ECLIPSE MAGNETIC CHUCK

NDIY

So why, if they were magnetised after assembly, would disassembly demagnetise them?

It doesn't make sense to me.I'm not trying to be awkward, I really want to know.

Edited By Gary Wooding on 13/09/2020 16:08:31

Gary, just like some permanent magnet motors need re-magnetising after disassembly, the flux path needs keeping constantly for the magnets to not lose some effort. The design of the Eclipse chucks causes the on-off lever to divert the flux path rather than break the flux path completely.

It's all explained on page 12 of the manual I linked to, which has images showing how the control lever slides the magnets in and out of phase with the top plate to turn the chuck on and off.

Edited By Pete Rimmer on 13/09/2020 16:29:41

It doesn’t really answer the difficult questions, but we may as well add this to the references: **LINK**

https://toolsandthings.wordpress.com/portfolio/magnetic-chuck-rebuild-eclipse-brand/

The author seemed satisfied with the result.

MichaelG.

An update. I checked with the piece of steel, as previously. I detected no difference whatsoever. The test may not be entirely definitive as the bar cross section at the end was relatively small, compared to the whole table area, but switched on for well over a fortnight with a sheet of steel over the whole area showed no discernible increase of magnetic power.

The chuck, I decided/realised, had been switched off for virtually the whole period, previous to its recent move to my workshop, as the handle would have been projecting outside the end of the frame - and it was not stored in a sensible position to have the handle sticking out...