Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

For magnetizing do you need electrical tools like a dremel? Are there hand operated tools that can do similar work? Are there certain tricks that'll make heavy use of tools unnecessary?

If it helps, I'm going to be working on a baneblade and was looking to magnetize it so it has the option to be the other kind of tank that you can make with the kit (Hellsomethingorother?).

When I magnetized my crisis suits I used a pin vice, superglue, tweezers and green stuff

I use the pin vice to start the hole. I scraped the hole out with tweezers and/or hobby knife until it was the size of the magnet.
Used either superglue or greenstuff to fill in the gap

A handheld pinvice works nicely (I prefer it over my powertool tbh). And then just same diameter drill as magnet. Don't drill too deep, then just pop the magnet in place. I prefer to mix superglue and regular plastic glue.

A dremal with a bit the matches the Magnet is nice.

It's not a heavy-tool operation. Pin vises are a small handheld drill optimized for onehanded operation that will afford you better control over the bit if you're going to use it to create a correctly sized hole. You'll really want to use one if you're doing any substantial flush point magnetizing. With larger kits, you may not need to always drill a hole, but you'll need to get a magnet where there's no plastic. You can use pieces of sprue as crosspieces to mount magnets in voids such as underneath hatches.

A very useful tool is a distinct permanent magnet where the poles are easily distinguished, for example, those old horseshoe magnets marked with N/S. You can use it as a baseline to ensure all your magnets are correctly oriented before gluing and ensure cross-compatability. For example, you could decide that S is always towards the centre of the model.

Pin vise will work fine, especially with plastics. When I am drilling, I generally prefer to use a hand held driver though as opposed to a Dremel or Pinvise. The lower RPMs make it easier to control the bit and less likely to gum up with melted plastic or metal.

http://www.amazon.com/Bosch-PS20-2A-12-Volt-Litheon-Batteries/dp/B000PI5EBW

In addition to that - a simple compass is handy. When you start swapping stuff around, it lets you keep things straight in an easy manner. One of the worst gaffs I ever made was making a swappable weapon were the magnets repelled each other instead of attracted each other.

http://www.amazon.com/SE-CC50B-Glow-in-the-Dark-Brass-Compass/dp/B001IABX3Y/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1347078011&sr=8-4&keywords=compass

In order to glue them in place - I tend to press fit and then use a thin superglue to hold them.

I have a tutorial here on magnetising a predator. Covers some magnet handling practices, and tooling etc.

http://www.winterdyne.co.uk/maz/winterdyne_tutorial2.pdf

I have a rotary tool and a cordless drill/driver, both with more torque than I'll likely ever need - neither sees much use, when it comes to modeling, whether I'm drilling, smoothing, or shaping. As others have said, not only are power tools not usually necessary, the increased control of hand tools often makes them preferable. It takes little effort to drill by hand, especially in plastic, so a pin vice is all you'll need, along with the proper bit(s).

I poke a divot into the center of the hole-to-be with a small awl (tip is like a push-pin, but the longer handle gives better control - a tack works just fine, in a pinch), first, to help start the drilling cleanly and on-target. For large diameter holes, I'll sometimes work up through two or three sizes of bits, just to help keep things from tearing out. It's not always necessary, but my larger bits are a touch too aggressive for thin-walled plastic, so "shaving" the hole to the proper diameter helps ensure that they remove stock, instead of biting too fast and screwing themselves in, as the plastic deforms.

I also have a power handheld drill and a dremel. Neither get much use. I usually start with my very tiny drill bits that came with a small hand drill, and work up to the size that is needed for the magnet. The larger drill bits, I just spin in my hand, takes a couple minutes, but in plastic, it not hard to do.

By the way, I also have a Baneblade that I'm going to work on and magnetize so I can make all the different tank types. What are your plans for magnetizing it?

Usually I only use the bit itself.

After drilling deep enough, one turn in the wrong direction cleans the hole, so you don't have obstacles for your magnets.

If you use a drill with the exact diameter of the magnet, you should mark the other end of the bit with the length of the magnet, this way you can test-fit without using a magnet.
Otherwise the magnet can get stuck and won't come out again, even without glue as the hole has the exact same diameter.

For magnet direction, the simple solution would be to glue one magnet in place (for example the weapon mount), let the weapon magnets fall onto the first magnet and push on the weapon.
If you do this with one master-mount all magnets have the same direction, no need to remember the previous directions and everything is compatible.

A tip that I give to everyone magnetising is - use paperclips for the off-surface (the one that won't always need the magnet).

The bond is strong, if it needs to be stronger - use 2 or more clips, it also means you don't need to worry about magnet direction and saves you magnets.

For example - I magnetised all the weapons options on my Razorwing with 7 magnets, for all 18 options, my Tau Stealthsuits with 4 magnets for 6 options, my autarch with 2 magnets for 5+ options... etc.

Otherwise, yes, pin vice (hand drill) with the relevant size of bit (same as magnet) dab of superglue, away you go.