I glued my polarities on my warjack wrongly. Any suggestions how to remove this?
I’m sure this has happened to many people, so I’d think a thread on this would be useful. Do share what you did to rectify the situation please!
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It’s a pain to remove glued magnets.
Assuming you used super glue (Cyanacrylate) I would carefully put a few drops of acetone onto the magnet just enough that it flows into the gap between magnet and the mini.
Than after a minute or so try to pull the magnet with another magnet out after the glue is softened.
But be careful: maybe the acetone could damage the resin, so you won’t spill it all over the model.
Alternatively you could try IPA (Isopropanol) which won’t do harm to the mini but will soften the glue less.
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Thankfully, when it’s happened to me, it’s been surface/wrist magnets on my Protectorate warjacks that I could lever off with a knife. There’s two sides to a magnet relationship - is it easier to remove and flip the magnets off the warjack arms instead? I haven’t assembled any Mk4 jacks yet.
Tried a technique someone mentioned today and managed to get the magnets out!
Here’s what you need.
- Soldering Iron
- Sharp Pointy Metal Thing (e.g. Thumbtack)
Step 1) Turn on Soldering Iron. Once heated up, touch the magnet with it.
Step 2) Put Soldering Iron aside. Then, use your pointy metal to pry the magnet out.
Step 3) If it doesn’t come out, heat up the magnet again with the Soldering Iron.
I think what’s happening here is the soldering iron is not only heating up the magnet, but also the glue and the surrounding resin, loosening it enough to lodge your pointy metal to pry out the magnet.
BE WARNED. Soldering Iron is hot. Please handle with care! Also, do expect some minor damage to the area surrounding the magnet when you pry.
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If you demagnetize it though, it should still be a ferrous material which another magnet should stick to, right? So would there be a need to remove it?
As the guy who pitched the idea, and answered the questions about it on the discord:
“magnets are cheap” and dealing with a SLIGHTLY SHIDDED heavy is annoying, i’d just swap it out, you get spare magnets with your jacks anyways!
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Acetone is certainly a good call, especially since it’s inside a joint so a small amount of damage to the surrounding resin shouldn’t be a huge problem. I’m not sure how much damage short duration contact with acetone will do in any case. As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, I’ve removed residual paint by wiping with acetone on kitchen roll before without any issues.
If you don’t want to risk a solvent, you could drill in at the side with a 1mm bit. If you can get the bit in underneath the magnet, you can usually pop it out. Again, since it’s an enclosed joint the extra hole will be covered by the arm (or you can just fill with greenstuff/milliput).
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I am glad you managed to get it out!
The easiest way to prevent this from happening in the future is to build some sort of magnet rig. I bought a pack of cheap wooden hobby store brushes, chopped the ferrules off, and carefully drilled magnet holes. Glue a magnet in the hole, then use tool #1 to seat the magnet in tool #2. Bam, instant, correct-polarity tools, and you’re set for life.
Just differentiate the tools somehow (I have tags on mine that read “socket” and “weapon”) so you’re consistent, and think twice before you reach for the glue! 
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