Possibly,..but Keith Can't accurately apply an 'Orientation' as such to the magnetic material,..as far as I am aware.
Initial Charging of magnets, say like in Stepper Motor 'Ring' magnets, have Many poles as such applied next to each other in a radial fashion, which requires special tooling etc.
PLUS, the machine requires a LOT of Power to correctly 'Saturate' Neo/Iron/Boron matrix's etc, higher even than Samarium Cobalt, (I incorrectly stated the fact in my previous post).
The Power required in 'Oerdteds' for the various materials, is listed below;
Ferrite (Anisotropic)
1000 kA/m (12000 Oe)
Alnico
500 kA/m (6000 Oe)
Samarium Cobalt
2000 kA/m (24000 Oe)
Neodymium Iron Boron
3500 kA/m (40000 Oe)
So you can see the machine seriously needs to 'Kick Butt' Power wise.
There are only a couple of facilities in Australia with machines of that Magnitude!
Initial Charging of Magnets is Not the same as merely Re-Zapping Them.
Interestingly, when everyone mentions Neo magnets,..one Must realise as well, that we are speaking of an 'Alloy', Containing Neo Dymium amongst other Elements. In fact the Neo, can actually be Part of Other Contained Rare Earth Elements.
NeoDymium by itself, is Very Unstable, and is one of the Most Corrosive (Oxidisation) rare Earth materials, to the Point where if Left open to the atmosphere, would eventually Oxidise itself away !!!
Pure Neo dymium is usually supplied with a Viscous Oil covering the Material, to avoid this Problem, so it's Use as a Pure Elemental Item is in fact Quite rare.
Certain Alloys of Neo have actually been with us for a very Long Time and have been used as 'Lighter Flints' for Years !!!
See Here;
http://periodic.lanl.gov/elements/60.html
All of the Neo magnets we have been using are some Alloy, often containing Nickel etc.
The Neo/Iron/Boron matrix we used, was formed in a Process similar to how they Form 'Shot', by being Dropped when Molten inside a Tower, onto a Spinning Plate.
The Material, them Builds as a Homogenous Matrix, allowing the Crystaline Platelettes to Align themselves in a Unique, 'Stress' Free fashion, allowing for high Natural Anisotropy, amongst other characteristics.
I Purchased a length of rectangular Bar, that we then had Machined so as to be a Perfect Fit in the Koford Feather cans we were using.
These were then Cut to an appropriate Length and sent away for Charging.
We then Hand Shaped the resulting Magnetic 'Blocks' to the desired 'Test' Profiles we wished to Try.
It was Kind of Weird having a Singular 'Chunk' of stuff that you could Slide into the can,..as One Homogenous Piece !!!
I'll Take some Pics of The Motors we ran,..you might find it Interesting if Nothing else.
Everyone else was running Tiny Strap Can style Magnets at the Time and Fox, Hutcho and Myself figured that was Just Completely Wrong and considering Group 20's were in effect at a weight dis-advantage at the time Anyway,..we figured the Increase in Power and Torque, would be Worth the Weight Penalty,..AND,..We Were Right !!!,..ROFL
We regularly ran 11 tooth Pinions and I am sure Mark and I actuall Ran 12's at one stage,..when everyone else was running 9's and 10's and getting HOT,..You could Almost Put your Tongue on Our Motors !!!
Air Gap, Coverage, Flux Density and Field Return,..ALL Very Important !!,..LOL
Outcome in the Championship ???,..1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th !!!,..Guess they Worked eh!!??