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Author Topic: magnetizinationing  (Read 9284 times)

Offline ILoseAtLife

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magnetizinationing
« on: November 04, 2010, 01:48:49 AM »
Hey all,

I'm looking to magnetize my army and was hoping for some opinions on which magnets to use.  I was going to use this website.

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/products.asp?cat=10

I was thinking of ordering D31 or D21.  What do you think?  Any opinions?

Thanks for your help!

Offline UndeadEmpire

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #1 on: November 04, 2010, 02:18:36 AM »
F***ing magents, how do they work?

Offline Warwhore

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #2 on: November 04, 2010, 03:05:15 AM »
Magnets are a result of moving electrons (charged particles in motion produce magnetic fields) within the material. Hope that helps . . .
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Offline Wolfshart

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #3 on: November 04, 2010, 03:47:59 AM »
Depends on what you want to use them for. I have used magnets for a few years now and have found that for weapon swaps the D201 work awesome...they are the same size diameter as the D21 but much thinner, which makes them easier to work with. I have used the D101s before but mostly on wrists and hatches for my 40K models. The D21 however work great for sticking under bases (with a piece of plastic sheet under it) of metal models for my magnetic movement trays. I could see the D21s working for larger metal models however so in all it really depends on what application you’re looking for.

P.S. I took a class last year on electricity and magnetism here at University but I will not bore you all with quantum theory...
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Offline Johann Q Peasant

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #4 on: November 04, 2010, 04:02:13 AM »
This may sound a bit ghetto, but I went to Lowes, (american hardware warehouse)  and bought a sheet of Duct metal (5"by 4"?) for 11 bucks.  Then I superglued magnetic tape from Hobby Lobby (power level 3 it said... whatever that means), to the bottom of the bases.  (you have to cut the magnetic tape into small squares.)

Cut the Metal sheet into appropriate size rectangles, and with a little bit of work, I magnetized over 120 Models for less than 15 dollars.
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Offline Timbor

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #5 on: November 04, 2010, 04:06:56 AM »
I too have done a similar thing - sheet metal and fridge magnets I got for free from my school.  My main problem is that when using tin snips to cut the sheet metal, the edges always get bent.

I'd like to find a good source for rubber steel sheeting (magneto-receptive), as that would be easier to work with than steel itself.
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Offline warhammerlord_soth

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #6 on: November 04, 2010, 04:53:55 AM »
Rare earth for metal, self-adhesive magnetic tape for plastics


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Offline ZeroTwentythree

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #7 on: November 04, 2010, 05:15:33 AM »


I use sheet magnet and galvanized sheet (duct) metal as well. I get the sticky-backed sheet magnet from a local industrial supplier. It's 2' wide x however many feet long you ask for, and it's only like $5 per foot of length. So $10 should more than cover an entire army worth of bases plus move trays. Stronger magnetic hold than the stuff I bought from the craft/hobby store, too. It works well on almost everything.

Only a few top heavy all metal figures on 20x20 bases sometimes tip over. Like the old metal greatsword standard bearer and champ. Just about everything else sticks really well.


Offline UndeadEmpire

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #8 on: November 04, 2010, 08:21:53 AM »
Magnets are a result of moving electrons (charged particles in motion produce magnetic fields) within the material. Hope that helps . . .

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Offline Timbor

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #9 on: November 04, 2010, 12:58:04 PM »


I use sheet magnet and galvanized sheet (duct) metal as well. I get the sticky-backed sheet magnet from a local industrial supplier. It's 2' wide x however many feet long you ask for, and it's only like $5 per foot of length. So $10 should more than cover an entire army worth of bases plus move trays. Stronger magnetic hold than the stuff I bought from the craft/hobby store, too. It works well on almost everything.

Only a few top heavy all metal figures on 20x20 bases sometimes tip over. Like the old metal greatsword standard bearer and champ. Just about everything else sticks really well.

023, how do you cut the sheet metal to prevent the edges from bending and making your tray uneven?
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Offline ZeroTwentythree

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #10 on: November 04, 2010, 01:16:04 PM »


The only place I use the sheet metal anymore is the bottom of the plastic bin. The edges aren't 100% flat, but it's very close. Close enough that I can store figures right up to the edge without a problem. I use a large pair of snips to cut the metal.

I used to use the metal on the movement trays as well, but have switched to "paper steel" from Renaissance Ink. There are a couple other companies that also have similar products (paper or rubber embedded with steel.)

Here's one of my bins:



There are also three boxes/tins in there, all with sheet magnet on the bottom. One holds my dice, one holds some wound markers (a bunch of skull shaped beads) and the large one holds my artillery, since they are not based.

Offline ILoseAtLife

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #11 on: November 04, 2010, 02:25:50 PM »
To clarify, yes I am looking to magnetize my movement trays and bases.  I was planning on buying adhesive sheet magnet for my trays and gluing rare earth magnets to the bottoms of my models' bases.  Are you guys saying rare earth magnets for my (plastic) models is a bit over the top?  Will a roll of adhesive magnetic tape do?

Offline Empirical

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #12 on: November 04, 2010, 03:25:38 PM »
@ILoseAtLife:  I actually just magnetized my army this last week.  I went even heavier duty, and bought steel flashing at Home Depot, and I also went with the D21 magnets from KJ Magnetics.  Just used tin snips to cut the flashing.  To correct the bending, I used gorilla glue, made the movement trays using 1/8" hardboard, again from Home Depot, and clamped the bajesus out of it overnight.
I used the magnetization guide on this site for the inspiration.

You don't want to use magnets on both the tray and the models, as it can lead to weird interactions and models not wanting to stay where you put them.

I'll have to upload pictures eventually, but they work great;  I use the Old Glory 2-Hander Landsnechts for my Goldswords, and you can load up 30 on the tray and hold it upside down (hell, you can even shake it a bit) and they don't move at all.

P.S.  Huh, apparently first time post, been lurking for a loooooonnng time.  Got a 2250 battle against Beastmen Friday night, hopefully I'll be able to get off my rear and get a report typed up in a timely manner, and start contributing instead of just leaching advice and strategy   :biggriin:

Offline warhammerlord_soth

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #13 on: November 04, 2010, 04:10:12 PM »
Huh, apparently first time post, been lurking for a loooooonnng time.  Got a 2250 battle against Beastmen Friday night, hopefully I'll be able to get off my rear and get a report typed up in a timely manner, and start contributing instead of just leaching advice and strategy   :biggriin:

Hurraah !
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Offline WallyTWest

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #14 on: November 04, 2010, 04:13:18 PM »
I too have done a similar thing - sheet metal and fridge magnets I got for free from my school.  My main problem is that when using tin snips to cut the sheet metal, the edges always get bent.

This is my problem, how do you get strait edges. This killed my magnetization project.
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Offline Delthos

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #15 on: November 04, 2010, 04:20:40 PM »
I bought my magnetized bases from Litko Aerosystems. They were probably a bit more expensive than what I can find else where, but at the end of the day, the fact that they are already precut makes them completely worth it. For the movement trays I purchased their flexi-steel sheet, which I then cut to fit my movement trays.

They have two strengths of magnets. Standard and Heavy Duty. I got standard for all my 20mm based plastic figs. This is more than strong enough to put them on the movement tray and hold them upside down without any falling off. For all my 20mm based metal figs, and 25mm based figs and cav models I went with the heavy duty. It's not quite strong enough to hold the metal figs on the movement trays while holding them upside down, but it is more than strong enough to keep them from falling over or moving all over the place, which is really what I wanted from them. It holds plastic cav and 25mm based plastic figs just like the standard strength ones one 20mm based plastics. One annoying thing about GW cav bases is that they aren't actually 25mm x 50 mm, even though they say they are. They are closer to 23.5mm x 49mm. I found this out when trying to glue the 25mm x 50mm magnets on to their bases. It makes me realize why it is so hard to rank up lots of the cav models. When spaced properly they actually rank up much nicer.

As someone else said, don't make the mistake of using sheet magnet on both the bases and on the movement trays. The magnet to magnet bond is much stronger, but there are bands of polarity in the sheet magnet and if you don't line them up exactly, the miniatures will not sit where you put them on the movement trays. You can cross the bands of polarity and they will hold, but its so weak, it's not even worth it. You either need to go with metal/rubberized steel on the movement trays and magnet/sheet magnet on the bases or you will have lots of headaches. I found out the hard way when I did this on mine. I've now got four 9 x 11 sheets of flex magnet that I need to cut into squares for bases and I need to buy some more flexi-steel for movement trays. I wish that they had said something about this one their website as I had no idea it was the case.

They are self adhesive, but the connection point is so small on the base bottoms that I dabbed some superglue on the bottom edges of my bases when I put the magnets on the bottoms. I did this to make sure the hold is better as I know that adhesive isn't going to stand up to the forces of the magnets for long with removing and replacing the figs on the movement trays.
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Offline ZeroTwentythree

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #16 on: November 04, 2010, 04:37:54 PM »
To clarify, yes I am looking to magnetize my movement trays and bases.  I was planning on buying adhesive sheet magnet for my trays and gluing rare earth magnets to the bottoms of my models' bases.  Are you guys saying rare earth magnets for my (plastic) models is a bit over the top?  Will a roll of adhesive magnetic tape do?

That's why I switched to "Paper Steel" or "Rubber Steel" for movement trays.

I got the Paper Steel from Rennasance Inks. I know Gale Force Nine sells Rubber Steel. I bought a small offcut sheet from them at a convention. Their regular packaged prices are a bit high, you should be able to find it cheaper through other sources.

I thought the Paper Steel had slightly better hold with the magnets.


As far as rare earth magnets, I played a Tomb Kings player who had used rare earth magnets. Because the plastic figures are so light, when he would pick up one figure as a casualty, several others would tend to flip over and stick to them because the magnets were strong enough to pull them even when they weren't touching.

I have seen people use rare earth magnets successfully, but to me is seems like overkill. The sheet magnet I've bought has worked well enough for my figures with the exception of one or two figures. My metal greatsword standard bearer is top heavy and sometimes tips over, for example. I may replace just these troublesome magnets with rare earth at some point.


You don't want to use magnets on both the tray and the models, as it can lead to weird interactions and models not wanting to stay where you put them.

This. Because of the polar nature of magnets, they will stick to each other in some places, but repel in others.





Offline ILoseAtLife

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #17 on: November 04, 2010, 04:53:15 PM »
Thanks a lot for all the input guys.

@ZeroTwentyThree - I looked at the paper steel on Renaissance Ink and it says sheets are 8x11.  Is that 8"x11" or 8'x11'?  The site doesn't specify, but I'm assuming 8"x11".  Also, is it adhesive at all?


Offline ZeroTwentythree

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #18 on: November 04, 2010, 05:58:21 PM »


You're correct, it's 8.5" x 11". It's not adhesive backed. I forget what type of glue I used, but it was most likely regular PVA glue or a silicone based adhesive. Probably the former. If you get any, you might email them and ask what they recommend.


Offline Mogsam

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #19 on: November 04, 2010, 05:59:20 PM »
Can someone just go on ebay and pick all the bits i'd need to stick 100 Dogs of War models to a sheet of metal please...  :blush:
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Offline Novogord

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #20 on: November 04, 2010, 07:53:45 PM »
I have bought some rear earth magnets (300) from ebay and a metal sheet in a hardware store. And now it is like heaven to move this army :engel:
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Offline warhammerlord_soth

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #21 on: November 04, 2010, 08:24:41 PM »
I have bought some rear earth magnets (300) from ebay and a metal sheet in a hardware store. And now it is like heaven to move this army :engel:

 
I wonder where you got that idea....  :biggriin:
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Offline Eighty

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #22 on: November 04, 2010, 09:54:44 PM »
Magnets are a result of moving electrons (charged particles in motion produce magnetic fields) within the material. Hope that helps . . .

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Offline Mogsam

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #23 on: November 04, 2010, 10:01:28 PM »
Curse you and your ability to stay within the lines.

Offline ILoseAtLife

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Re: magnetizinationing
« Reply #24 on: November 05, 2010, 01:14:09 AM »
One more question I do have.  I have one unit magnetized (did it ages ago) and I did use rare earth magnets on the models and a magnetic sheet on the base.  I haven't encountered any of the polarity issues mentioned here.  It works fine.

Do you think it is because I used rare earth magnets on the sheet magnet?  Maybe sheet magnet on sheet/tape magnet is what creates funky polarities?  I don't know.  Just thought I'd mention it to see if anyone has comments.