A great time to think about purchasing additional machinery and equipment for the shop floor is near the end of the third quarter of the calendar year. Good decision making for capital expenditures takes planning and strategy to optimize any current tax advantages to purchasing and placing equipment in use prior to December 31. Tax laws change each year, so it is always wise to seek professional tax advice on what purchases are eligible, when they need to be placed in service and what limitations are enforced for the current year. When developing your machinery and equipment purchase plan to ..read more

One of the most important readings from a battery-operated lift magnet tag is the rated load capacity. While the load capacity rating might seem pretty self-explanatory, let’s get into how that is calculated and what it means for the operator. With different lift magnets can come slightly different terminology on the tag. On our new lift magnets, the tag reads "rated load capacity", while older tags could read "rating capacity" or other similar verbiage. It's important to know which information is which to safely perform a lift. The American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME) sets the st ..read more

Load characteristics other than just weight must be considered to determine the safe weight that any magnet can lift. This statement is true for any lifting magnet because they all operate using the same fundamental laws of physics. Magnetic power is often pictured as lines of magnetic force flowing from north pole to south pole. Anything that limits the flow of these magnetic lines of force obviously reduces the magnets lifting ability. There are four important factors which limit the flow of these lines of force. LOAD SURFACE CONDITIONS Magnetic lines of force do not flow easily through ai ..read more

Often times when discussing lift magnet safety the conversation drifts towards having "OSHA certified lift magnets." While the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulates safety violations, they delegate lifting device safety mostly to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), specifically the B30.20 and the BTH-1 standard. Most lift magnet manufacturers are aware and compliant to these standards and assist purchasers with staying within the regulations. Although, there are a few regulations that lift magnet owners should be aware of. The following three aspects o ..read more

Electromagnetic lift magnets are built to last many years and MagnaLift and Power-Grip models are no exception to this fact. One of the biggest selling points of purchasing an electromagnetic model versus a permanent model is their long lives and easy service ability. Many times, our technicians service magnets that are decades old and, once fully repaired and tested, continue performing well for their operators for several more decades. To ensure that you are getting the maximum life out of your lift magnet, we make the following recommendations: - Always maintain a clean and clear contact ..read more

With most of the country getting back to school, many children are getting back to the basics to refresh their memory of what they learned last year after what turned out to be an interesting summer. While the kids are getting back to the basics, so are we with the ABCs of Steel. As a producer of industrial lifting magnets, our magnets work with steel constantly, with many customers using theses terms on a daily basis. The same is true with the other Obsidian Manufacturing brands, Arter Precision Grinders and Magna-Lock USA, we follow where the steel is. "A" Acid Brittleness-- Commonly attribu ..read more

Following up our last #ObsidianMFG surface grinding blog to go along with National Safety Month, it’s only appropriate to bring you some lift magnet considerations when it comes to safety. Lifting material is essential to companies as it is the only way many can even move their material. Serving a wide range of industries, MagnaLift and Power-Grip lift magnets have provided a steady, uncomplicated supply of lift magnets for decades, providing an undeniably large impact on the development of the infrastructure of the United States as well as globally. Just like with all machine tools, lift mag ..read more

Two very important things that each company keeps in mind when thinking of their business is safety of employees as well as their bottom line. When lifting the heavy material with your MagnaLift and Power-Grip lift magnet, those hold even truer. With lifting capacities of up to 15,000 lbs., keeping lift magnets up to date on certifications is very important for workplace safety and keeping the certification current and the lift magnet tested could save a company up to thousands of dollars. Keeping on top of your lift magnet's annual certification, a company is able to be in line with Occupati ..read more

Over 70 years of lifting material has cemented MagnaLift and Power-Grip into a variety of industry's workplaces across the world. From the early days of development for both brands in the 1940s and 1950s, to the joining of the two brands under one roof with Hitachi Magna-Lock Corporation, all the way to their current home with Obsidian Manufacturing Industries, Inc., the brands have set the tone for material lifting and continues to be a prominent name. In the late 1940s, the Sundstrand Corporation looked to create and engineer a line of magnetic products including electromagnetic chucks, li ..read more