What rating Magnet for skinning a metal stand

[Albertan22]

I'm looking for magnets to attach door panels to my metal stand. What weight rating do people use for this? The panels will be 1/2 plywood and will be resting on the floor and I envision a magnet in each corner of the panel (roughly 2'x3' panels). The magnets are to hold them to the stand securely and to keep kids out. I'm debating between 12lb magnets and 26lb magnets. The 12lb magnets are basically fridge magnets and seem like they'd be weak, but amazon reviews on 26lb magnets say they're really hard to pull off.

 

[Bigtrout]

When i skinned my rocket engineer type stand. I made a ledge with a lip on the bottom. The 2 front door panels sit in this channel on the bottom. At the top corner of each I simply used off the shelf caninet door magnets. So 2 cabinet magnets per door. This system holds well. No hinges I simply remove the doors and have great access.
So the 12 lb magnets would probably be fine if you do something similar.

Remember in your case 12 lbs times 4 thats 48 lbs of magnet strength holding up the door. With 26lb magnets thats 104 lbs. That maybe alot to pull against.

 

[Albertan22]

When i skinned my rocket engineer type stand. I made a ledge with a lip on the bottom. The 2 front door panels sit in this channel on the bottom. At the top corner of each I simply used off the shelf caninet door magnets. So 2 cabinet magnets per door. This system holds well. No hinges I simply remove the doors and have great access.
So the 12 lb magnets would probably be fine if you do something similar.

Remember in your case 12 lbs times 4 thats 48 lbs of magnet strength holding up the door. With 26lb magnets thats 104 lbs. That maybe alot to pull against.

My stand is 2 inch steel tubes and I wasn’t really planning on modifying it. This is what I’m working with:

The wood panels will be sitting directly on the floor so in theory are also supported like your lip/track system.

 

[Billdogg]

I just finished a pair of stands for a friend. I used plastic coated magnets from www,kjmagnetics.com 3/4" diameter x 3/8" thick with 10.9 lbs of pull. I might have gotten away with 1 for each door but it would have been close. I went with 2/door and they work perfectly. FWIW - the doors are 3/4" plywood, the largest is ~18x28.

 

[Vinman]

My stand is 2 inch steel tubes and I wasn’t really planning on modifying it. This is what I’m working with:

The wood panels will be sitting directly on the floor so in theory are also supported like your lip/track system.

Following...just put rock and water yesterday in my 180. I Will be using magnets for skinning

 

[Albertan22]

I just finished a pair of stands for a friend. I used plastic coated magnets from www,kjmagnetics.com 3/4" diameter x 3/8" thick with 10.9 lbs of pull. I might have gotten away with 1 for each door but it would have been close. I went with 2/door and they work perfectly. FWIW - the doors are 3/4" plywood, the largest is ~18x28.

Thank you, that’s exactly the kind of information I’m looking for!

 

[Billdogg]

I was able to countersink the magnets into the stand itself (basic 2x with 3/4 ply skin. If your doors are going to be 1/2" ply you'll still be able to countersink the magnets into them. I'd suggest a forstner bit on a drill press if possible. That will give you a nice clean, flat hole for the magnets. You'll only have a little under 1/8" left on the plywood. A dab of epoxy in the holes and press them into place. You may find that 3/4" ply will resist warping a bit better than 1/2".

I chose the plastic coated ones (black for me) due to the probable exposure to salt water and to help them blend into the semi gloss black stand. They are pretty much invisible. I used 7/8" countersunk steel washers (also from KJM) in the doors. Because your stand is steel, you won't have any trouble getting them to hold in place. I'd still go with the coated magnets just to prevent marring the stand.


For anybody else - the easy way to mark the doors and stand for proper placement is to put the doors in place - have someone hold them if necessary - and then use a 1/16" drill bit to drill through the door into the stand where you want them. They will line up perfectly every time that way! Just use a small dab of wood filler on the outside of the door and your tiny holes will go away.

HTH!

 

[Albertan22]

I was able to countersink the magnets into the stand itself (basic 2x with 3/4 ply skin. If your doors are going to be 1/2" ply you'll still be able to countersink the magnets into them. I'd suggest a forstner bit on a drill press if possible. That will give you a nice clean, flat hole for the magnets. You'll only have a little under 1/8" left on the plywood. A dab of epoxy in the holes and press them into place. You may find that 3/4" ply will resist warping a bit better than 1/2".

I chose the plastic coated ones (black for me) due to the probable exposure to salt water and to help them blend into the semi gloss black stand. They are pretty much invisible. I used 7/8" countersunk steel washers (also from KJM) in the doors. Because your stand is steel, you won't have any trouble getting them to hold in place. I'd still go with the coated magnets just to prevent marring the stand.


For anybody else - the easy way to mark the doors and stand for proper placement is to put the doors in place - have someone hold them if necessary - and then use a 1/16" drill bit to drill through the door into the stand where you want them. They will line up perfectly every time that way! Just use a small dab of wood filler on the outside of the door and your tiny holes will go away.

HTH!

I'm not set on the plywood thickness of 1/2 inch but wanted something relatively light since these will be more of a removable panel than a door and the three on the front will probably be coming off and on daily. I don't mind the magnets not being flush with the plywood and holding the panels off the stand by maybe 1/8 inch since I want the panels to extend beyond the metal frame and cover the plywood the that's laminated to the tank bottom and maybe the bottom bead of silicone. I don't think the tank is exactly the dimension of the stand (may be an 1/8 inch out or so?) so having the panels stick off the metal braces a little will help solve that. I had planned on using a forstner bit, I'm not sure if I can find access to a drill press, still working on that...