Sunday 14 August 2005

Amazing Magnets indeed

It's been a bit quiet around here because I've been occupied laying floorboards in the new house (in the parts that did not have floor tiles). That's all done now and I haven't chopped of any fingers or other appendices, so I'm back in business miniatures wise.

During this episode, I received a package from [Amazing Magnets](http://www.amazingmagnets.com), which I ordered some time before. Amazing Magnets sells magnets, amazingly, but not just any old magnet. They sell [neodymium magnets](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neodymium_magnet) targeted at the craft market. Neodymium magnets can hold a very strong magnetic field in relation to their mass, so a small magnet can hold a strong magnetic field.

I ordered their [smallest size square](http://amazingmagnets.com/products.asp?ID=01401) magnets, with the idea of using them on the bottom of slottabases instead of glueing magnetic tape to the bottom, which has its problems. The order arrived impeccably packed and included a little bag of samples in different sizes -- great service.

The magnets. 25mm figure shown for size comparison
The magnets glued to the bottom of a slottabase
The figure suspended from the side of a metal box

As seen from the pictures above, I glued two of the little magnets to the bottom of a slottabase. This gives me a magnetic field that is strong enough to suspend the figure upside down from a metal box without any problems, yet still easy enough to break the magnetic force to move the figure when necessary. One magnet did not result in a strong enough magnetic field.

This is a great product -- instead of spending a considerable amount of time glueing magnetic tape to the bottom of the bases, there is now just the one step: glue two tiny magnets to base (I use ordinary superglue) and you're done!

I shall certainly be ordering more of these magnets (possibly in a larger size to just have to glue one magnet to the base), as they are quite affordable (100 of these tiny magnets set me back $9.00, while postage and packing from the States to Belgium was less than that) and work beautifully.

Highly recommended.

1 comment:

  1. Be warned, BV ordered the 1/8" x 1/8" x 1/16" squares and not the 1/8" cubes. You have to do a small search on their web site to find these little buggers. The 1/8" cubes, although amazing, do not fit under a standard GW slottabase (they are just a wee tiny bit too large).
    Anybody interested in 400 1/8" magnetic cubes, btw? :�)

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