New(?) things from Lee Valley

W

Wapiti

Joined
Sep 25, 1999
Messages
482
Noticed a few newer items in my recent holiday catalog from Lee Valley that I thought folks here might be interested in.

Mini containers:
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=58218&cat=1,43326

Brass ID containers:
http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=2&p=58258&cat=2,40725,45454

Magnet compass:
http://www.leevalley.com/wood/page.aspx?c=2&p=55733&cat=1,42363,42356

There is a plethora of great stuff in their catalogs, and not just for woodworking. But I hadn’t noticed those before.

Anyone familiar with the compass?
Love to know if it works. I have over a dozen compasses, mostly Silva and Suunto, (due to the work I do, I seem to collect them), but this might be a fun one to check out, at a pretty reasonable price. And if it really works, it would be a plus.


I everyone already new about these, kindly ignore this post…

Brome
 
Seems to me an old Boy Scout trick was to take a needle, magnetize it, place it on a leaf which is in a steady body of water like a bucket or cup, keep it out of the wind and it will act the same way. Obviously you would need to know which way you magnetized the needle so you know which end was north. This being the case, I bet it would work fine provided you have a leaf and some water and it's protected from the wind.

Mike
 
I think the little container would be good on a keyring with a firesteel and stuffed full of cotton balls!:thumbup:
 
I really like that little compass, somebody buy it and check it out for us.

HD, I thought the same thing about the cotton balls.
 
troutfisher13111 said:
I would be interested to find out how well that compass works, and if its reliable.
Click to expand...

I have one and yes, it's reliable. It's quite a strong little magnet and it consistently rotates on it's barrel-shaped belly and points due north. I scratched an X on the side that points north (there's a small red dot painted on the north side but that could come off).

It's not going to enable you to do precise orienteering - but it does tell you which way is north. You just need a flat surface.

Not a substitute for a real compass but it's a neat little lodestone that'll keep you pointed in the right direction. :thumbup:
 
Neat items, hope I get their catalog. I have bought from their wookworking book so I must be on theri list. These would be nice pocket carry items.
 
I've seen the magnet compass before, and while it's certainly a cool little item, I'm a bit shy of rare earth magnets when carrying a real compass, or even a knife. I used to use a rare earth magnet in a sheath to hold a knife in place. That particular knife became magnetized, along with a few pocket knives that were stored close to it. If I were going to carry a rare earth magnet of this size, I'd be very careful that it came nowhere near my real compass or my knives.
 
I don't have the compass but I have bought other items from them and they are TOP NOTCH! Mostly woodworking items, very high quality.
 
Great minds...
I picked some up the other day and they seem to work okay. What I like is that the compass actually fits inside the Brass ID container. Keys and stuff tend to stick to it but I can live with that. The Magnet tends to stick to the top of the brass making it difficult to grip and remove but I just added a rubber liner and now I can shake it loose. The compass works but I
worry that it might roll off the wallet card that I balance it on and become lost. I have yet to try floating it with water but similiar things that I have tried in the past have all worked fine. The green containers are smaller than I thought they would be but it will hold half of those little waxy fire starting things. The guy at Lee's recommended that I don't try to fill it with Zippo lighter fluid as the rubber gasket might deteriorate. Has anyone had any luck with liquid?
 
Scott Ridgeway said:
If I were going to carry a rare earth magnet of this size, I'd be very careful that it came nowhere near my real compass or my knives.
Click to expand...

I'd also be very careful about getting it near my credit cards. I've seen them erased by carrying a magnetron magnet(from a microwave oven) in hand. Balancing this thing on your wallet or on a credit card could erase the magnetic strip and cause some minor inconvenience, such as not being able to buy gas in the middle of the night.

Gordon
 
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