Drafting battens

[Geoffrey Harris]

Since I have a magnetic drafting board, I thought it might be easier (and cheaper) to use magnetic battens than traditional battens with ducks. Has anyone heard of a source for these?

[Keith Wilson]

How about standard battens and magnetic ducks?

[Geoffrey Harris]

There's an idea. It wouldn't be hard to put some of those together.

[Keith Wilson]

Lee Valley Tools (http://www.leevalley.com/hardware/page.asp?page=42346&category=3,42363&ccurrency=2&SID=) sells a bunch of rare-earth magnets of various types; see the link above; sort of the refrigerator magnets from hell. It wouldn't be too hard to fasten on some kind of a batten holder to one of these.

[Geoffrey Harris]

A dab of glue on top and a piece of fairly hefty wire should do it.

[Dave Fleming]

Since I have a magnetic drafting board, I thought it might be easier (and cheaper) to use magnetic battens than traditional battens with ducks. Has anyone heard of a source for these?
-I have no idea what a magnetic drafting board is but, a question comes to mind?
How are battens going to lay fair with the pull of the magnetism?

[Geoffrey Harris]

I think I see what you're saying. A metal batten would be held to the board along it's entire length rather than movable points and therefore would not be free to assume a fair position.
The surface of the drafting board is magnetized to allow paper to held down with thin metal strips. When set on edge these looked as if they would be effective battens but were too flimsy to actually draw against. Perhaps a batten of sufficient weight would be too heavy to align itself fairly. At any rate, none of this would be an issue with magnetic ducks.

[Dave Fleming]

I have a 'gaggle' of trusty old K&E Ducks and they have or originally had a cork like material back. It dried and got crumbly with age and now I have 3/16 neoprene with a solid side down as backs..
The neoprene still allows me to slide the duck that 'skoch' of a MM or scant 1/32 of an inch, take your pick, on the paper to fair the line just so.
Question still is how are you going to be able to do such tiny adjustments with the magnetic pull?

[Keith Wilson]

The magnet increases the force between the duck and the board. The lead in conventional ducks is there for exactly the same reason. If the force is the same and the contact surface is the same, what's the difference?

[Dave Fleming]

I dunno, that is why I am asking, folla?
If it works why then its a dandy idea just trying to figure it out, magnetism and all, things like the power of the magnetism. Is it adjustable, constant over the full surface of the board, things like that.

[htom]

Is it the board itself that's magnetized, or the strips?

If the former, iron ducks would seem appropriate; the latter, magnetic ducks.

[Geoffrey Harris]

The entire surface of the board is magnetized. Thanks for your input.