I found the patents. Hopefully this will help me understand the flux density and stuff.
https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/95/90/f8/4af2684dd5f729/US4329673.pdf
https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/75/e5/64/5619cea0206466/US4251791.pdf
Fair enough, perhaps that's my bad terminology. You can steer them through a surface that cuts perpendicular through them.
In which case, my questions are: why does it appear to take 10 times less force to switch it off than to lift it perpendicularly from the surface? Why is lifting it onto...
I have an ordinary switchable magnet for holding tools to a lathe. It's like a magnetic force gearbox, but I can't quite understand the force multiplication.
When placed on a steel surface the switch force is approximately ~5N on both finger and thumb at 1.5cm radius acting over a 3cm arc...