Magnetic building and weights

fredvon4 Tue Oct 13, 2015 4:19 pm

A while back I ran across Paul Johnson's Airfield Models web site and his magnetic building fixtures. I was not doing enough fully body fuselages to warrant the cost of his fixtures.

http://www.airfieldmodels.com/store/magnetic_fixture_system_2/fixture_sets.htm

I did like the idea of magnets instead of pins to hold stuff in place

Master Magnetics has them--- still a tad expensive but half the price of airfield. @ $55 for 100 but the shipping cost kills you. But still cheaper with shipping then what John wants so I ordered a hundred

http://secure.magnetsource.com/airfieldmodelmagnets.aspx

Mike Griffin does a pretty good job of instructional videos...here is his take on magnetic building process:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4KDTVdcN_c

I have a sheet metal HVAC job shop in my rural area where I found a sheet of galvanized sheet 18" x 48" cut off end--for $5 bucks.
You do NOT want to buy this stuff from Lowe's or Home Depot----BIG $$
Does not matter what gage you get

I also tried to find steel weights instead of all the kludge crap I was using for my shop like old batteries and lead bullets in bags....a machine shop or metal fabricator (for cut ends of plate steel)near me is non existent

Found these and use them a LOT

http://stunthanger.com/hobby/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=93

That said I do use two bank coin bags full of 45 caliber lead bullets as weights for some stuff

On another site I read about lead shot in bags. At a ammo store, new 25 lbs #7 to #9 shot is expensive. Someone suggested Good Will type store having old lead shot arm and ankle exercise weights for next to nothing in cost. They are Velcro jobs filled with lead or steel shot... next time I am on Fort Hood I plan to visit the thrift store and see if they have any cheap