A magnet will only work to pickup your keys if the key ring is iron or steel.


With very few exceptions all keys are non ferrous metals. They are non magnetic and (despite what you see on TV when some spy or thief is copying a key in a movie,) they don’t generate any sparks when cut or scraped over something.


Stainless steel is also non magnetic, I recently bought a small ax to go with my Thermette and the package says it’s stainless steel. But a magnet sticks to it very well.

Some stainless steel has a little regular steel in it and a magnet will have a very small attraction to it, not enough to stick, but this ax draws a magnet to it like a kid is to a mud puddle.