Electromagnetic Bench Attachments !!NEED OPINIONS!!

[Grendel]

No, he a had a big old beast of a drill electro-magnetically clamped horizontally onto a steel, when it fell off cos I pulled the lead out, it missed him by not very much apparently.

Sounds like the sort of thing I used which on the good side means that in principal the op's idea would work as those magnets do exert quite a force.

[Hitch]

Thats what the bit of chain, of poly strap is for that comes with them

[Doug_Hill1]

First thing's first, Thank you for all your responses :D
It seems that the power cutting out would be quite an issue as almost all my responses have come up with that problem.
I think the only way I could get around would be to use a permanent magnet with an electromagnetic release but that wouldn't really be an option for me as they are pretty expensive - the main concept is to create a more eco-friendly upcycled product which doesn't cost an arm an a leg.

A possible solution to make it less of a problem would be to require the user to buy a car battery or supply some form of battery bank which would last 10 minutes or so meaning you would have enough time for the tool to stop spinning and/or to make sure your work piece would be secure for when the magnet turns off. This would basically be a form of UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply).

Thanks again, I'll keep working on the project..

Doug

[Grendel]

I wish you well with your project and I hope you come up with something workable.
I am beginning to think the idea of using a magnet to secure something like a bench grinder might be just too complicated for it's own good though. If the market is aimed at people with limited workshop space that could very well go hand in hand with limited financies and having to fork out for an electro magnet plus the car battery might put many off. I have a friend with limited space and he has got around it by hinging things to the walls which move up or down when not in use.
However , my mention of using one when I repaired my strimmer might have more mileage . A magnetic vice for want of a better word , to hold items still without damage or scratching could conceivably have a market.

[Doug_Hill1]

However , my mention of using one when I repaired my strimmer might have more mileage . A magnetic vice for want of a better word , to hold items still without damage or scratching could conceivably have a market.

Thank you again,
I was going to aim it more towards this as I think it does have slightly less implications/better target market which in the end of the day is more to write about :D