I have three of them.

1. pins go to the outside, but whether that is head out of sharp point out is how you put them on it. I regularly pull the point out ones - I hook my fingernail into the head at the center and "pull" it to the edge, now it's head out and point in.

2. I've used them with all sorts of pins, the short thing ones to the thick long ones. if they are magnetic, it works

3. If you are't careful and drag fabric over it, you can shift the pins so they are now on the side with Pointy end up! And that is real fun when you reach over to grab something and 15 pins are point up with the head against the table top so they are not going to give!

4. Do not stick them with other magnets - cause they take quite a bit of strength to get back apart.

5. I do like them way better than the ones that just hold the pins and don't force them to spread out, but i use both because I have both.

6. They are strong enough that if you have something else close by (like a seam ripper) you may find it's attached itself to the magnet.

i have a Zirkel and I gave away my GrabIt recently, I use the Zirkel all the time, so much easier to pick up pins! However it's very overpriced for being a magnet pincushion imo, like much of the stuff marketed to quilters lol

LOL. Live and learn!
 

[QUOTE=QuiltE;7985430]ha! the farmer in me shows, and I didn't think about most of the rest of you ........

Metals (nails, fencewires, screws, etc.) sometimes get into what a cow eats.
Magnets are put into a cow's stomach to collect these and prevent "hardware disease".
Otherwise, infection could happen ... and that could be hard to reverse.
It stays in the cow for life.

One magnet is about the size of my middle finger.
They can be cylindrical or rectangular or like a small I-beam.
On a farm, they are often found in their secondary use, on the frig! :) ----

My grands play with the Zirkel and make 3D art with the pins. I have several. I use one for the hanging scrap bag with the pincushion that is on top of the table. I put the Zirkel in the pincushion part instead of batting. The Zirkel is heavy and keeps the bag in place and perfect to grab and hold pins, small scissors, clips, and seam ripper. They are so much better then the metal bowls for pins. The pins do not get tangled.

I have 2 Zirkels and love them. I like how heavy they are because I don't seem to knock them over like I do my other magnetic pin holders. And they are fun to play with!

I have a Zirkel magnetic pin cushion. I also bought new pins. It doesn't require special pins. I love it. I just toss my pins at the Zirkel when I take them out and they all land on it and have their heads out. I really do toss them, I guess the magnet is strong enough that I rarely miss. I bought new pins and it is like my rotary cutter, you don't realize how dull they are until you get new ones. The only thing I don't like about it is that it is a strong magnet and sometimes all of scissors and seam ripper are stuck to it also.

I have one too. No more grabbing a pin and getting poked by the one I couldn't see. They can be very entertaining if you drop a pin just right....