I wonder if it would work to put a bunch of say 1/2" steel balls inside the tank to give the magnet something to stick to ? They would not put extra dents into the tank as they could adapt to the flexing of the metal and would be relatively easy to remove. I did think first that steel washers might work but they would tend to sit in a random stack which wouldn't work as well. the balls can move against each other to get into a single layer against the sheet steel and so the magnet has maximum pull on them. The problem here is seperation, any air gaps make a huge difference to the pull available.
Jaques - brilliant idea of the bucket and magnet to pick up swarf - I can't believe that it is new to me !
David
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