Magnets and usage

[Captaniser]

Where could one find good magnets, and what magnets would you recommend for a relative magnet beginner?

 

[tom ndege]

I'm planning on magnetizing a stegadon in the near or far future... I will try to use the magnets they use for the boxes of gizeh cigarette papers(smoking is bad, mkaay?!)... quite big and not too strong... but cost efficient... and if you don't need to drill holes to use them, maybe a good way of get the howda off for transport...
That's how I plan my first steps into the world of magnets...
Once I managed placing the magnets right on both parts I'll consider drilling and buying smaller magnets...

 

[pendrake]

Home Depot®
Lowes@

Both carry a size often used in cabinet hardware.

Amazon carries them. Most magnet manufacturers have a website where they sell by mail order.

I'm planning on magnetizing a stegadon in the near or far future... I will try to use the magnets they use for the boxes of gizeh cigarette papers(smoking is bad, mkaay?!)... quite big and not too strong... but cost efficient... and if you don't need to drill holes to use them, maybe a good way of get the howda off for transport...
That's how I plan my first steps into the world of magnets...
Once I managed placing the magnets right on both parts I'll consider drilling and buying smaller magnets...

For a magnet beginner: measure and check the sizes of drill bits you already have. Order magnets to match.

 

[Crowsfoot]

You want rare earth magnets, they come in various sizes just google it or put it in ebay.

Typical sizes for this hobby 1mm * 4mm

some examples http://www.waylandgames.co.uk/1852-magnets

and a guide https://www.miniwargaming.com/magnet-guide

 

[Aginor]

I use Neodymium magnets that I get from Amazon.
They come in loads of different sizes but since I often don't have much space (like when magnetizing a Skink's wrist) I use very small ones, 2mm diameter and 1mm thick.

https://www.amazon.de/Unbekannt-100-Neodym-Micromagnete-vernickelt/dp/B008YGBMY0

and a drill like this one from Army Painter:
https://www.amazon.de/Army-Painter-5001-Handbohrer-Miniaturen/dp/B001AEB6EE/ref=pd_sim_229_1

If you have to magnetize something bigger you should of course get bigger magnets as well, but those rare earth magnets are really strong for their size.

 

[Jorgik]

Same as @Crowsfoot and @Aginor : go for neodymium magnets (I think neodymium and rare-earth magnets are the same). I get them from a local wargaming store (not GW, they usually don´t have them, but definitely worth asking them). I just went from store to store asking if they had them and if they didn´t where would they think I could find some and I ended up finding the store. For me it was just a matter of searching. And about sizes, it depends, but generally for wrists I use 2 or 1 mm diameter, and for shoulders 3 or 2mm. The thickness you want depends on how strong you want the magnet to be and how far can you / are you willing to go.

 

[Aginor]

Same as @Crowsfoot and @Aginor : go for neodymium magnets (I think neodymium and rare-earth magnets are the same).

Yes, Neodymium is one element of the group of so-called "rare earth elements".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rare-earth_element

It happens to be VERY magnetic, much more than an equally sized iron magnet (around eighteen times in fact).
EDIT: Well, actually it is a bit more complex than that, those magnets are not pure neodymium. But let's leave it at that for now.

 

[Warden]

For my dragon I used magnets I bought from a local craft store, mostly because the Lowes (a home-supply store) didn't have any rare-earth magnets... . I don't have any good information on them other than some of the magnets are labelled by the "strength" of their magnetic power, from 1 to 10. The "1"s are pretty weak, normally with just enough adhesive to attach to the front of a refrigerator or something; they are way too weak for miniature use.

The ones I bought were all strength "10," an even they had a hard time holding up the heavy resin wings. I recommend before you guy anything in place, you make sure whatever magnets you bought can actually hold up whatever you are trying to convert together.

 

[The Red Devil]

Amazon carries them. Most magnet manufacturers have a website where they sell by mail order.

If you have time to wait, search ebay. There is several sellers there (most from China) that sell these magnets very cheap, and with free shipping (just takes a few weeks for them to arrive). From my experience I can get hundred magnets from ebay cheaper than the price the local hobby store wants for ten.

The ones I bought were all strength "10," an even they had a hard time holding up the heavy resin wings. I recommend before you guy anything in place, you make sure whatever magnets you bought can actually hold up whatever you are trying to convert together.

Have had the same issue, solved it by drilling in pins in addition to the magnets. So slide it into the pins first, then the magnet keep it in place until I dissemble it. The tricky part is trying to the the holes for the pins at the same locations and as straight as possible.