# Bad news for those who like magnetizing their kits.



## tu_shan82 (Mar 7, 2008)

Alessander @ BoLS Lounge said:


> I wasn't sure where to post this, I figured since 40K is the game system most associated with rare earth magnet conversions, i'd post here.
> 
> My business just got a letter from a vendor that they were drastically bumping up the price of their magnet-based products, and was having general problems getting some magnet-based products in stock.
> 
> ...


This is pretty crappy news for those of us that like to magnetize their kits to get more bang for their buck so to speak. Pretty good news forthe gaming companies though, as it will mean having to buy multiple kits, where previously the hobbiest could have gotten away with using one kit and magnetizing the options available for said kit. But if the magnets are becoming rarer and with the price increasing so much that may be the case for the foreseeable future.


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## KingOfCheese (Jan 4, 2010)

For anyone interested, here are the current figures and latest news regarding neodymium.

http://www.metal-pages.com/metals/neodymium/

Interestingly enough though, neodymium isn't actually "rare" at all.
Its just as common as nickel, cobalt, copper, etc.

But still, its looking like the prices are going crazy for some reason.


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## deathwatch27 (Dec 30, 2009)

Oh well glad i just stocked up.


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## imm0rtal reaper (Jul 15, 2008)

It would seem as though Boron is part of what makes the Neodymiun magnets. According to wiki Boron is not very common at all so maybe it is actually a shortage of Boron that is causing the price rise?

EDIT: It was also seem that Boron is also found in China, amongst other places. And is used in tank and body armour. It could be that Boron is being brought up for some military purpose? Although that is pure speculation.


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## DivineArchitect (Mar 24, 2011)

..maybe im just old school but i just double pin everything.can get a few thousend copper pins for like...3 quid


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## KingOfCheese (Jan 4, 2010)

imm0rtal reaper said:


> It would seem as though Boron is part of what makes the Neodymiun magnets. According to wiki Boron is not very common at all so maybe it is actually a shortage of Boron that is causing the price rise?
> 
> EDIT: It was also seem that Boron is also found in China, amongst other places. And is used in tank and body armour. It could be that Boron is being brought up for some military purpose? Although that is pure speculation.


An increase in the price of Boron would cause an increase in the cost of rare-earth magnets, but it wouldn't change the price of neodymium as they are completely different metals.

Neodymium is in monazite and bastnasite, which is mined from China.


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## imm0rtal reaper (Jul 15, 2008)

KingOfCheese said:


> An increase in the price of Boron would cause an increase in the cost of rare-earth magnets, but it wouldn't change the price of neodymium as they are completely different metals.
> 
> Neodymium is in monazite and bastnasite, which is mined from China.


Ah yes I see :S

Well I'm stumped then lol


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## deathwatch27 (Dec 30, 2009)

Maybe the chinse realised how much it sells over here so they got greedy. Thats what happened in Hong Kong with the Airsoft bb guns.


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## whiplash308 (Jan 14, 2009)

Well at least we can still purchase magnets from cheaper sources that are similar if not the same as Rare Earths. I personally don't use Rare Earth magnets myself, but sucks for those that do. :/


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## apoch1999 (May 7, 2011)

neodynium is used in cell phones. cell phone sales are going through the roof, and like you all mentioned, a major component is mined in china. a few months back, the word in the tech world was that if a new source of that metal isnt found we could run out of neodynium by 2016. and since hardly anyone recyles thier cell phones, all the neodynium used already is probably in a landfill. sooooooo....probably be a big market for reclaiming metals out of cell phones soon as well due to this, considering theres about 10 bucks worth of gold in each one with prices on that as they are right now as well


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## GrizBe (May 12, 2010)

DivineArchitect said:


> ..maybe im just old school but i just double pin everything.can get a few thousend copper pins for like...3 quid


This... pinning is just as easy as magnetising when you get down to it, and cheaper too.


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## nightfish (Feb 16, 2009)

I heard something about this last year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11633929

This is probably the reason.


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## Cypher871 (Aug 2, 2009)

nightfish said:


> I heard something about this last year.
> 
> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11633929
> 
> This is probably the reason.


I would go with that too, although I had to chuckle to myself at the prospect the Chinese were looking to protect the environment...they care as much about environmental issues as they do about human rights.


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## Orochi (Jan 28, 2009)

Good thing I have more rare earth magnets than china itself.


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## Kobrakai (Jul 25, 2008)

It seems to be just another tale of raw materials getting shorter in supplies and thus causing the price to increase. This sort of thing does ebb and flow, just sometimes the ebbs and flows are more drawn out than others. 

Still, if you have plenty of stock then not to worry eh?


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## Chaosftw (Oct 20, 2008)

honestly as long as its cheaper to buy the magnets rather then buy two kits to have weapon combos then its worth it.

I have switched over to 'multi-pinning' in most cases. This is just putting 3+ pins in a place so that they have a good hold and do not rotate. It serves the same purpose as magnets but a hell of a lot cheaper.


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## Djinn24 (Jan 12, 2008)

The magnets are still not all that expensive. You are also forgetting that there are rare earth magnets in hard drives as well.


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## Achaylus72 (Apr 30, 2011)

Chaosftw said:


> honestly as long as its cheaper to buy the magnets rather then buy two kits to have weapon combos then its worth it.
> 
> I have switched over to 'multi-pinning' in most cases. This is just putting 3+ pins in a place so that they have a good hold and do not rotate. It serves the same purpose as magnets but a hell of a lot cheaper.


Stole my thunder mate, cheaper than buying two kits, except if you want to expand your armies then two kits are the way to go.

Folks will adapt.


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## projectda (May 12, 2008)

You can always do some penning and not glue the parts on.


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## ANARCHY (Mar 15, 2009)

Well, for those in the Netherlands belgium Germany etc., supermagnete.nl is still cheap enough to buy them at a few hundred at a time, like i did last week, so no biggy.


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## MetalHandkerchief (Aug 3, 2009)

As rotating/ multiple part hard drives for computers are produced less (with the advent of solid states) the price will go back down, probably even lower than it was before.

Besides, my regular supplier still hasn't raised prices on them.


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## Vaz (Mar 19, 2008)

It's because Scandinavian wood has run out the chinese are now building houses out of Neodynium.


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## Khargoth (Aug 5, 2010)

The inner cynic in me calls 'artificial inflation'. China briefly halts production, demand outstrips supply and the paper-pushing scum that seem to run this planet all stand up and shout "THE PRICE OF NEODYMIUM MUST INCREASE DUE TO DEMAND!"

The oil companies set a precedent with this kind of split-second reactionary bullshit and the rest of the raw materials market is following suit.

"In other news, Neodymium prices are expected to rise overnight, following reports that the lunchlady at Baotou Steel's primary mine was off sick today, meaning the miners will be hungry and digging slightly slower. Also ready to alter the market price is Apple's pending decision to keep using solid-state magnets in their hard drives, or to go ahead with making their products from solid platinum to justify their pricing scheme..."


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## Mr.Juggernaught (Nov 16, 2010)

You could make your own by winding your own electro magnet and getting some crappy mega cheap ones and placing them in the center of the magnet and boom you have your own magnets that you can even re magnesite if it wears out for some reason. Bloody Chinese are getting greedy with their minerals in fact how about the Americans march on into china and screw everything up like they did in the middle east. maybe bomb it wont affect the soil much.


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## Bubblematrix (Jun 4, 2009)

Mr.Juggernaught said:


> You could make your own by winding your own electro magnet and getting some crappy mega cheap ones and placing them in the center of the magnet and boom you have your own magnets that you can even re magnesite if it wears out for some reason.


The thing with rare earth magnets is their strength per unit size, that makes then waay more attractive (pun intended) in terms of using them for model pinning.
One thing to not underestimate with this is the futures markets, there were a whole load of reports late last year that neodymium supplies were being restricted/stockpiled/running out, it was a big thing on the business/tech news - therefore speculators are likely to have bought up quite a bit of the future supply, this tends to have an exagerated and self fulfilling effect on shortages.

Though one thing to remember from our perspective - this means pence on the price of a magnet - my supplier raised their prices a little in response, if you were a business (say making HDs) then you would worry as you might be buying thousands of these magenets, but for the modellers purposes - we are already paying a slight premium on small quantities, don't expect a massive increase, and anyway you could double the price of rare earth magnets and they are still a cheap component for model making imho.


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