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 Post subject: A magnetic heads up!
PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 3:26 pm 
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Joined: Mon Jun 18, 2007 5:35 pm
Posts: 3620
Location: Hutchinson Ks
If you use magnets doing any of your work, be aware that the price of rare earth magnets has gone OUT OF SIGHT!!!

I bought a package of six 3/8" round rare earth magnets a Ace Hardware about 6 months a go for $2.95 or so. I priced them last week and the same 6 pack is now marked $9.97!! :shock:
I was talking to my son (the computer guy) and he told me that the hard drives for 'puters has done the same thing and the drives are getting harder to find every day.
It seems (according to my son) that some factories in Taiwan (or wherever) were flooded out and rare earth magnets are temporarily out of production so all the middle men have panicked and are buying anything and everything which is driving the price up. My son went to Best Buy (who hadn't received the news yet) and bought every hard drive they had to be re-sold at his store.
I did find an eight pack of 3/4" ceramic magnets at Lowe's for $2.98 so I bought three packages but of course they aren't as strong as the rare earth ones are.
Just a heads-up for everyone.

Rog

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Dont badmouth no strangers, they just friends you aint met yet.

An ounce of responsibility is worth a pound of State and Federal laws.

I spent most of my money on woodworking
tools and beer, the rest I just wasted.


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PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2012 3:42 pm 
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Location: Hamilton, MS
About 2 years ago, I figured the price of REM's would go up because of the rapid ramp up in demand for the raw materials for wind turbines, electric cars, and all kinds of other stuff. And the fact that about 90% of the rare earths are currently controlled by China, and they cut their export quotas dramatically; creating an artificial shortage.

So I bought a couple variety packs then, which will probably do me for the next 10 years or so.

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