet. For more information, visit magnetsource.com.

From www.msnbc.com…

WFLA’s Brooks Garner reports on the pole shift.

Alan Boyle writes: Don’t think of this as another sign of the apocalypse, but Earth’s magnetic north pole has been shifting enough that Tampa’s airport has to repaint the numbers on its runways.

Tampa International Airport in Florida has closed its primary runway until Jan. 13 to change the numeric designations at each end, as well as the signage on taxiways leading to the runway. The Tampa Tribune said the runway had been designated 18R/36L, indicating its alignment along the 180-degree approach from the north and the 360-degree approach from the south. Now the numbers are being revised to read 19R/1L (190 degrees and 10 degrees). Two other runways will be closed later this month for a similar signage change, the Tribune reported.

The changes are required by the Federal Aviation Administration, which wants the numeric designations to reflect magnetic-north headings to the nearest 10-degree increment.
For decades, the magnetic north pole has been migrating from Canadian Arctic territory toward Russia. That shift has accelerated in recent years, and current estimates suggest that the pole is moving at almost 40 miles a year. Maps from Natural Resources Canada chart the movement since 1831 and project the trend through 2050. Movements in the magnetic poles are caused by the motion of molten iron at Earth’s core, which serves as the planet’s magnetic dynamo. Here’s how NASA explains the process.

Airports generally change their runway designations every few decades, depending on how the pole shifts shake out numerically. For example, Stansted Airport in the London area renamed its 23/05 runway as 22/04 in July 2009 to reflect the magnetic shift. “It’ll roughly be another 56 years before we have to consider changing it again,” Trevor Waldock, head of airside operations at Stansted, told the BBC at the time.

A catastrophic pole shift is one of the oft-used plot devices in doomsday tales — and some of the doomsayers have tried to link the phenomenon to the 2012 Maya apocalypse. Earth’s magnetic poles have been known to reverse themselves every 400,000 years or so, in a process that’s outlined in the video above.

This NASA Web page explains that the shift in the magnetic poles, or even a pole reversal, need not be feared. “As far as we know, such a magnetic reversal doesn’t cause any harm to life on Earth,” NASA says. But a lot of runway numbers might need to be repainted.

Master Magnetics, Inc. (The Magnet Source™) announced the addition of Neodymium Discs with Adhesive to their line of over 250 retail-packaged magnets for Hardware, Home Improvement, Automotive, Craft, Hobby, Office/School Supplies and Housewares categories.

These rare earth magnets combine the powerful strength of neodymium, the strongest permanent magnetic material in the world, with a convenient peel and stick adhesive backing. Eliminating the need for applying glue makes every magnetic project faster and easier. Neodymium Discs ensure secure holding power without slipping on metal surfaces. The industrial-strength acrylic foam adhesive conforms to the irregularities of rigid substrates and adheres the magnet to a multitude of materials including wood, plastic, ceramic, rock, paper and much more.

Previously only available in bulk, Neodymium Discs with Adhesive are now available in colorful, tri-lingual retail packaging. Four sizes are available – 1/4”, 3/8”, 1/2” and 3/4” diameter discs. The two smaller size packages come with a combination of attracting north and south pole magnets for use as closures. With super magnetic strength, these neodymium discs are ideal for cabinets, lockers, doors, cases, chests, displays, closures, purses, picture frames and more, adding speed, strength and quality to any magnetic project.

The Extendable Bendable Magnetic Pick-Up Tool from Master Magnetics, Inc. was among Professional Tool and Equipment News’ Top 100 most requested products for 2010. The entire Top 100 list will be featured on PTEN’s online buyer’s guide.

The new Extendable Bendable Magnetic Pick-Up Tool (part # 07569) with a powerful neodymium magnet features:

• Retractable and bendable magnetic extension
• Extends from 20” to 36”
• Durable lightweight aluminum housing
• Strong lifting power of 3 pounds
• Easy-grip vinyl handle 
• Attractive try-before-you-buy clam pack

The Extendable Bendable Magnetic Pick-Up Tool is an extremely valuable and handy tool to have around the garage or shop. Easy to use, the flexible shaft allows access to previously inaccessible locations to retrieve tools, nuts, bolts, washers and other items that are out of reach.

Neodymium Lift Magnets are ideal for handling steel plate, forgings, die castings and similar items in machine shops, warehouses and industrial processing plants. Lift magnets eliminate the need for slings or clamping devices and allow one person to do the work of two or more. Four models are available in strengths of 220 lbs., 660 lbs., 1,300 lbs. and 2,200 lbs. of flat piece lifting capacity. For safety, the actual breakaway force is 3 times greater than the maximum lift rating.

These compact and impressively strong magnets from Master Magnetics are industrial workhorses that are:

• Designed to lift either flat and round ferrous metal
• Quick and easy to use On/Off release lever with a safety lock to engage and disengage material. No electricity required.
• Ideal for safe and efficient transporting, loading and unloading of heavy ferrous material.

There are not many products that can approach the all-around value and simplicity of handy products like duct tape, WD-40®, VELCRO® or even the Veg-O-Matic. While the Cup Caddy admittedly doesn’t slice, dice or even Jullienne, the versatile new Magnetic Cup Caddy is a remarkably handy holder of needful things in the home, office, warehouse, yard, garage and more.

The Magnetic Cup Caddy magnetically attracts to any flat ferrous metal surface with powerful magnets that hold it firmly in place without slipping. Great for use on a forklift, tractor, riding mower, toolbox, or file cabinet. Holds an insulated mug, hot or cold container, aluminum can or fountain cup. Also useful for keeping cans, spray paint, lubricants, small tools and more within easy reach.

The Magnetic Cup Caddy features:
• Powerful magnetism
• Extra wide slots to accommodate coffee mug handle
• Holds containers up to 3.25” diameter at base.

NOTE: Master Magnetics, Inc. cannot confirm or refute the findings of this article. We simply provide this in the interest of our website viewers.

Written by Cynthia Drake, provided by creditcards.com

Will your credit card become unreadable if it’s exposed to magnets? In a previous story, we said yes, but many of you begged to differ. Seeing that, we took the challenge of clearing things up once and for all.

The result: With the help of a junkyard magnet, a garden–variety refrigerator magnet and a professor with a vast knowledge of magnetics, we were proved right –– eventually.

A highly charged debate ensued after our “How to destroy a credit card” was published in September of 2009. Folks started weighing in on whether magnets –– especially those of the refrigerator persuasion –– actually had the power to strip a stripe. “Running a magnet across the strip will do nothing,” said one commenter on our video at YouTube.com. Others chimed in with their own experiences with credit cards and magnets.

So we put our cards to the test against a barrage of different magnets, even heading to the junkyard to swipe stripes with some serious electromagnetic forces.

But before we get to the results, let’s take a step back.

The Mystery of the Stripe

Credit card magnetic stripes carry more than just your precious financial data; they carry some mystery, too. The stripe you see on the back of your card is a collection of magnetic particles –– each a very small magnet about 20 millionths of an inch long. It’s a commonly held belief that exposure of these particles to an external magnet can scramble the information and make the card unreadable.

That’s the theory. But does it really happen? We sought to find out.

Magnets on a Mission

Our experiment began with three different magnets of various strengths:

• A generic refrigerator magnet, similar to the one that’s probably holding up your kid’s artwork in your kitchen.

• A slightly more powerful magnet, which is capable of holding up to 72 pounds.

• A junkyard magnet, which can hold about 7,000 pounds and is also just plain fun to watch in action.

You never know when you’ll just happen to be waving your credit card around in a junkyard.

We swiped three separate cards –– all were tested and functioning properly before the experiment, by the way –– with one of these types of magnets; then took them to a local retailer who ran each card through a credit card machine to test which ones were still readable and which ones weren’t.

Once all preparations were in place, it was time for the big reveal.

Moment of Truth

Up first was the card exposed to the fridge magnet. It turned out that it was still readable by a credit card machine. The second, larger magnet was not, despite multiple swipes. Could we have been on the way to the major scientific breakthrough we’d been hoping for?

Not so fast. It was time to put the third card, the one exposed to the junkyard magnet, to the test –– and surprisingly, the card was still readable. It had survived the most powerful magnet in our arsenal.

This caused considerable confusion. Our initial assumption was that the strength of the magnet would play a role in the demagnetization process. Thus, a wimpy refrigerator magnet wouldn’t have the data–destruction powers of a gigantic junkyard magnet.

We were wrong.

Puzzled, we turned to an expert for answers.

Calling In the Expert

Totally stumped by the fact that just one out of three magnets (the one of medium strength) had rendered a card unreadable, we sought out the guidance of A. Dean Sherry, a chemistry professor at the University of Texas at Dallas.

Sherry is also associate director of the Rogers Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Center and a radiology professor at the university’s Southwestern Medical Center. In other words, he’s got plenty of magnetic experience for our purposes.

He heard us out and politely corrected our assumption about the relationship between the strength of the magnet and its power over the data on the stripe. “The field strength isn’t all that important,” he said. “Even the refrigerator magnet should work eventually.”

So what was the deciding factor? Exposure time.

“It is well known that magnets will wipe out information on credit card stripes,” Sherry said. “However, it doesn’t always happen after one exposure. It may take several exposures for the card to be deactivated, but it will happen eventually.”

Huh. So armed with that information, we decided to replicate the experiment with the refrigerator magnet. We left the magnet exposed to the credit card stripe for several minutes and took a few more swipes for good measure.
Then we took it back to the store and … success. The card’s stripe had been demagnetized.

Not the Only Way to Destroy a Card

The safest, most practical way to destroy your credit card, however, is to cut it into tiny pieces using a shredder or a pair of scissors.

For an extra level of protection (or if you just want to replicate our very cool experiment), you can use a magnet on the stripe. Just be sure to expose it for a significant amount of time –– that goes for heavy–duty junkyard magnets, too.