need a pretty strong magnet for not too much money

[rudeguy]

just something that can pick up a small screw from 6-12 inches away. Any ideas?

 

[Zim Hosein]

RadioShack?

 

[Ryan]

What about some wire, a piece of metal, and a car battery?

 

[everman]

Got a dead harddrive?

 

[Yzzim]

like this?

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: rudeguy
just something that can pick up a small screw from 6-12 inches away. Any ideas?

You will need an EXTREMELY powerful magnet to pick something up from a foot away. I have 2 magnets here from an old hard drive that you can barely pull apart. And they even won't come close to picking up a small screw from a foot away.

 

[TitanDiddly]

6-12 inches... that's nuts. Magnet's force of attraction decreases dramatically over distance. 6-12 inches is going to be very tough. I'd suggest getting a small magnet that you can lower on a string to be directly in contact with the screw so you can haul it out.

Get some here:
http://amazingmagnets.com/products.asp?ID=1000-10

Either buy a rign magnet or glue string to a solid magnet.

 

[arcas]

A large (say 1.5" x 1" cylinder) neodymium will be able to attract a screw from 6 inches but probably not from 12 inches. Large RE magnets need to be treated with respect and one this large is dangerous. Do what the other folks here are recommending: get a telescoping retrieval magnet or attach a small RE magnet to a string.

 

[DrPizza]

I suggest getting 2 of these:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi...em&category=53142&item=7506688698&rd=1
keep one in each pocket.
That should take care of any reproductive inclinations you may have

Seriously, though, why do you want such a powerful magnet? Playing with magnets that strong is a good way to get hurt.
I've seen several minor injuries from just small neodymium magnets. (by small, I mean 1/4 inch in size)

 

[OverVolt]

ALL THE RARE EARTH MAGNETS U COULD EVER WANT

LOL USPS would have fun shipping the 2x4" disc