This report summarizes the results of research conducted as part of CRADA ORNL94-0279 between Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Magnequench International, Inc. The objective was to gain a better understanding of the fracture process in the rare earth based permanent magnets in order to possibly improve the mechanical properties of these inherently brittle intermetallics. The first part of the study established a technique for measuring a critical property, fracture toughness, and surveying currently available commercial material made by a number of different processes.