Printable Magnet Sheets? (PROJECT COMPLETE!!!)

[vince hughes]

LOL - Looks a good job Shad

[campsawyer]

Do you have a pic of the counters on the map?

[Shad]

Smashing Success!

Last night before I went home I stuck the remaining 3 sheets and then placed them under a stack of heavy books to allow them to get a good, strong stick going.

This morning I resumed cutting. The boxcutter blade is really the best way to go. You need a tremendous amount of force to get through this 1mm rubber. My left hand had to push down with all my body weight to keep the sheet firmly in place while my right hand pulled the cutting blade through. I did the remaining frontside sheet and then had to quit. I'll do the back sheets later... I was just too tired!

   

For best possible results you would want to use the boxcutter for every single cut but that was too much trouble for me, so after getting them down to the single row strips you see in the above picture I used the shears to lop off individual counters. Much faster and less physically exhausting.

And here is the photo you've all been waiting for!

   

The full map:

   

Backing up a little bit so you can see my whiteboard to give you an idea of the scale:

   

In the initial setup I stacked my counters staggered so you could see the units better:

   

But you can just as easily stack them (nearly) perfectly atop each other:

   

And my main concern going into this - magnetic grip strength - proved to be a non-problem. I was able to stack thirteen counters one atop the other before the force of gravity overtook their force of magnetism and the stack sheared off the map:

   

All in all a...

Smashing Success!

[Shad]

Project Conclusion

Goal: I set out to try and make a magnetic version of Airborne that could be played on a vertical metallic surface.

Verdict: 100% successful

Cost Breakdown

Item	$/Unit	Units	Shipping	Subtotal
Magnetic Paper (A4)	$0.79	4	$3.94	$7.10
Magnetic Rubber 1mm (A4)	$0.63	4	$3.94	$6.46
Printer Paper	N/A	8	N/A	N/A
Printer Ink	N/A	8	N/A	N/a
			Grand Total	$13.56

I printed out both the maps and counter sheets on my office laserjet. Obviously there is a very real cost associated with this, but for such a small project it doesn't factor in. If I were to start doing this on a large scale you would need to include ink usage at the very least.

Using better quality paper, or even photo paper, to print out the counters would yield better results but would add additional cost.

Labor costs are also not factored into the above as this was a hobby project.

As it stands, that $13.56 investment yielded one magnetic geomorphic map and one magnetic full-size countersheet. That's not cheap! If you were to make a magnetic Eastern Front your costs would be more like this:

Item	$/Unit	Units	Shipping	Subtotal
Magnetic Paper (A4)	$0.79	32	$8	$34
Magnetic Rubber 1mm (A4)	$0.63	16	$8	$18
Printer Paper	N/A	8	N/A	N/A
Printer Ink	N/A	8	N/A	N/a
			Grand Total	$55+

Mind you the ink fees would be extensive, and the shipping number is way too low. These magnetized rubber sheets are really heavy.

One sheet is 250g or about half a pound! If you used 16 sheets for Eastern Front, and let's assume you throw away ~25% as margin deadspace on your counter printouts, you've still got a counter pile weighing around 3 kilos / 6.6 lbs!

But they are big, lovely counters! The dimensions of my finished kit are:

Map: 54x35cm (21.25x13.8in)
Counter: 2x2cm (0.79x0.79in)

Areas for Improvement?

I am satisfied with the paper printout quality, but I could understand others wanting to use heavier paper stock or photo paper.

If I was going to do a large game, or make these for others, I would absolutely invest in one of those swing-arm slicing board things. Something like this:



...but as heavy duty as I could find. That would (probably) speed up the cutting process immensely as well as improve the accuracy of the cuts.

Given how well the 1mm magnetized rubber works, you might consider dropping down to 0.5mm instead. That halves your weight and saves you a little bit of money in the long run. Also much easier to cut!

Final thoughts

For a long time I had drooled longingly over the occasional BGG photo of someone playing a huge game like World in Flames on a sheet of steel in their basement. They would have tons and tons of those fabled magnetic counter sleds which are insanely expensive now.

I never would have guessed how freaking easy it is to make your own magnetic game.

Honestly, this was dead simple - and I'm not an arts-and-craftsy guy at all.

There is certainly a cost involved... you can call it either a labor of love or a deluxe edition, however you want to justify it... but the end results are exactly what you've always dreamed of: a wargame on your wall.

And that's fucking cool!

So, who else wants one?

[campsawyer]

This is cool. Now we can play in space .

I was noticing at Home Depot that they sell magnetic paint for walls. Do now you can have many games going at the same time.

[Dean_P]

project complete? but where are the admin markers????

Seriously, that looks awesome! Thanks for showing that it not only can be done, but can be done extremely well and inexpensively!

[Shad]

project complete? but where are the admin markers????

Seriously, that looks awesome! Thanks for showing that it not only can be done, but can be done extremely well and inexpensively!

They are waiting for my puny t-rex arms to recover enough to cut the remaining 2 rubber sheets. That is a task I am not looking forward to!

[Matt W]

Thanks for working through this. I'm terribly retro and still without the slightest bit of talent in such crafts but what a great project!!

Maybe I can get my craft oriented daughter to do this for her dad...

Right after they teach me to Skype in time for my game with Vince...

[Hugmenot]

Shad, do you recall this post?

[Shad]

Shad, do you recall this post?

I do and I stand by it! I will never pay for PnP if there is a professional-cut version available.

You can't buy magnetic counters dude! This isn't an either or decision. It's an all or nothing decision!

Now you find me a guy who can make beautiful magnetic counters and I'll happily pay for them!