New Life to Old Toys Through Magnetism

Since the video doesn't show up on all mobile platforms, here is the YouTube link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGbPpDqIKq4

They're lurking in boxes hidden away in attics and basements, they spread across flea markets like dead-eyed vermin, and they're the stuff memories are made of. What am I talking about? Old plastic toys of course, and we could give them a new life with a little bit of ingenuity!

Materials

Toy
Neodymium magnet
Epoxy glue

Tools

Cutting tools, saw, knife, teeth, whatever you have on hand
Steel plate
Tape
Glue spatula, using half a clothes pin works great
Sand paper

Watch the video above, or follow the the following steps for the instructions.

Please favorite, like and subscribe if you enjoy what you've seen!

Thank you!

Obviously you first need to source your toy, which considering the billions of these which have been made through the years shouldn't be very hard.

We're starting off with a small plastic tiger toy.

The plan is to chop off the head, drill a small hole, fill it with epoxy and shove a magnet in there.

First of all you want to separate the head from the shoulders, or whatever body part you want to separate from whichever it's attached to.

Secondly, the cut surface should be smoothed out a bit. Using coarse sand paper works great if the plastic is a bit soft and gummy.

Finally you'll want to drill a recess into the back of your part. Make sure the hole is slightly bigger than the radius of your magnet.

If your toy is already hollow inside you can obviously skip the drilling step.

Next, go for the magnet. You're going to want to scuff up one of the flat sides and around the circumference with a sand paper. You don't have to sand much, just enough to rough it up, as it will help the glue to bite into the surface. Neodymium magnets, due to their nickel plating, are notoriously difficult to glue, so any help we can get is good.

Cover a steel plate with some electrical or packaging tape. This is essential as the epoxy glue won't stick to it. Put the magnet with the non scratched surface facing down on the tape and mix together your epoxy. Follow the instructions for your epoxy, but usually it's just a 50/50 blend with a few minutes of working time.

Fill the hole you drilled with epoxy. It doesn't have to go all the way up, but at least enough to have a little bit of a squeeze-out when fitting on the magnet.

Put the head down on the magnet and hold it in place with some masking tape while the glue cures.

If your toy happened to be hollow inside you can simply just fill the void with epoxy (make sure you mix enough) and place it over your magnet. Make sure you sanded the cut surface perfectly smooth so the epoxy doesn't all leak out before it cures.

Once the epoxy glue has cured you can simply remove the toy from your tape and snap off any squeezed out glue with your nails. If it's being particularly stubborn you can use a utility knife.

You're done. put it on your fridge or wherever you see fit.

You can of course prepare quite a few and make several when you have the epoxy glue mixed to cut down on wasted epoxy.

Of course, if you're so inclined you could also make new abominations of nature!

Thanks for checking out this instructable!

Please do like and subscribe!

See you next time!

Daniel
https://www.youtube.com/c/SwitchAndLever/