Because I’ve made so many “porch leaners,” we had ordered a bunch of 3/4" steel disks off of Amazon, to use in place of magnets on my interchangeables for them. But the disks, although nice, didn’t give a strong enough grip on the magnets and made the interchangeables too easy to knock off. Major bummer. So I have about 500 of these little disks that have been sitting in my drawer, wondering what I could do with them.
Today I decided to try to spray paint a few and try engraving the paint off, thinking maybe I could use them for earrings or something. I reread almost all the posts on engraving on metal and all the different sprays, etc., to do so with, but I must say, I was still a little nervous to press that little white flashing button, so did a very minimal design instead of something a little more elaborate.
So here’s the result. I did 2 passes, but I think just one would have worked. And also maybe letting my paint dry overnight instead of just an hour.
I still need to see if I can use my Dremel to drill some little holes at the top for the earring wire, and will try to do that before I paint and engrave next time. If nothing else, I have a couple cute little cat coins!
I know it’s satisfying to reuse materials, but it’s really hard to justify the economics of painting and drilling a metal blank. Even without bargain shopping, you can get predrilled anodized tags for less than $0.25 apiece, ready to go with no labor:
Thanks @evansd2 and @jamesdhatch. And you’re right - it’s a pain to paint them all - which is why I only did 4! I just wish I could find a use for them. I don’t want to throw them away. Hmm…maybe on a much smaller interchangeable set that won’t be outside…
No argument that there are less labor intensive options, and if she were trying to complete an order there are definitely better options, but it doesn’t strike me that Ellen’s motivation is to find the quickest, easiest, or cheapest method.
In an effort to use material she has already purchased, there is also value in exploring unfamiliar processes. In that case, the labor is the journey, and the education and experience gained is the real payoff.
Many times in life I have ‘reinvented the wheel’, but I always emerged with a deeper understanding - and usually a new tool!
Here’s one possible idea: use them to make your own magnetic closure cardboard boxes. You know, like the decorated boxes you can get at the craft stores. The attached lid has a flip-over bit that has a magnet in it, and you can embed the steel disk on the opposite mating side.
Sometimes the fun is the making but if it’s a practical consideration these boxes are inexpensive to the point that it’ll cost you more just in design time, let alone materials and assembly and it probably won’t be as polished as one of the boxes you can buy.
