Neodymium ring magnet for my ITP A1.

I have decided that I need my ITP A1 to tailstand and have a magnet attatched so I had a look on a certain ?bay site.

I found some ring magnets that will do the job perfectly ... It is my intention to Araldite one to the tail-end of the torch ... The magnets are 20mm across with a 10mm hole and are 3mm thick ... Since the lanyard attatchment post on the torch sticks out by 3mm and is 5mm across , it should easily go through the 10mm hole in the 3mm thick magnet ... This would still leave room for a thin lanyard to be threaded through the hole in the post if required.

I had five magnets for $5-50 including postage , so it's not an expensive modification ... The only snag is that the torch is black and the magnets are nickel plated ... Still , it should be OK as a user.

To find them , I looked for "Neodymium ring magnets" on that site ... There are other sizes and thicknesses of magnets but these seemed to be the ones to fit the ITP A1 ... The A1 can still retain it's pocket clip , so I will be able to carry the torch and a magnet together in one piece ... Since the lanyard attatchment post will not be sticking out from the magnet , the torch will tailstand easily.

It's just a matter of waiting for the magnets to eventually arrive from Korea.
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If those are good quality neodymium magnets, ones that size will be immensely strong and you'll find your light attaching itself to steel objects with a loud clang, and pretty difficult to get off, lol. In fact the glue you use to stick the magnet to the light will be more likely to give way than the magnet itself.

First, cool idea, sounds very usefull.
DM51 has a good point there. Also, Neodymium magnets are quite brittle, so having the magnet at the end of the flashlight, it will make a more or less violent contact with the surface you are attaching it to. I destroyed more than one of these magnets like that.
You said your source for these magnets also offers thinner ones. Maybe you could order one of those, glue it to the end of your light and then a (non-magnetic) washer on top of that. Could even look nice, if you manage to find something black to cover the magnet, showing just the silver side of the magnet ring.

Oh yeah, and please show pictures when it's finished

It seems that I have made a tactical error.

I looked for a size of magnet that would fairly accurately fit the ITP A1 torch end ... A 3mm thick 20mm disk with a 10mm hole seemed right ... I already have some 7mm X 3mm disks and they have a pull of 2.5lbs ... That doesn't sound much till you try to get them apart ... These ring magnets are likely to be at least three times as powerful.

I now have visions of being attracted to (dragged towards) lamp-posts and steel shutter-doors or even car bodywork ... As I walk past lamp-posts , a bulge will appear in my coat pocket until finally it will return to normal as I struggle past the attraction ... Key-rings , metal bottle tops , coat-hangers and other items would suddenly become attatched to my tiny ITP A1 torch ... Even worse ; my torch could leap out of my pocket and attatch itself to a passing vehicle ... Even more worse ; I could become attatched to the moving vehicle.

So , in the interest of self-preservation , I will look at some of the thinner ring magnets (perhaps 1mm) and as suggested , glue a 2mm disk of black plastic over it to make it look better ... I will look for a pull of several ounces rather than many pounds.

Still , the magnets are not expensive and will probably hold my Maglites (with showerhead) firmly in place if only the Araldite will work OK ... I won't use them on my Maglites really ... I'm only joking !

Many Thanks for alerting me to the problems of my "pulling power".

"Back to the drawing board" as the saying goes.
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march.brown said:

the problems of my "pulling power"

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From your various posts in the past, it doesn't seem you've ever had any problems on that score, you naughty old person, lol.

Your mega-magnet will turn your life into a Tom & Jerry cartoon, where Tom swallows a flat-iron and Jerry wields a magnet to pull him around the house. I can almost picture the scene now...

DM51 said:

From your various posts in the past, it doesn't seem you've ever had any problems on that score, you naughty old person, lol.

Your mega-magnet will turn your life into a Tom & Jerry cartoon, where Tom swallows a flat-iron and Jerry wields a magnet to pull him around the house. I can almost picture the scene now...

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Our Yorkshire Terrier only weighs six pounds three ounces ... His harness has chrome-plated steel rings on it.

If you see someone walking (in South Wales) with a small dog attatched to his jacket pocket , then that is likely to be me and my modified ITP A1.

Either I have to get weaker magnets or a heavier dog ... I'm going with the weaker magnets since I don't want to be dragged round the park magnetically attatched to a huge dog ... I can visualise the newspaper headlines , but I won't go into that now , since there might be young people reading this.

So the search goes on for weaker , thinner magnets with a pulling power of about one pound ... That should be OK for a torch that only weighs a few ounces.
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If you find the perfect size magnet, but find that it is too strong, you can always weaken it by heating - trial and error to see just how much heat is needed.

I did a review on a Black & Decker clamp light with a magnet on it, and showed it holding onto a 5 lb block of steel and it it just fine attaching to metal. As long as it is on the end you can easily tilt the light over to pop it off.

I just don't want to be seen "hugging" a steel lamp-post , particularly with a lump in my trouser pocket ... Someone might throw a bucket of water over me !
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I bought 20 small neodymium magnets for £6-60 ... They are 19mm in diameter and 1mm thick with a 14mm hole in the middle.

They were all magnetically stuck together and I had a heck of a job getting them apart ... Anyway , I put three on the end of the ITP A1 with epoxy adhesive and they seem great ... If the pull proves to be too great , I will put a 19mm disc of plastic on the end ... If that is still too much , I will remove one of the magnets ... This is looking good at the moment but I will have to wait a while till the epoxy hardens.

If it holds the torch onto a metal surface and is still easy to remove , then I've won ... When I'm happy with it , I will paint the magnets black ... On the other hand , this might prompt me to get the shiny stainless ITP A1 and I wouldn't need to disguise the magnets with black paint.
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march.brown said:

I bought 20 small neodymium magnets for £6-60 ... They are 19mm in diameter and 1mm thick with a 14mm hole in the middle.

They were all magnetically stuck together and I had a heck of a job getting them apart ... Anyway , I put three on the end of the ITP A1 with epoxy adhesive and they seem great ... If the pull proves to be too great , I will put a 19mm disc of plastic on the end ... If that is still too much , I will remove one of the magnets ... This is looking good at the moment but I will have to wait a while till the epoxy hardens.

If it holds the torch onto a metal surface and is still easy to remove , then I've won ... When I'm happy with it , I will paint the magnets black ... On the other hand , this might prompt me to get the shiny stainless ITP A1 and I wouldn't need to disguise the magnets with black paint.
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I've won.

The magnets are just right ... Not too strong.

I've painted over the plated magnets with black nail-varnish and the torch looks OK ... It tailstands perfectly and sticks to car bodywork and other steel items.

If someone wants to see the pictures and possibly put them on here , let me have your Email address and I'll send them to you ... I can't put them on here 'cos I still don't know how ... Shame we can't just add pictures like with an Email.
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Good to hear your idea worked well and you aren't now irrevocably fastened to a large metal object.

Posting pics is not really too difficult, once you get the hang of it. There's a "how-to-do-it" guide in this thread.

DM51 said:

Good to hear your idea worked well and you aren't now irrevocably fastened to a large metal object.

Posting pics is not really too difficult, once you get the hang of it. There's a "how-to-do-it" guide in this thread.

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Well , I've had another read at the "how to do it" guide and I can't remember all the steps unless I print it off ... There must be an easier way than this to put pictures on CPF ... I send pictures on Emails regularly ... Also what's with the $8 a month that is quoted ?

It might be "not really too difficult" for the younger members of the forums , but not for me ... I will just have to explain in graphic detail instead.

"the shining , plated , ring-magnets blend nicely into the torch body when coated with a few layers of black nail polish making this new addition less visible to the casual observer"

"the torch can now tailstand and can also be magnetically attatched to compatible materials and yet is easily removed as necessary ... Ideal for under the car bonnet (hood) or boot (trunk) and many other situations that demand a magnetically capable torch"

As the saying goes , 'A picture's worth a thousand words' , I guess I have to use the thousand words till (for me) a simpler method of posting pictures can be found.
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march.brown said:

Well , I've had another read at the "how to do it" guide and I can't remember all the steps unless I print it off ... There must be an easier way than this to put pictures on CPF ... I send pictures on Emails regularly ... Also what's with the $8 a month that is quoted ?

It might be "not really too difficult" for the younger members of the forums , but not for me ... I will just have to explain in graphic detail instead.


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I have always used imageshack.us.
You don't have to sign up for an account.
I have pictures from my first mod from 12-2004 still all showing while there are dozens of threads littered with other picture hosting sites that show up as the picture is gone for good from their servers.
I always upload and use the direct link option after I use Gimp to resize my pics so when I upload them I don't have to worry about sizing having a hosting site that can resize them.

I've won.
The magnets are just right ... Not too strong.
I've painted over the plated magnets with black nail-varnish and the torch looks OK ... It tailstands perfectly and sticks to car bodywork and other steel items.

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Good job March! I've been thinking about a magnet for the base of my ITP A1 EOS for a couple of months now. I thought a zinc plated steel washer of appropriate size glued with epoxy, JB weld or something to the base of the flashlight. A paint job for the washer, then a not-too-strong neo magnet and I would be in business! This way if I need to use my light where a magnet can be bothersome, I can just pull it off the washer. At first I considered velcro but who wants a ratty piece of fabric glued to their EDC? Besides, the velcro would have to have greater pull than the magnet. Not likely.

P.S. Black nail polish huh? The rest might come in handy if you ever decide the "Goth" look is appealing! Don't think you will convince the wife though!Trick or treat!

Glad to hear its working for you.

I did the same thing (and some other mods) to my EOS A3 awhile back. Works like a friggin charm. Here's a link to my modification thread (it's also down there in my signature)

I highly recommend adding some epoxy to the end of the magnet, then sanding or milling it flat. This will protect the magnet from violent "Snicks" when you attach it to things, and it will also protect the surface you are attaching it too from being scarred by the nickel plating.

Quest4fire said:

P.S. Black nail polish huh? The rest might come in handy if you ever decide the "Goth" look is appealing! Don't think you will convince the wife though!

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I just used the black nail polish from my Fly-Tying kit (for the heads of flies) ... My Wife didn't have any black nail-polish as she only uses red ... Didn't think that a red end to my ITP A1 would look right , though it would be easier to find if I mislaid it.
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I just used the black nail polish from my Fly-Tying kit (for the heads of flies)

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If you can make your own flies I bet you are handy with solder work on little stuff (LED's driver boards, etc.)

nice man! I need to order some of these also...just wish I had CC damn echecks take so long :thumbsdow

pounder said:

nice man! I need to order some of these also...just wish I had CC damn echecks take so long :thumbsdow

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The safest way to pay for anything is by Paypal ... Everything I buy , torches included , are paid that way ... Only Paypal get to know your Bank number ... They never pass it on to any other party ... I've used it for many years now and if you are not happy with the purchased item , Paypal will get your money back for you ... I would never buy anything on the internet any other way ... You can even put money into the Paypal account first so you can have that money to spend on torches rather than use a credit card.

Trouble is , it is so easy to use that I seem to buy too many torches and batteries and dropins ... But you can't really have too many torches can you ? ... I used to say that every house should have at least one torch plus a spare , but now it's every room in the house should have at least one torch plus a spare ... And I blame that on Paypal 'cos it's so easy to use.
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