rare earth magnets - what size for models

StarFyre

Active member
Just wondering, if I want to make a model magnetic so that I can switch poses with other body parts, what size do people suggest? i saw the smallest at a nearby store: 1/4\" diamater, 1/10\" thickness. Is that what others use?

Also, what type of metal do people put into the other side for it to stick too? I don\'t think I have seen pieces of metal cut that small...

Sanjay
 

Roger Bunting

New member
Well, I haven\'t used the magents for optional arms or whatever, just for the movement trays. For that I used tin sheeting. I haven\'t seen metal cut small enough either so maybe the best thing is to put another magnet (making sure the polarity is the correct way round, of course).

I\'ve seen magets as small as 1mm diameter with 1mm thickness.

Here\'s a link, although it\'s a UK based company.

http://www.emagnetsuk.com/?gclid=CIHJ5azl5IkCFS96MAod8njAFQ
 

Legacy Account

Active member
Got a feeling you can get smaller than that - do a search for them on Ebay. I\'ve got some tiny ones just a few mm diameter and they\'re really powerful things.

Just as an aside, I saw something the other day that scared the shit out ouf me. Several kids had died after swallowing magnets similar to rare earth ones. The magnets had moved to different parts of the kids\' bowels, but had stuck to each other and had absolutley shredded their insides. Horrible, so be safe people.;)
 

QuietiManes

New member
Here\'s a US dealer for magnets. I\'ve used them, they\'re quite good IMO. You can do a search online for others, there are plenty, even a few Canadian, but I found most others had supply and/or variety issues/deficiencies.

http://www.kjmagnetics.com/categories.asp

As for what size to use? Use whatever fits in the area you are magnetizing AND is strong enough to hold the piece in place, arms pointing strait out need much larger magnets than arms hanging down, for example. You can buy or make metal discs to stick to the magnets, but I think the best idea is to just use 2 magnets, makes the join that much stronger. The width and the depth of the magnet affect its strength so if you can\'t fit a larger in width magnet in the area you might be able to fit a thicker magnet. The magnets are fairly cheap so this shouldn\'t be much of an issue. Otherwise, you could buy some steel wire or rod, or any ferrous metal, i.e. not brass or copper I don\'t think would work, anyway, just twist it up into a little disc and glue it in the hole or buy a thicker wire and cut off a disc and glue that in the hole...or glue pieces down in whatever manner floats your boat I guess. :evil:

Anyway, g\'luck with your magnet adventures.
 

DaN

New member
You can get them TINY
I have some about the size of, well, tiny (I can\'t think of anything a smilar size!)

I wouldn\'t recommend trying to cut rare earth magnets to size - apparently they shatter.

the size all depends on what parts you want to add them to - the ones I have were incredibly fiddly to use - and, because you\'re going to be gluing them in place - make sure you have the poles aligned correctly!!!
 
Back To Top
Top