I was dead set against those magnetic sweep magnets until a job in Cincinnati changed my mind

I always thought those rare earth magnet sweepers were just a gimmick for rookies who couldn't keep a clean workspace, then a coworker dropped a box of screws into a 1920s fireplace flue and we spent an hour fishing them out with a regular pickup tool. He brought out his magnet sweeper and had every last screw back in five minutes, no streaks on the brick or anything. Am I wrong for thinking about grabbing one now, or is this just a one-off situation that doesn't prove much?

3 comments

3 Comments

abbycraig27d ago

Think about what happens after you use the sweeper. All those tiny metal bits get stuck on the magnet and you have to pull them off one by one. If you are working with screws or nails that still have sharp edges, you are going to poke your fingers a dozen times cleaning the thing off. It works great for the initial pickup, but the cleanup after the cleanup is a real drag and nobody talks about that part.

evah4027d agoMost Upvoted

Abby, I have to disagree with you there - a quick swipe with an old credit card or a piece of cardboard slides right under those metal bits and pops them off clean without poking a finger. If you slide the magnet across the bottom of a plastic bucket before peeling them off, you can dump the whole pile in one go without ever touching the sharp edges.

nora_campbell6621d ago

I have a $10 magnet sweeper from Harbor Freight and I have to completely disagree with you @abbycraig. In fact, I have used the credit card trick that another person mentioned here and it works PERFECTLY. I keep an old gift card in my toolbox just for this exact reason. You slide it under the metal pile on the magnet and EVERYTHING comes off in one clean clump. Not a single poked finger in the years I have used this thing. The trick is to do it over a trash can or a bucket so you can just let all the sharp bits fall right where they belong. I do not see how this is some big struggle nobody talks about because I have been doing it this way since day one.