Making magnetic counters

The previous post on cube markers got me thinking that perhaps it would be a good idea to show how I make magnetic counters and the metal underbases they sit on. IMHO magnetic counters work the best of all the ways I have tried (and there have been a lot of them!) to do on-table bookkeeping in a way that is clear, discreet and fuss-free.

So, magnets. I use magnetic sheeting which I bought at Maizey (suppliers of signage materials) but one can buy it easily enough elsewhere and it's not expensive. I printed out the counter artwork on adhesive paper and stuck it on the magnetic sheeting. The end result was cut out and stuck back-to-back to create two magnetic sides.

Next the metal underbases. For this I bought a coffee tin, put the coffee into a plastic tub and removed the label paper.

I bought a metal cutter from a hardware shop and cut the top and bottom off the tin, then used a hammer to flatten the middle section into a sheet. Here are the remains of the last tin I used.

I then cut the steel sheet into rectangular sections, of four different sizes. That done, I stuck some bond paper on the one side and then coated it with silica gel - the stuff you use to seal showers. Also cheap and readily available even in supermarkets. The underbases would now not slide down hilly slopes - something that had bugged me for years when playing DBA and other rulesets

I glued some magnetic sheeting on the underside of my figure stands and voila! they stuck firmly on the steel underbases.

As did the counters.

And I've lived happily ever after. 😊