

Attach anything to anything with sugru and magnets - 3stripe
http://sugru.com/magnet-kit

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jrockway
> Once you make your lights magnetic, you might wonder why all lights aren’t
> like this.

You lose the ability to adjust the beam up or down. That's probably why all
lights aren't like this.

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polymatter
Why do you need to adjust the beam? Once it is right, its right.

~~~
deletes
When I used a bicycle I would often change the position depending on the road
type. If in a city the beam would be directed down with a larger angle to
prevent from blinding the other drivers and pedestrians, as the road itself is
lit and the light is used merely to bring attention to yourself. Also the
angle varies regarding to driving speed and type of ground surface(gravel,
asphalt ) when on unlit roads.

~~~
wlesieutre
To elaborate on that last part, aiming down in the city is helpful because you
can see far away objects with the street lights already and the bike light is
helpful for spotting potholes

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awor
I'm curious if this will fall victim to the same regulatory nightmares
Buckyballs is currently facing. [1]

Though Sugru is clearly more than just a 'toy'.

[1][http://www.forbes.com/sites/richardlevick/2013/11/25/buckyba...](http://www.forbes.com/sites/richardlevick/2013/11/25/buckyballs-
stones-enough-to-fight-back/)

~~~
drivingmissm
Children ingesting magnets is growing problem that can be fatal. For use in a
household setting, it is irresponsible to sell smooth, shiny magnets that are
of a size that can be swallowed.

[http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/GeneralPediatrics/408...](http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pediatrics/GeneralPediatrics/40894)

~~~
scdoshi
No, it's irresponsible to BUY magnets that are smooth, shiny and of a size
that can be swallowed.

If you have children in the house.

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marshray
What makes you think I'm not buying them to use in the shop or at work? There
are many industrial uses for such a basic part.

Yes, it's irresponsible to let them get anywhere near children, this includes
in the house where they will get all over. They work great on refrigerators.
That is until you overload them with pictures and art at which point they fall
off and roll away to stick somewhere at baby level that won't be touched by a
broom (ask me how I know).

It's _also_ irresponsible to market them as toys.

They seem approximately as dangerous as deceptively innocent looking razor
blades. What we need are magnetic toys which are equally or more fun to build
with while being simultaneously less attractive to ingest. Surprised the
market hasn't come up with something yet.

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deletes
How do you prevent rotation of the magnets when they are stuck together. The
light on a bike will experience a force in that direction sooner or later and
move.

When I saw the dimple I though that was the solution, but it is only a marker
for the north side. Maybe the solution would be to apply a thin layer of
substance with high friction between the magnets.

~~~
mhb
As you might imagine, others have encountered and solved this problem already
with stick on high friction disks. They've also used cheap, steel cups to
direct and strengthen the magnetic field:

[http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=32066&cat=1,423...](http://www.leevalley.com/US/wood/page.aspx?p=32066&cat=1,42363,42348)

Also, I've used those nice shiny magnets in outdoor applications and can
attest that they rust in fairly short order. But one might be able to address
this by enveloping the magnet in sugru. Of course, this too is an already
solved problem - plastic and rubber coated magnets:

[http://www.kjmagnetics.com/products.asp?cat=164](http://www.kjmagnetics.com/products.asp?cat=164)

Given all this, I'm not sure what this use of sugru is "hacking". It's
performing the function of glue? Expensive glue in a nice package.

~~~
DanBC
Glue? Gluing the magnet to the light is tricky unless you get the right shape
case and the right glue. Gluing the other magnet to the bike is tricky for the
same reasons.

Sugru solves both of them.

~~~
mhb
Epoxy putty, caulk and silicone adhesive also solve the glue shape issue. All
available at your local hardware store for less than 20% the cost of sugru and
with a shelf life greater than 6 months.

~~~
com2kid
Easy of use, Sugru is trivial to apply with minimal effort.

It is a user interface victory. Pay more for easy of use.

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mhb
Why even use two magnets instead of one magnet (optionally in a magnet cup to
increase the attractive strength) and a steel plate?

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nnethercote
I suspect it forces the magnets to have a certain alignment. E.g. the bike
light ends up pointing exactly in the right direction even when he just tosses
it on. With one magnet and a steel plate you wouldn't have that behaviour. In
some cases that might be a good thing, though.

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lafar6502
+1 for a solution to the falling crutch problem.

~~~
deletes
Not sure if sarcastic. If you have to use a crutch it is probably a hassle to
pick it lying on the floor.

~~~
lafar6502
not sarcastic at all. falling crutches were a constant source of trauma for me

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coin
It's flippin (using their terminology) annoying that they disable pinchzoom
for mobile devices. I wanted to zoom in on the tiny video. They feel they want
to limit my browsing experience. Why would I buy or invest in their product?

~~~
nnethercote
They probably eat babies, too.

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fjcaetano
So, neodymium magnets and epoxy?

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function_seven
Close. Neodymium and some silicone rubber putty stuff (that may or may not
contain an epoxy component, I don't know the chemistry behind Sugru.) But it's
not a two-part product--you don't have to mix the “A” and the “B” compound to
start it curing. It reacts with moisture in the air to begin curing, and
remains rubbery once done.

EDIT: Epoxy putty is pretty cheap though, and what I'd probably use unless I
needed it to be flexible.

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almosnow
b... but how do they work?

