Where would I buy an Electro Permanent Magnet that I can easily interface and control with an Arduino?
Yeah but it's not clear where to buy them. All the ebay results are "Electro-craft" permanent magnet motors.... which are not the same thing as an Electro Permanent Magnet.
Jakobud:
Yeah but it's not clear where to buy them. All the ebay results are "Electro-craft" permanent magnet motors.... which are not the same thing as an Electro Permanent Magnet.
Try: electromagnet for sale | eBay
I see many such magnets listed. One thing on considering/choosing such a magnet is the 'holding strength' of such a magnet and that is how good a metal to metal matching surface the magnet makes with whatever you are trying to attach to. Such strength ratings assume a perfect 100% surface contact
What's an "electro-permanent magnet"
Electro magnet = one that is magnetic when energised
Permanent magnet = one that is permanently magnetised
So what is it you are looking for ?
An electro permanent magnet is an electro magnet that does not require current to maintain it's polarity. It only requires current to switch polarities.
retrolefty:
Jakobud:
Yeah but it's not clear where to buy them. All the ebay results are "Electro-craft" permanent magnet motors.... which are not the same thing as an Electro Permanent Magnet.Try: electromagnet for sale | eBay
I see many such magnets listed. One thing on considering/choosing such a magnet is the 'holding strength' of such a magnet and that is how good a metal to metal matching surface the magnet makes with whatever you are trying to attach to. Such strength ratings assume a perfect 100% surface contact
An electromagnet solenoid lifting magnet is not the same thing as an electro permanent magnet. The ones you link to in the ebay listings are magnet solenoids that you apply a current to in order for it to enable/disable magnetization.
An electromagnet solenoid lifting magnet is not the same thing as an electro permanent magnet. The ones you link to in the ebay listings are magnet solenoids that you apply a current to in order for it to enable/disable magnetization.
I see that now. Never knew it was a common item but maybe it's not so common and only made by a few?
Anyway wikipedia says:
Many thanks for the educational bite - never too old to learn - though at my age retention of yesterday's education is a problem 
Hi, an electro permanent magnet will have a "hard" iron core, as compared to "soft" iron for an electromagnet as we all know it.
Thats how I read it.
http://www.magnets2buy.com/acatalog/Electro-magnets.html
and I just googled electro permanent magnet.... simple...
Tom..... 
There seemed to be a fair bit of confusion on the idea of an "Electro-Permanent" Magnet in this thread.
Just to clarify and simplify, it is a magnet that can have its magnetic quality turned on or off without the need for a permanent electrical charge. Essentially, you can make a magnet to be magnetic with an electrical pulse to turn it on or off.
It is sort of an hybrid between an Electro Magnet (requiring constant electric charge) and a permanent magnet.
I'm not sure if anyone is still interested in finding one (I sure was), but i found one that MAY suit. I have not tried this product, I have simply just found it after a bit of a search.
http://nicadrone.com/index.php?id_product=66&controller=product
Those that posted the ebay search links... You'll find those searches (well at least at the current time) are highly unhelpful. They seem to only show results for Electro magnets only. Perhaps this was from lack of understanding of the desired product?
For those who want to know more about electro-permanent magnets, I found this handy product review that explains it quite nicely:
Also there is a quick product review here (though an older version of it):
This particular electro-permanent magnet seems to be focused around using them for drones, but looks like a nice product.
Jimmee
Jimmee:
There seemed to be a fair bit of confusion on the idea of an "Electro-Permanent" Magnet in this thread.
@Jimmee, as your first post on these forums, why reply to a thread that's over 18 months old?
@OldSteve Because you never know when people in the future may be interested in the content of the article and nobody actually gave a proper answer until Jimmee.
@Jimmee Huge thanks, I'm glad I read to the end, thanks for the post.
For all other who stumble across this in the (far?) future (hi future, how's it going?) the product Jimmee mentions has been replaced by nicadrone.com
dsteiner26:
@OldSteve Because you never know when people in the future may be interested in the content of the article and nobody actually gave a proper answer until Jimmee.
What about reply #10? ...and what is wrong with Wiki and Google? Nobody should be depending on this forum for answers.
aarg:
what is wrong with Wiki and Google?
Because as new users we want to come here and have things explained thoroughly and clearly.
It is often a problem to me that answers amount to "read wikipedia and study electronics better" and it's not useful. We might not be able to understand a complex wikipedia topic without days of researching the prerequisite knowledge. Without someone like @Jimmee explaining things in a clear and well pitched way, it'd be very hard to understand this info, especially when there have been previous incorrect answers to confuddle things.
aarg:
Nobody should be depending on this forum for answers.
I think all users, especially new ones, should absolutely "depend on this forum for answers".
I think it's an elitist sentiment to tell people asking questions to just google it yourself, especially on a forum for a hobbyist electronics controller like Arduino.
You post a lot so I understand it must sometimes be frustrating helping people who don't understand a topic, but we really do appreciate people who regularly help others to understand. These forums are an amazing resource, due to hard working people like yourselves.
Sorry to bump the thread, but all future users shouldn't reach the end of this and be intimidated from asking/answering questions.
You are so wrong. The reason for the answers is, just like you, they fail to read the beginning posts relating to how to use the forum and the information needed to get a usable answer.
Paul