Cutting Tweeters in Half - Any Hazards From NEO material?

[Pete Basel]

I am very curious about the Aura NT1 as it seems to have outstanding distortion
performance above 3 KHz, the similar Dayton is not as good. The NT1 is out of
production and Brian Steele generously sent me some good and blown ones.
So I am curious to see if there is anything different in the motor geometry
between the two. I've removed the domes, and ferro fluid, now I want to use
a band saw to cut them in half and take a look.

Are there any hazards to the dust from a NEO magnet or anything else in there?
I will wear a mask.

[[email protected]]

Re: Cutting Tweeters in Half - Any Hazards From NEO material?

I doubt the shards of neo will become airborne. Even when being sawn, the neo will retain its magnetism and will probably stick in the gap and be difficult to clean out effectively. You won't want to breathe NdFeB dust (powder), but you probably won't. As another note, once you cut through, the two halves will want to clamp together, so be careful about that.

This will probably void your warranty, just FYI.

[Pete Basel]

Re: Cutting Tweeters in Half - Any Hazards From NEO material?

Thanks, I'll be calling with pictures about my defective tweeters as soon as I'm done cutting!

[Adam_G]

Re: Cutting Tweeters in Half - Any Hazards From NEO material?

This will probably void your warranty, just FYI.

I laughed at this one. :D

Should be a fun project! What are you using to cut them in half?

[Pallas]

Re: Cutting Tweeters in Half - Any Hazards From NEO material?

This will probably void your warranty, just FYI.

Well that's not really fair, now is it?

[Pete Basel]

Re: Cutting Tweeters in Half - Any Hazards From NEO material?

I laughed at this one. :D

Should be a fun project! What are you using to cut them in half?

I have my dad's old bandsaw but I think it has a wood band on it not sure if
he has one for metal. Dremel cut off wheel?
Any suggestions?

[Liberator of Magic Smoke]

Re: Cutting Tweeters in Half - Any Hazards From NEO material?

I wonder if there is some way to demagnetize the motor, at least mostly. Maybe some variation of the old mechanic's trick of magnetizing a screwdriver with a piece of insulated wire and a car battery. Might make things easier. Heat would do it, but you might not have much left to reverse engineer. :eek:

[mike s]

Re: Cutting Tweeters in Half - Any Hazards From NEO material?

I have my dad's old bandsaw but I think it has a wood band on it not sure if
he has one for metal. Dremel cut off wheel?
Any suggestions?

here's some food for thought

mount it in a board thick enought to keep the back of the motor below the surface of the board, (mounting the tweeter may help keep the cut halves from trying to close the saw cut gap, or make it easier to contol while cutting than other ways described here.)

make the board big enough so that you can clamp the board to your bench with the ns1 end away from the bench far enough to be cut with a jig/saw.

clamp the board with tweeter motor up so that you have flat suface for the jig saw foot to ride on.

cut with jig saw, etc...

dremel might throw off a lot of dust

[Pete Basel]

Re: Cutting Tweeters in Half - Any Hazards From NEO material?

18 TPI sounds low not sure if they make a 24 or higher:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Vermont-American-56-1-8-in-x-3-8-in-x-18-TPI-Metal-Band-Saw-Blade-31092/203591301

[bobbarkto]

Re: Cutting Tweeters in Half - Any Hazards From NEO material?

Your blade speed is way higher than ideal for metal cutting (wood cutting bandsaw), so fewer teeth are in order.
10-12 might even be appropriate for a small tweeter like that.
If the saw was operating at typical metal cutting speed then more teeth would generally be in order.
18 will probably work ok, tho. It should leave a good finish on all but the dome.

Might want to house that little thing in a jig or something. Hate to hear about injuries...

[Pete Basel]

Re: Cutting Tweeters in Half - Any Hazards From NEO material?

It is a small Delta benchtop bandsaw but I'm pretty sure it says it will do metal.
I'm not going to try to use it if it not intended for metal - no point. And yes, I'm
going to take precautions to hold it in a jig.
Thanks for the tips.

[killa]

Re: Cutting Tweeters in Half - Any Hazards From NEO material?

I wonder if there is some way to demagnetize the motor, at least mostly. Maybe some variation of the old mechanic's trick of magnetizing a screwdriver with a piece of insulated wire and a car battery. Might make things easier. Heat would do it, but you might not have much left to reverse engineer. :eek:

I know heat will demagnetize them. How much heat would be the question.

[bobbarkto]

Re: Cutting Tweeters in Half - Any Hazards From NEO material?

Pretty sure it's for wood, unless it's really old.
It will have a gear box and a method to change speeds if it was designed for metal and wood.
Either way, for a one off use it should do fine on that little bit of metal. Blade life will be a little short but so what.

It is a small Delta benchtop bandsaw but I'm pretty sure it says it will do metal.
I'm not going to try to use it if it not intended for metal - no point. And yes, I'm
going to take precautions to hold it in a jig.
Thanks for the tips.

[critofur]

Re: Cutting Tweeters in Half - Any Hazards From NEO material?

Try putting it in a vise (leave the half you want to cut off sticking UP) and use a fine bi-metal hacksaw.

[Pete Basel]

Re: Cutting Tweeters in Half - Any Hazards From NEO material?

That was my backup plan, I do have a hacksaw ... Thanks!