Wondering if there's kind of foil (that is bendable and shapable...but probably thicker than standard aluminum foil) that a magnet(s) would stick too???

Have some ideas for a few effects where something with a magnet in/on it could be loaded onto a shirt that'd have sheet of the "metal foil" under it and then stolen back off again.

Thanks!!!!!

You can probably use steel shim stock. I have bought rolls of it from MSC Direct. It comes in a variety of thickness gauges. .001 is pretty thin stuff. I haven't checked, but you may be able to get it thinner than that. I use it for magnetic applications a lot.

It will easily bend, but not sure how well you can shape it. It may depend on how extreme the bends are. Perhaps if a very thin shim is available, you can shape it over a mold with a burnishing tool, but I don't know.

Like Michael said, shim stock is available and might work well. I will add that I've used such stock, and magnetic 'pull' seems weaken as the material gets thinner. That is, the bond strength between magnet and steel seems to diminish.

Just spitballing here, but I wonder if reversing the magnet and the shim might work? That is, sew the magnet into the shirt, magnetize whatever it is that needs to temporarily hang there?

Best of luck with your R&D,
Leland

That's a good idea, because you can increase the number of magnets used to override that problem. If the item to be used is already magnetic, the attraction will be stronger with another magnet as a mate, but you may need to make sure your polarity is consistent.

Check out McMaster & Carr (http://mcmaster.com) check out their sheet and foil stock. They have what you are looking for, man I should get a commission from those guys!