Magnetic Multi Panel Mural

When I moved into a new apartment, I started looking for something to fill up a blank wall. Searching around the site, I was inspired by kiwisaft's Instructable "Megaposter Curtain" to make a multi panel piece of artwork that would fill up my wall.

I didn't want to have any visible means of support, so I decided to use magnets instead.

Step 1 Materials

1] An image- It needs to be high resolution, or in a format easily enlarged without loss of quality.
2] Masonite- The amount you'll need depends on the size and number of the individual panels.
3] Spray adhesive- I know, I know, aerosol is bad...
4] Small metal washers- Something magnets can get a hold of.
5] Small rare earth magnets- I used 3/8" x 1/16" round nickel plated neodymium magnets, you might go a little bigger depending on the size of your panels.
6] Small level- To make sure nothing is crooked
7] Chalk line, or high tech equivalent- To ensure your panels are all evenly spaced.
8] Thumbtacks- If at all possible, get flat head thumbtacks so the magnets will stick better.
9] Chalk- To mark your wall
10] Glue- Something that will hold a magnet to the back of your Masonite. I used Gorilla Glue, but it expands quite a bit, so I don't really recommend it.
11] Tape Measure- To lay out your wall.

Might need:

Xacto/paper cutter- To trim up your printed images, depending on the size and whether or not you printed bleeds. If you use a print company like Kinko's, you could have them do the trim work, but they'll probably charge you for it.

Comments

[alexpkeaton529]

Thanks for posting this instructable. I saw it more than two years ago when looking for a gift idea for my older brother, who loves Calvin and Hobbes. Long story short I took a panel into photoshop and redid it at 6' x 2', so ultra hi res, and it has been sitting in my computer for those two years due to not having time to get it printed or mounted. This Christmas I have told myself the buck stops here because not only do I want to give it to my brother, I just want to see how it actual looks outside of a computer screen. Instead of breaking it up so much I am just breaking it into three panels but I am following your directions for mounting it on masonite with some possible alterations for hanging it. I just wanted to say thanks for your creativity. I'll let you know how it turns out in a few weeks.

[tmsninja]

Do you have a copy of the original image that you used?
I like the way yours turned out and I want to do one exactly the same.

[kiwisaft]

cool work :)
thanks for getting inspired by me ;)

[shabagana]

looks awesome 5 stars. Calvin and Hobbes rule

[bumpus]

i love calvin and hobbes!! matter-o-fact where did you find such a high-res picture? and whats masionite?

[SpinneNetz]

I actually scanned that panel from my Calvin and Hobbes book.

[bumpus]

really?, how did you get the excellent resolution?

[SpinneNetz]

I just scanned it in at at a really high resolution. I forget what exactly.

[surfreak]

Do you have a rough idea? Mine's not even close to filling up a 6x4" photoshop doc with 600 pixels/inch.

[SpinneNetz]

You don't have to make yours that size, it was just that big to fill up my wall.

[kudoskun]

I think he is referring to the wall (dry wall, masonry, etc.) Although the system of gluing (glueing?) magnets to a wall seems very.....wasteful and destructive. Perhaps using metal dowels / planks with sliders (for the magnets) would be simpler, and only require mounting the rails, not each magnet to the wall, but instead a slider, which could allow for new designs to be easily attached and re-shaped.

[kudoskun]

Correction, to bumpus, the masonite was the backing material for the image, not the wall material.

[SpinneNetz]

Masonite is a dark brown fiber board.

And the magnets aren't glued to anything, you stick the tacks into the wall, and the magnets hold the washers to the tacks.

[MagnetDude]

Try using thick magnetic vinyl. Then they'll be flexible. Metal boards can be purchased at IKEA or a variety of stores very cheap, or just find a metal door or metal surface and up they go!

[recordcousin]

great idea. I just have to work thru the software.

[jessyratfink]

Yay! Calvin and Hobbes! This looks really nice. I need to put up some artwork in my new apartment and this could work.

[LinuxH4x0r]

Very nice!

[PetervG]

It doesn't look rasterbated.

[SpinneNetz]

I added a close-up of part of it on step 8, so you can see what it looks like. Not so much rasterbated because I didn't use Rasterbater. More of an off-set printing/newspaper type look.

[agdollison]

in my bed room i have sheet metal panels this would work well in my room

[SpinneNetz]

Sheet metal would be cool, if it's ferrous you wouldn't even need to glue washers to it.

[GorillazMiko]

Oooooh, very cool! I have a lot of blank space on my wall, so I want to try this out. +4.5/5 stars because I accidentally put that instead of 5. Sorry. (added to favorites)