Content

• Steps
• Method 1 of 3: Magnetizing Steel with a Magnet
• Method 2 of 3: Magnetizing Steel with a Battery
• Method 3 of 3: Magnetizing Steel Without Special Tools
• Tips
• Warnings
• What do you need

Magnetize a screwdriver before disassembling a complex device, and you will make the job much easier. It is also easy to do a magnetization experiment with children (this requires only a few specialized tools). Check the steel with a magnet before starting; otherwise, the process will not produce the desired results.

Steps

Method 1 of 3: Magnetizing Steel with a Magnet

1. 1 Place a strong magnet near a piece of steel (only certain grades), and after two minutes the steel will turn into a weak magnet, which will lose its magnetism for some (quite long) time. This method is ideal for magnetizing screwdrivers, nails, needles. You can also use it to restore the magnetism of an old compass needle or other weak magnet.
2. 2 Find a strong magnet that can magnetize steel (normal fridge magnets are very weak magnets). Strong magnets are neodymium and other rare earth magnets.
   • You can also purchase a tool magnetizer.
3. 3 Check if steel is attracted to the magnet. If not, then such steel cannot be magnetized. Note that this method works easily with long and thin pieces of steel (screwdrivers, nails), but you can apply it to any shape of steel.
   • If you are thinking of buying stainless steel and cannot test it with a magnet, ask your dealer about the type of that steel. You need ferritic stainless steel. By the way, grades of steel that can be magnetized are usually cheaper, but this statement is not always true.
4. 4 Take a steel object in one hand. Place the magnet in the middle of the item and slide the magnet along the item to the end. Repeat this process several times, sliding the magnet along the object in one direction (and only along half of the steel object). The more you do this, the more magnetized the steel will be.
   • You can magnetize a bearing or other small steel object by running it over a magnet (not vice versa).
5. 5 Flip the magnet over so it touches the steel with the other pole. Place the magnet in the middle of the item and slide the magnet along the item to the other end. Repeat the process until the steel object is able to attract the paperclip.
   • If you are not sure where the two poles are located on the magnet, take a second magnet - one pole will attract the second magnet, and the opposite pole will repel it.

Method 2 of 3: Magnetizing Steel with a Battery

1. 1 Take an insulated electrical wire. It must be long enough to make at least 10 turns around the steel object. Remove the insulation from both ends of the wire (up to 3 cm).
   • Thinly insulated enamel wire works best.Do not use bare wire without insulation, as it will not work for the described method.
2. 2 Wrap the wire around the steel object, leaving 5 cm free on each end of the wire. The more turns of wire you make, the more magnetized the steel becomes. To magnetize a nail, 10 turns are needed, and to magnetize a large steel object, several dozen turns.
   • Alternatively, wrap the wire around a heat-resistant plastic tube in which you can place a steel object.
   • If steel is not attracted by a normal magnet, do not try to magnetize it. Some stainless steels cannot be magnetized.
3. 3 A regular battery (1.5V or 3V) is suitable for magnetizing nails or screws. A higher voltage battery will be needed to magnetize large steel objects, but more heat will be generated during the magnetization process and you risk getting an electric shock (if handled incorrectly). In this case, a car battery (12V) is suitable for you. It is not recommended to use sources of electric current with a higher voltage.
   • Never use an AC power source (electrical outlet or similar). By working with high voltages, you run the risk of electric shock or damage to the electrical network in your home.
4. 4 Wear rubber gloves to avoid electric shock. Although low-voltage batteries are not hazardous, wear gloves to protect your hands from hot metal (metal wrapped in wire will become hot).
5. 5 Connect one end of the wire to the positive terminal of the battery / accumulator and the other to the negative terminal. For better contact, secure the wire with accounting rubber bands or tape. You can also use brass cotter pins by attaching them to the battery terminals and the bare wire directly to the cotter pins.
   • When using a car battery, sparks may fly out when the circuit is closed. Hold the wire by the insulated part.
6. 6 An electric current flowing through a wire creates a magnetic field that will magnetize any ferromagnetic metal placed within that field. If you choose the right grade of metal, it will magnetize almost immediately.
   • If you run an electric current through a wire wrapped around magnetized steel, it will demagnetize.

Method 3 of 3: Magnetizing Steel Without Special Tools

1. 1 Find north with a compass. If you don't have a compass, read this article.
2. 2 Place the steel object so that it is parallel to the south-north direction.
   • This method will not work with small steel objects that cannot be oriented south-north.
3. 3 Secure a steel object with a vise or tape, for example.
4. 4 Hit the end of the steel object with a hammer several times. The steel will turn into a weak magnet; the more blows you hit, the stronger the metal's magnetization will be.
   • Some steel grades cannot be magnetized at home. If you can't magnetize a certain steel object, take another steel object or experiment with an iron object.
5. 5 The energy received by the metal from being struck with a hammer allows the magnetic domains of the atomic level to rearrange in accordance with the magnetic field. The iron core of the Earth creates a strong magnetic field, so these miniature magnets are rearranged in a south-north direction. After transferring enough energy to the metal, these miniature magnets line up in one direction, which creates the effect of magnetizing the metal object.

Tips

• Steel is already a magnet at the atomic level, but when magnetic domains are randomly arranged, their magnetism does not work beyond the macroscopic level.The described methods make it possible to build magnetic domains according to the external magnetic field, as a result of which the steel object is magnetized, as it were.
• Not all grades of steel can be magnetized, since various additives used in the steelmaking process lead to a change in the arrangement of the metal atoms.
• Strong magnets are created using specialized high voltage equipment. You are unlikely to be able to create such a magnet at home.

Warnings

• Heat or shock can cause demagnetization.
• Keep magnets away from hard drives, computer monitors, television monitors, credit cards, or magnetic stripe ID cards.
• Always use insulated pliers and only hold the insulated portion of the wire when connecting it to the positive post of the battery.

What do you need

• Steel item (not all stainless steel items will work)
• Magnet
• A hammer
• Battery (1.5V for nails, up to 12V for large items)
• Enamel wire or insulated wire
• Wire stripper
• Insulated pliers
• Latex gloves