This idea is just clever enough that you may want to try it in your studio, too.
I decorate a lot of hanging ornaments and there are many shapes I repeat in clay which can be tedious. I drew a page of shapes I wanted and gave it to a friend in the NWPCG guild, Kim Day, who made some beautiful new cutters and stamps from it with her 3D printer. Some were 1cm and under and it was difficult to see which shape I needed without picking up and turning over five others first. So how can I display all the cutter’s cutting edges but not be laid out taking up valuable workspace?
Bing! I had an idea; I bought tiny neodynium magnets (4mm x 2mm) and used a two-part epoxy to glue them onto the pushing side of the cutters. When they were dry I put them up on a piece of magnetized sheet metal and set up upright on a stand at my workspace. Voila! All those tiny cutters and stamps at a glance ready to use.
I’ve got room on my magnetic board to put up the rest of my teeny tiny cutters, too.
A FEW TIPS
– You don’t need to mix multiple small batches of two-part epoxy like I did and dip the magnet in it with tweezers, then apply to the cutter back. Messy. Just use a fine-tipped bottle of strong glue.
– Do your gluing on a large surface so you can space out your cutters/stamps while the glue sets. Place them far enough apart that the magnets won’t suddenly mosh into another cutter. You’ll have to redo it.
– DON’T use metal tweezers; use plastic ones or just your fingers. Even the wisest among us try to use metal tweezers in the beginning and soon learn why it’s a dumb idea.