what are affiliate links?
Amazon affiliate links pay a small amount to the channel without you spending any extra money, buying things your were going to buy anyway.
Most of the below are affiliate links, except for where the product is not on Amazon, or is ludicrously expensive on Amazon.
magnets and magnetic materials
Neodymium Magnets
First of all - I do not get any money from magnets. I actually got in touch with magnet companies to get you all discounts, rather than any money for myself. I want my advice to remain honest :)
A quick note on north/south for anyone new to my channel. I use these terms a lot, and explained it in my early videos, but its hard to fit in every single one!
Basically the side I call north, is whatever side you decide it to be in the first piece you make - then you can make any future pieces with that 'north' side in mind.
Which side of the actual magnet you use is completely irrelevant :)
Size:
I mainly use 3mm wide by 2m deep Neodymium disk magnets for my connection systems. I've found them to be a great balance between size and strength.
If I need stronger ones, I tend to default to 6mm wide 4mm deep ones of the same type :)
IMPORTANT WARNING - Do not buy magnets on amazon, ebay or aliexpress unless you know what you are doing. 90% of the time these magnets are weak n35 magnets and will not work very well for our tiles. they will just about pull together, but they wont work for making buildings and generally will fall apart with a slight nudge. Not really worth it, I'd go to actual magnet shops that list their strength clearly first.
Something it's useful to know is you can stack two magnets to have a similar (slightly less) strength to a deeper one - so two 6x2mm magnets can be used instead of a 6x4mm one in a pinch. I'm not entirely sure of the limits of this stacking, but it does seem to work in small amounts!
You can also make lower strength magnets work if they're larger, for example using 4x2 n35 magnets still isn't quite as good as n52 3x2, but its a lot closer, and will work in a pinch.
There is a measurement of magnet strength beyond size, it's called MGOe or maximum energy product. You want to find magnets that are at least N42 if not N52 or higher. I use N52 exclusively because it maximises strength to weight ratio, and spider magnets is an amazing cheap source in the UK (discounts available below!)
They're pretty cheap regardless, but you can usually get them for half the price if you buy a decent amount at once.
The links here are for the main types of magnets I use (3x2, 4x2, 6x2 and 6x4), but you can find any dimension of magnet I mention through the websites on these links, and if you can - something has changed, so please tell me and I'll update the list.
3x2 get used for most things. 4x2 I use when 3x2 isnt quite enough, doubled up to 4x4 if needed. Great for heavier wall accessories like gibbets.
6x2 and 6x4 I use for a few things, more 6x4, but in a pinch you can double up 6x2. Its slightly less strong but not much.
The 10x2mm N52s are something I use in bonus videos - they are VERY powerful, and I only use them where the magnets will have gaps between them.
The 10x1mm non-N52s are something I use for mini bases in combination with a superglued bit of nickel strip. It makes the magnet removable when needs be, and is thin enough to accommodate everything and keep a solid hold. I use 3x2 under bases for my ladders, but not much else. they work, but are a little too thick and make the mini 'float' on the magnet a little :) makes them a little wobbly.
The US link has now been tested by Patrons (thanks Kyle!) and is a good place to get the right magnets at a good price.
SAFETY: Please bear in mind these are powerful magnets, you do not want small creatures you share the house with to ingest these, This should be obvious but I'm putting a warning here just in case.
If you have a good link for other countries, let me know and I'll put it in here!
All the below are n52 neodymium disk magnets
UK sources
Spider magnetics
These guys are the cheapest magnets and good quality in the UK currently, AND I got them to give us a discount code of RPArchive5% when I got in touch trying to get the best deal for you guys :)
The code only works on their website linked here, not on ebay or amazon
BUT
the code RPARCHIVE5 works on both Ebay and their own site!
There's also a 10% discount code available for Patrons that they also gave me, so if you're a patron make sure you get that extra discount :) Find it in the patreon benefits index here
What I use each type for I go through above :)
10x1mm (NOt 52! see above)
Guys magnets
These guys WERE cheap but recently upped their prices. I approached them to see if I could get a deal for my audience, as I had probably put a lot of business their way, but was basically ignored. Though they aren't the cheapest, multiple sources are always useful in case one is out of stock
USA sources
These guys are good quality and on the cheap side, I've had good feedback from a lot of US patrons. Again, I got in touch and managed to get you guys a 5% discount code: RPARCHIVE
There's also a 10% discount code available for Patrons that they also gave me, so if you're a patron make sure you get that extra discount :) Find it in the patreon benefits index here
Italian sources
A Patron managed to put me in touch with these guys - again, I got a 5% discount for my audience: RPARCHIVE5%
These guys do seem to have a more limited range of the exact magnets we use - they've created a section for 'warhammer' magnets (not quite, but hey they tried!) which has close to what we use.
Some of these are N48 - this isn't quite N52, but I don't anticipate any problems for the most part, it is very close.
netherlands source
Bragvar, a patron put me on to these guys, they're not as cheap as the UK sources, but they are a netherlands source so cheaper delivery might be worth it :) N48 should work well enough, the difference isnt too major until you reach N42.
3x2 n48
SPAnish sources
be aware, these are not as strong. I've left them here for now ,
but if any spanish viewers have links to n52 versions,
I'd be happy to put them up here!
(kindly provided originally by Rafael David Latorre Lopez Villalta
in the youtube comments!)
Swedish sources
Netherlands sources
This is a link where I've pointed to a non-Amazon site to save you guys some/a lot of money.
If you can, I'd really appreciate it if you would support the channel through Patreon, even if for a brief while, as this does impact the support the channel receives from Amazon Associate links, and reduces the funding available for new videos.
But I don't want to send you guys to needlessly expensive stuff :)
Galvanised Steel Wire
You can get this stuff very cheaply on amazon, it's basically equivalent to paper clips but a lot cheaper.
If you aren't sure, this is the magnetic kind of wire :)
Jewellery Chain
The stuff I use seems to be called 'trace chain' and be measured as 2mm (1/16" ish).
Magnetised Sheet (fridge magnet sheet)/magnetic sheet (ferrous rubber sheet)
Magnetised sheet is the stuff I used underneath the tunnel tiles and for the tops of the stacking support blocks in the Kobold video
The US link is a roll rather than sheets, but should be functionally the same.
Magnetic sheet is not magnetised itself, so it wont stick on its own, but it is a lot thinner, than magnetised sheet, and in my experience, is a lot stronger in connective strength. in future, I'm more than likely to use this instead, though it is slightly more expensive. The US link is not to Amazon, because there doesn't seem to be any, so it won't support the channel, but I wanted to give you guys the right link anyway :)
Magnetic rubber steel sheet (stronger, not a magnet): UK/US/Ger
magnetised (fridge magnet) sheet (is a magnet, cheaper but weaker): Uk/US
8mm nails
These are perfect for connecting to magnets, and small enough to fit almost anywhere.
The ones I use are iron. I've found two links on the US Amazon, one for 8mm steel, and one for 10mm iron. I'm not sure how being steel will effect their magnetism, if at all, so I've included both links and you can buy at your discretion!
nickel strips
These are awesome. A much easier to work with alternative to steel tin can lids, this stuff cuts far easier and comes packaged perfectly smooth - perfect for our uses!
You want the pure nickel stuff, or at least 99% ish. I took a risk with my stuff, it isnt labeled as that pure but it seems to work great :) Thickness wise you want 0.15mm to get the strength of pull you want. Theoretically 0.20 would be even stronger, and if anyone feels like buying both and contrasting I'd love to hear it!
The UK link is 15mm wide, the USA and Germany don't seem to have this on offer so yours is 8mm - generally this will mean you can layer it next to another strip wherever I use a full thickness strip - it's otherwise identical.
Nickel strips: