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Hello dakka,

I have purchased wood and magnetic Litko square bases for my early imperial romans. The thought is that I would plop them down on ferrous sheet metal with a decorative edge to match the miniatures. However, from my experience cutting metal in non hobby arenas, know that my tin snips will make any sheet metal curl, scratch and roll. How have wargamers gotten around this problem? I could use an angle grinder, but I think it will be jagged and VERY tedious to get my legions to the field in that case. Using the adhesive polymer magnetic sheet is probably a no-go too due to polarity affects making the little Italians jump around. What say you dakka? I would prefer an answer from someone with a little gray in their hair.

Thanks
DrG

Well you could always tin snip then hammer then back flat.

its not like it requires the greatest of tolerances as well magnetic sheets are a bit flexible and will more than likely conform to some slight irregularities like how they use flexible magnetic sheets on car signs though i guess those signs arent glued to wood so ymmv.

A cut off wheel will work though just sandwich them down with clamps and something sturdy like tube stock or an angle iron or two.

after that it will leave a very painful edge so use sand paper and or a file and take care of the burs.

Desubot.
Cutoff wheel = angle grinder
Magnetic sign = polymer magnetic sheet

Any other ideas?

Anyone used a "nibler"?

Not for that use, but I have. IIRC, it bends a little at the edges, but is fairly manageable (been a couple years, and only the once)

Depending on the size of your sheet, you can reasonably use a hacksaw to cut it. I did this myself last week. Throw in a bit of sand paper (40 grit) to smooth the edges and you get some nice usable sheets that you won't cut yourself on.

You can get flexible magnetic sheet - cut to size & stick into a movement tray??

bubber, flexi magnetic sheets will run into polarity problems. The bases are already magnetic.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
I will have to experiment. I will update the thread with my findings.

 doktor_g wrote:
Desubot.
Cutoff wheel = angle grinder
Magnetic sign = polymer magnetic sheet

Any other ideas?

Anyone used a "nibler"?

I have a manual nibbler


it works though you go like 2mm per squeeze

the electric one should work just fine

You will probably still need to debur the edges

you can get the sheet in non-magnetic but still ferrous form:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Magnet-Expert%C2%AE-Gloss-Flexible-Ferrous/dp/B0055XUBQA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1521053247&sr=8-1&keywords=flexible+ferrous+sheet&dpID=21m65VGds9L&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=srch

Best way to cut steel sheet wis with a metal shear or guillotine, but those are around $1000 last time I looked into it, might be able to find one on Craigslist for much less if you keep checking.

Aside from that, you can use a metal blade on a jigsaw. Place a piece of scrap wood underneath so you're cutting through both the wood and metal and it'll cut without deforming the metal.

But seriously, it's not at all worth the money saved. Go to http://shogunminiatures.com/index.html and buy either his steel movement trays or his steel sheet bases. Been using him for years, he does all the cutting and deburring for you and it's fairly cheap. I highly recommend his flanged steel movement trays, they're only a couple dollars each and the lip/flange holds everything perfectly in place. For an extra charge he'll custom cut you trays with lips on all 4 sides (standard is 3 sides so you can easily remove casualties from the rear), just email him

I used to use cutoffs from ducting (around here they tend to use galvanised sheet for it, and shears for cutting it (not snips), so nice long straight edges.

But that was many years ago (almost 3 decades), when the grey hair was still coming in (I went grey early, though).

I use steel paper (very thin sheet steel, paper on one side, adhesive on the other). I cut it with scissors and stick it to a movement tray.

 Kalamadea wrote:
Best way to cut steel sheet wis with a metal shear or guillotine, but those are around $1000 last time I looked into it, might be able to find one on Craigslist for much less if you keep checking.

Aside from that, you can use a metal blade on a jigsaw. Place a piece of scrap wood underneath so you're cutting through both the wood and metal and it'll cut without deforming the metal.

But seriously, it's not at all worth the money saved. Go to http://shogunminiatures.com/index.html and buy either his steel movement trays or his steel sheet bases. Been using him for years, he does all the cutting and deburring for you and it's fairly cheap. I highly recommend his flanged steel movement trays, they're only a couple dollars each and the lip/flange holds everything perfectly in place. For an extra charge he'll custom cut you trays with lips on all 4 sides (standard is 3 sides so you can easily remove casualties from the rear), just email him

I used to just sneak in and use those big press sheers in the fab shop. so much nicer than going at it by hand for straight cuts.

@Kalamadea: that is PERFECT. sold and sold!

Just for all to gaze upon:

http://shogunminiatures.com/index.html