Grades of Magnets?

[ZooCity]

I'm brand new to some of this stuff, subbing out a few initial orders to see if we'll bring it in house or not. Magnets came up  and I delivered an order to a client who wanted the 30mil auto grade specifically.  Well, they feel like they don't have enough "power".  I told them I would look into it but all I can see is either the 17pt or business card type and then the 30mil auto. 

Is there a super strong magnet material that is printable?

My thought was that they don't have enough "power" b/c they are 4"x6" and most car mags are bigger with more suface area.   Never the less, where do you even go to source this type of material?

[Screened Gear]

I don't know a ton about magnets but I do know if your putting them on a car make sure to put a one inch rounded corner on them. If you don't its only a latter of time before the corner catches the wind and it ends up on the side of the road.

I don't print magnets. To cheap to outsource them.

[ericheartsu]

we did abouto 10,000 magnets for a client earlier this year, i think we used a company called Magnetic attractions. Super nice quality. all digital though.

[ZooCity]

Yeah, this is all digital, roll media with mag backer.  I just wasn't sure if it came in thicker or better grade than the 30mil.  Really think it just has to do with the small size not having enough surface area but maybe the mag is weak. 

I'll check out magnetic attractions and see if they know anything about it. 

We do sub out this stuff but, if the volume is there, may bring it in house with a versacamm.  I really try to keep 99% of what we do in the area providing jobs here.  I just rented another chunk of space adjacent to ours to house flatstock and there would be room for wide format digital in there two along with finishing.  I could see higher volume spot color screen printing being totally doable on stuff like this and then use the digital printer for short run and full color.

[Socalfmf]

you have 20 mil and 30 mil...we always use 30 mil.  and round the corners just a tad...

[Dottonedan]

I got my customers magnetic signs from Sam (great digital printing quality) and what he gave me must be the 30 mil. My customer loves them (and are the same thickness) as was his older magnets. He even re-ordered an extra set so he could keep the same art for a while. He liked my art job.


Some people like to be able to remove them easily at night. My neighbor does. A lot of small business use a vehicle in the day for business and then take the signs off at night. That might be some reasons for the more popular magnets to not be (as thick) as most are accustom to for easy removal.

[Homer]

Mags are rated in poles, the material we use for cars is 14 poles per inch @ 25 mil. I wouldn't rate the holding strength by the material thickness, do it by the poles. Sounds like you have indoor mags, for a fridge etc.

[royster13]

Magnet material will also have a "Pull Rating"......Car magnets typically have 85 pounds of pull....

[ericheartsu]

i meant to type in my first post that my research led me to believe that 30mil was the standard car magnet thickness

[ZooCity]

Thanks for the catalog link Homer that was educational.  Turns out the ones I got were 30mil, 16 poles per inch.  Yep, 30mil/14-16pole is standard, these ones were called "tuffmag".  Eric, I got ahold of magnetic attractions and they are in with a mfg I think and can provide thicker/stronger which is great, thanks for that, I'll use these guys next time to make sure I have a strong enough mag for my client.

I did some further research because hey, I don't have enough information like this stuck in my head yet...

...I see that some of the mfg's of the mag rolls use "pull rating" and most of the resellers of the rolls use "poles per inch", yay another industry with no standardization.  I guess "pull rating" is more accurate since the "poles per inch" only tells you just that, how many poles are in an inch.  Due to manufacturing differences- air gap, something or another (insert magnet industry specific lingo here) -you could have a 14ppi that is stronger than a 16ppi and, as Homer alluded to, a 20 mil that is stronger than a 30mil.

Will def round corners from now on, that's a good idear.

[ericheartsu]

let me know if you need my rep's contact. he was pretty great.

We thought about screening them as well, but honestly i couldn't find any sheets that came flat. they all came rolled, which would be a NIGHTMARE for us to flatten out and or use curled.

[royster13]

we did abouto 10,000 magnets for a client earlier this year, i think we used a company called Magnetic attractions. Super nice quality. all digital though.

Do they do wholesale?......I thought they were a retail operation......

[ericheartsu]

we did abouto 10,000 magnets for a client earlier this year, i think we used a company called Magnetic attractions. Super nice quality. all digital though.

Do they do wholesale?......I thought they were a retail operation......

as far as i know, yes! they had some of the best prices i Saw, but i only called 3 or 4 places.