# How do I drill a hole in a magnet? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 4, 2006, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-drill-a-hole-in-a-magnet/355344 "2006-05-04T02:57:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-drill-a-hole-in-a-magnet/355344/21 "2021-02-26T01:26:40Z")
I often wonder how people come across threads this old. Were you searching the Dope for or “magnet drilling” or what? Curious minds (or at least one) want to know. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-drill-a-hole-in-a-magnet/355344/22 "2021-02-26T01:42:18Z")
Hard drive magnets are steel backed rare earth magnets. I collect them for various purposes. Once you’ve used a wood chisel to knock them off their backing, they are quite brittle. If I wanted to drill a hole in one, I’d do it with a low speed diamond bit, with the magnet immersed in water to keep it cool. Small diamond bits aren’t all that expensive as jewelers use them. I’ve used them to drill holes in glass lenses as well as stones. The underwater bit is important. Heat buildup is not good for magnets or drill bits. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-drill-a-hole-in-a-magnet/355344/23 "2021-02-26T01:50:46Z")
> 15 YEARS LATER I wonder if the cat is still waiting? ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-drill-a-hole-in-a-magnet/355344/24 "2021-02-26T02:15:54Z")
It would be an unusal cat if it were still alive. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-drill-a-hole-in-a-magnet/355344/25 "2021-02-26T02:31:54Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > It would be an unusal cat And possibly an unusable one 😀 I’ve had cats live to 18, though, so you never know. ---
**Author:** ![I.Dunno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I.Dunno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I.Dunno)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-drill-a-hole-in-a-magnet/355344/26 "2021-02-26T02:42:03Z")
I started reading this thread thinking it was current (like I always do 🤷‍♂️) until a suggestion was made to try Radio Shack. THEN I looked at the date. I too wonder how certain old threads get dredged up. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-drill-a-hole-in-a-magnet/355344/27 "2021-02-26T02:52:32Z")
Yeah. Our current ~~cat~~ overlord is 17, bless her sweet teeny tiny gray head. But it’s unusual. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2021, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-drill-a-hole-in-a-magnet/355344/28 "2021-02-26T02:58:50Z")
I really wish @bat312 had told us why his cat wanted a hole in a magnet. I asked my cats if they could think of why some cat would want such a thing and the little girl smiled as if to say that she knew but wasn’t telling. Her brother just kept on washing his ear. He’s not the sharpest knife in the drawer, so he probably had no ideas on the subject. ---
**Author:** ![bat312](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c77e96/32.png) [@bat312](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bat312)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2021, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-drill-a-hole-in-a-magnet/355344/29 "2021-03-23T20:45:59Z")
Well, that is funny to see this thread still alive! My cat at the time has since moved to the farm. Really he did, may have passed on by now as well, but the farmer sent me pics of him adjusting to his new home. While he lived with me he had an cat door with a magnetic lock. He lost his original key and I was trying to make him new one on the cheap. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-drill-a-hole-in-a-magnet/355344/30 "2021-03-24T13:14:10Z")
> [@I.Dunno](#): > > I started reading this thread thinking it was current (like I always do 🤷‍♂️) until a suggestion was made to try Radio Shack. THEN I looked at the date. It. me. /Wiping away a small tear for walls of electronic parts you could go see in person. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-drill-a-hole-in-a-magnet/355344/31 "2021-03-24T14:47:09Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > It. me. > > Wiping away a small tear for walls of electronic parts you could go see in person Me sad too. Old days good. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2021, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-drill-a-hole-in-a-magnet/355344/32 "2021-03-24T18:19:29Z")
Fry’s is gone now too They used to be a mandatory stop every time I hit San Jose. I guess it’s Digikey and Mouser henceforth. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-i-drill-a-hole-in-a-magnet/355344.md?page=1)