Dumb Question maybe...magnets??

I notice more and more packaging for products lately, particularly those from China, coming in these fairly nice boxes with these clever little magnet closures. Recently my wife ordered a relatively inexpensive set of wireless ear-buds for her phone and they came in this really nice little box. The box opens on the side and the closure is held closed with three small magnets. They're actually surprisingly strong leading me to believe they may be small neodymium magnets. The product wasn't that expensive for such a classy box (in my opinion), but the box is purpose specific (i.e. it can really be used for anything else). So my question is this...

I thought neodymium magnets were made from rare earth materials, and if so, how does it make sense to use these non-renewable materials to make up the components of small disposable product boxes? Am I missing something here?

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

That's an intriguing observation and question you've put out. I'm very curious now as well. I hope we get a good response from someone

China cornered the market on rare earth elements.

No skin off their nose so to speak.

They really aren't losing anything.

I haven't seen that yet....Can you post a picture of the box they used and a close up on the magnet closure??

I seriously doubt they are rare metal magnets and therefore I'm sure there isn't a high cost to them....I'm sure the Chinese favor profits over cool boxes know what I mean??

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Simplest answer is that they are not neodymium magnets.

I had industrial strength magnets made for my putter headcover...

They are about the size of a watch battery and even after covering them with thin leather they will pinch my fingers if I'm not careful...

I paid less than maybe .75c/each to have them made...if I had bought them in bulk they would've been half that...

Don't how if that helps but it's crazy how easy magnets are to buy/make in the modern age...

-Chris

a reply to: scraedtosleep

I don't know how they could not be with the way the little box snaps shut and holds. The magnets are only about 1/8" in diameter, and I mean to tell you, this thing literally "snaps" shut from an air gap of about 1/2" or more. It's a very positive closure.

a reply to: GuidedKill

Google this term: flip top boxes with magnetic catch

Pretty cheap. From under $5 to $50. The search returns how to make one yourself!



@Flyingclaydisk - I think they are small enough that in mass quantities of production the price drops. But that is just my guess.

You're talking about businesses that don't care about renewable anything and just because it is rare elsewhere don't mean that it is to them. They are simply putting to use something they have an excess of due in part to their very cheap labor.

Generally, China means cheap. I also doubt they're neodymium.

I bought a lighted magnifier, which turned out to be from China and a complete piece of sh*t. It had lead bars in the base to keep it stable, which shed lead dust everywhere. The thing was absolutely poisonous, so I sent it back.

Well, it turns out, after a little research that a "rare earth magnet", which neodymium magnets are, is not really all that 'rare'. At least the materials they're made of, tin and lead, are not anyway. However, these materials are not limitless either. I guess my question still stands (in the larger sense), but the pointed nature of it may be a bit diminished.

As the old saying goes, all roads lead to Jerusalem.
But around here, all roads lead to a conspiracy.

I can tell you they utterly destroy any nano technology in their field of effect.
(This is a scientific fact and has no relation to the attached article.)

www.metatech.org...

There are 15-17 rare earth elements... a small collider could renew them.

Pictures or it's not so.

a reply to: Christosterone

I bought 10,000 1/2" X 1/8" neo mags for 21 cent apiece in the 2005. They are in deed cheap.

China is swimming in rare earth materials, however maybe they are using magnetism to affect something during and after shipping.
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

a reply to: Violater1

Sorry, but after consideration, there will be no pictures. This insatiable thirst for pictures of everything must end.

The written word will have to suffice. There will be no pictures. No pictures to satisfy the vicarious and less than willing, who wish not to read. Nope, no pictures. Instead, we'll just do it with words.

Thank you for confirming this underlying feeling. Pictures are too easy. No more pictures.

Sorry "internet"...pictures re done!

Rare Earth Metals does not mean it is extremely rare or expensive:

Despite their name, rare-earth elements are – with the exception of the radioactive promethium – relatively plentiful in Earth's crust, with cerium being the 25th most abundant element at 68 parts per million, or as abundant as copper. They are not especially rare, but they tend to occur together in nature and are difficult to separate from one another. However, because of their geochemical properties, rare-earth elements are typically dispersed and not often found concentrated as rare-earth minerals in economically exploitable ore deposits. The first such mineral discovered was gadolinite, a mineral composed of cerium, yttrium, iron, silicon and other elements. This mineral was extracted from a mine in the village of Ytterby in Sweden; four of the rare-earth elements bear names derived from this single location.

Rare Earth Elements - Wiki

Open up a dead hard drive, and you will find 2 Nd magnets that will be much stronger and better quality than most of the stuff on Ebay.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Doubtful they're neodymium magnets.