Strong neodymium magnets are practical when you are assembling your armor. They are cheap, and they can reach where regular clamps can’t. But they can be a bit difficult to work with. Here’s where magnet bags comes in handy!
The stronger the neodymium magnets are, the better. But also that much more difficult to work with. I’ve lost count on how many times my magnets accidentally smacked together. The armor could be scraped or crack from the sudden metal impact, and you could even lose a finger in the process. After experiencing a few near-misses and bruises, I made some magnet bags. Here’s how I made them.
What you need:
- Two old t-shirts or other cloth, preferably in two different colors.
- Scissors
- Zip ties or string
- Neodymium magnets (mine are 20 mm × 3 mm discs)
Not pictured: magnets.
How you do it:
Cut the cloth into square pieces. I cut my squares to 10×10 cm. It doesn’t have to be perfect.
Place the magnets in the center of the square. If you want bags with different strenghts, vary the number of magnets on each piece of cloth. I have some with one, some with two and some with three magnets.
Make sure that all of the magnets on the same color cloth have the same polar orientation and all of the magnets on the other color have the opposite. E.g. all magnets on the green cloth have their north pole facing down, while all magnets on the purple cloth have their north pole facing up.
Make sure the bag is tight
Fold the cloth up, like a bag, and use a zip tie or string to tie it. Make sure it is thight, with no room for the magnet to flip over.
Different colors = polar opposites
There you go, now you have a nice handle to hold the magnets or to pull them apart, and the cloth makes them more gentle against the plastic. For easy access and storage, I keep mine on a strip of cardboard.
Easy access and storage