Vacuum Cleaner Magnetic Separator

thingiverse

I designed a system to stick a few magnets to my vacuum, specifically one with a bagless pickup cylinder, so I can collect ferromagnetic materials that slipped through otherwise - like paper clips, screws, and machine parts. They actually worked pretty great at first but then I noticed they were automatically lining up on top of each other. As a result, the poles ended up at opposite ends and concentrated the magnetic field outside of the vacuum's canister. So, I came up with an idea to lock them in place by bending the magnets inward. That way, it should boost the magnetic strength, trapping those hard-to-find objects better than ever. To achieve this, I bent the open side of the doodad at a 2" radius (4" diameter), so it snugly fits against the surface of the canister. To manufacture the piece itself, I decided to print it using soft PLA plastic in 3 layers, each 0.2mm high and filled 35%. That made it relatively easy for me to slide in the magnets afterward, which surprisingly stayed in place very well. In the beginning, I planned on attaching this magnetic module with a quick dose of duct tape right onto the side of the vacuum cylinder. Later on, maybe I'll get around designing an adjustable strap that locks it firmly into position once and for all.