timdp
Well-known member
Some of the HF magnetic tool holders seem to have magnet sets with alternating polarity in the magnet set making them pretty useless for tool holding because the magnetic field is not uniform along the length of the bar. Took one of these defective pieces back today and figured out that the ones with no printing on the paper over magnets are OK, but the ones with printing (US General) are all bad. I tested about 20 of them and the blank ones were all good and the printed ones were all bad. Buyer beware.
To test one, slide a small screwdriver blade along the length of the bar holding it perpendicular to the bar. If the field is uniform along the whole bar, you are good. If the blade sticks some places and does not stick other places, you have a bad (defective) piece.
Harbor Freight magnetic tool holder hack.
I really love these things (current coupon has them for $3.99), but needed a couple of shorter ones so I cut one roughly in half. There are 8 magnets in each rack. Run your fingernail along the paper covering the magnets to figure out the edges of each magnet. Put it in a vise and cut the bar by cutting one of the two center magnets in half using a grinder (don't cut along the seam between two magnets). Once you have cut it all the way through remove both cut-in-half magnets with a small cold chisel and pick off all the busted magnet debris. This gets you a 10" long piece and 7"long piece. Drill new mounting holes where the half magnets were and mount.
To test one, slide a small screwdriver blade along the length of the bar holding it perpendicular to the bar. If the field is uniform along the whole bar, you are good. If the blade sticks some places and does not stick other places, you have a bad (defective) piece.
Harbor Freight magnetic tool holder hack.
I really love these things (current coupon has them for $3.99), but needed a couple of shorter ones so I cut one roughly in half. There are 8 magnets in each rack. Run your fingernail along the paper covering the magnets to figure out the edges of each magnet. Put it in a vise and cut the bar by cutting one of the two center magnets in half using a grinder (don't cut along the seam between two magnets). Once you have cut it all the way through remove both cut-in-half magnets with a small cold chisel and pick off all the busted magnet debris. This gets you a 10" long piece and 7"long piece. Drill new mounting holes where the half magnets were and mount.
