meredithlamb@.............. wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Just made another stand for levitation of magnets.
> Have noted several items that maybe of interest.
>
> Am using carbon brushes. Four rectangular straight
> side carbons per the bottom plate and 4 per the
> top carbon plate.  The carbon mounting surfaces
> are fiberboard, rectangular pieces.  I didn't note
> any differece with the slight areas "open" to
> exposure.
>
> The neodymium magnet I used is a "wing" shape,
> about 9/16" long, 7/16" wide and 1/8" thick. The
> weight is about 2/10's ounce.
>
> Initial floating attempts, all yielded no better
> than a point on the magnet making contact
> somewhere on the carbon.  I then introduced a
> rectangular magnet to the side of the floating
> magnet, and this seemed to worsen or correct
> the magnet angle.  The distance of the rectangular
> magnet is about 7" away; but it will wildly vary
> with different setups.  Of course, now it floats.
> Maybe this could be called a bias/correction
> magnetic field.  One will have to maneuver such
> around the area of their own setup.
>
> Unlike a round disk magnet, these wing shapes,
> are not directly centered under the vertical
> magnet above.  Its not much, but its there, at
> least from this first attempt.
>
> The "bias magnet" angle, seems to control the
> alignment of the floating magnet.  They both
> have the same angle.  This suggests a means of
> control of length direction, if desired.
>
> The height adjustments of the ferrite donut
> magnet are much more sensitive in adjustment
> than with a very small disk magnet (Radio Shack
> cat. no. 64-1895).  I'am guessing this wing
> magnet is at least 20 times the weight of the
> Radio Shack magnet.
>
> Along with the heavier weight, the vertical
> oscillation period of the wing magnet is
> noticeably longer, perhaps between 1-2 seconds.
>
> Fun when it works, frustration when it doesn't.
>
> Meredith Lamb
>

Meredith,
Those "wing" shaped magnets probably came from harddrive voice coil
actuators. "Some" of them have both a north and south pole on each side
rather than just a north pole one one side and a south pole on the other.
This could explain your tipping problem.

--
Jim Hannon
http://soli.inav.net~jmhannon/
42,11.90N,91,39.26W
WB0TXL



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