Pallet is used in organ terminology to describe the level, flap, door, stopper, whatever that opens and closes the flow of air to a pipe or set of pipes.  A pallet magnet is used in direct action windchests to close the holes that feed the pipes.  

Here's a collection of pallet magnets and stuff about them.

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Two pallet magnets

Here's a comparison of a Reisner 80Ω pallet magnet (left) and a Wicks 20Ω.

I modify pallet magnets to use as actuators for other electromechanical actions.  In this picture I've modified a pallet magnet by removing the valve stopper and attaching a metal lever to the front of it so it can lift things when its activated.

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Modified pallet magnet

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Horizontal action

Here's an example of a pallet magnet acting to lift a lever.

Here we see some pallet valves I made out of solenoids.  I fabricated the stoppers with oak dowel and window foam punchings, and I fabricated the mounting plates for the solenoids.  This worked okay, but it was hard to balance the noise with the sealing effectiveness.

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Building the box

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Windchest and toe board

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A rank of solenoid valves

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Wiring the solenoids

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Electromagnet fabrication

One of the joys of working with used pallet magnets is dealing with broken wires.  Since these are fine magnet wires wound around a spool, if the inside end of the wire is broken there's no way to recover it.  I've tried with varying degrees of success.  I've been experimenting with coil winding, and I recently got a fancy coil winding machine.  I'm also working with a friend to fabricate spools with his 3D printer.  We're getting there!