I am making a permanent magnet, just for fun. I am trying to find the best grade of steel to do so with.
The type of steel you require is Steel ( Iron + Carbon, mainly.),{many different types of steel } with a high Cobalt and Nickel content. These alloyed together give the best Permanent Magnets, mainly due to their own individual magnetic properties / characteristics being retained in the Alloy. All 3 metals can be magnetised by there own, but Cobalt is known to cause cancer. Nickel, is poisonous and can also cause sever Dermatitis and the destruction of skin tissue.But when alloyed together with Iron they are pretty harmless. Interesting thing is, All of these metals (in this case Elements) can share the same Mass Number ( 60 ). And yet are totally different in their other properties beside Magnetism. Cobalt - Samarium - alloys, create some of the worlds most powerful permanent magnets. And were used in medicine, But are now superseded by Neodymium magnets which are employed instead. Edit; What you could try is, mild steel which is widely available and easily found. . The steels mentioned above are pretty exclusive materials and I personally would not know how to test for their contents, of which they are made from. Soft Iron is good for making electro-magnets if you fancy a go at making one. .
This page on spark test tells how to use a grinding wheel to get a rough idea of what you've got. Includes drawings of sparks for magnet steel;
