Electromagnetic Coil 2 SS Rods Converging

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cluelessGUY
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Howdy all,
I'm looking at having two (preferably) stainless steel rods inside a plastic tube (for insulation and so they don't touch) with a push spring inside and between the two rods pushing each other away from one another, when not activated inside of an electromagnetic coil. When the coil is activated, I want the two stainless steel rods to pull together and somewhat (they don't have to) meet somewhat in the center. The goal is more to move them closer to each other not so much meet together. Size wise, I'm looking at a 1" wide hole x 1" long in the coil (1" long coil), with 1/4" long by 3/4" wide SS (both rods) with the spring between. What would be required to actually make this happen? **see drawing to help with visual - the plastic tube is not shown** Note, the image is of the coil cut in half... IMG_2395.JPG

1. Will there need to be a metal casing around the coil to keep the magnetic current inside the 1" hole?
2. What will a metal casing around this coil gain?
3. Will the rods being stainless steel cause an issue?
4. Will there be a significant size in the coil to obtain this?
5. Will the current have to be very high to do this?
6... more importantly, is this even possible to accomplish with a coil like this?
 

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cluelessGUY said:
3. Will the rods being stainless steel cause an issue?
Yes. Some stainless steel is magnetic, most not. If you want the two rods to attract each other then they will need to be a martensitic or a ferritic stainless steel. They are rare except in sheet form.