SCHOOL ITEMS

Can't beat a classic. These uncoated ceramic donut magnets have a 1-lb pull, which makes them dandy for classroom or refrigerator use. They measure 1-1/4" dia x 3/8" ID x 3/16" thick and are polarized on the faces. You get a wrapped roll of 29 donuts.

It’s a cornucopia of stencils. All shapes, no alphabets. You’ll get a profusion of (8) clear acrylic stencil sheets, including: a raft of ovals; a preponderance of squares; a farrago of circles, hexagons, pentagons and triangles; a collection of a bunch of shapes, including trapezoids; a roomful of interior design shapes; a melange of electronic symbols; and an assortment we can’t altogether identify, but might be for printed circuit design. All have mm rules along at least one edge.

Our each is a package of (2) steel tech rulers. One is 6” x 1/32” for the first 2-1/2” then 1/64” for the next 1/2” then 1/16” for the last 3”. The other is 150mm x 0.5mm. Both have sliding markers/pocket clips, and both have mm:inch tables on the reverse side. You’ll need excellent eyesight.

Pick up this 1-3/4" x 7/8" x 3/8" ceramic pick-up magnet while we still have it. It's in a heavy metal housing and has a stationary metal hoop, about 1/2" i.d., on top. The manufacturer tells us the magnet will grab up to 5 lbs of metal, however Pat and Magnet Testing Team #3 have repeatedly lifted 10+ lbs, so it's very strong. Especially if you're going to dangle it on the end of a cord to gather spilled nails or to fish your keys out of the lake/pond/sewer/drain!

Our thinner picker-upper, but with a powerful 5-lb-pull, 9/16" dia magnet on the business end (for spilled nails, the screw that rolled under the stove, or the heavy wrench you dropped into the sump). The 5/16" dia x 5-1/4" long 4-draw barrel extends to a full two feet. Has a convenient pocket clip.

Hang it all with this set of (10) magnetic hooks. The 1-3/16" long x 9/64" hooks screw into 1-3/8" dia magnetic bases with an approx 8-lb pull, which is lighter than most jackets and keys. Good for horizontal or vertical mounts, and dandy for adding hooks to gym or school lockers.

Donut magnet you can take to town!! 74mmdia x 14mm thick with a 30mm hole. Verystrong and well pedigreed - in fact, its kin areactivating pacemakers. They are of a high permeabilityferrite material with a lovely light blueor white epoxy coating. Okay, we have thembecause there is the odd bubble, slight scratches orthe word MAGNET painted in the coating which ruled them outof the medical ball, but they're fine company nonetheless. Gooddisplay bases, paper clip traps, and super for classroom demos.

From BIC®, the Intensity Coloring Pack includes (50) markers and pencils: (6) metallic markers, (12) fine point markers, (12) ultra-fine point markers and (20) coloring pencils. Color choices move across the spectrum and add a bunch of pastels for floral and unicorn fantasies. In a re-closeable plastic storage container.

We don't know why, but Bergamo, a town in the Lombardy region of northern Italy, has given its name to high-quality spiral-bound notebooks. They’re popular as journals or travel notebooks, and this one has (100) ivory pages lined on both sides. Also has a plain “soft-touch” cover (think suede-like). In a dark maroon/chocolate color. Measures 5-1/2" x 8-1/2". Jot down your thoughts and musings (you know you’ve got some good ones) or they might be gone forever.

Time was, the Scouts taught tots how to tie a few knots, but that was before John Sherry (knot-instructor par excellence and a member of the International Guild of Knot Tyers) came along with Knot It! a (126)-page hardcover book with illustrated instructions for tying (100) different knots. Our faves are the Schwabisch Hitch and the Slippery Night Loop. Includes a couple of 15” hanks of practice paracord and waterproof cards with (20) knot instructions. This could be your new hobby.

One pen, ten colors. Develop complicated note-taking systems, or just send colorful hate mail with this 6-1/4" long ballpoint with cartridges in black, orange, dark green, purple, light green, red, brown, magenta, blue and aqua. Slide the button of the matching color to write, push the top down to release it. Assorted colored barrels.

Or enough mechanical pencils to write all the copy for our catalogs until the cows come home—and cows have been back-ordered for years. Our each is a dozen TEK Writer™ precision 0.7mm pencils with top lead-advance, soft grip and anti-roll barrel. Includes (48) extra leads and a dozen extra erasers because to err is human. In an assortment of (6) colors, so one will always match your outfit.

Scientifically speaking. This 8-1/2" x 11" science reference notebook is three-hole punched for inclusion in a binder. From McGraw-Hill, it's heavily illustrated and filled with facts, illustrations and definitions about biology, geology, astronomy, physics and much more. Science! Surplus factor: some may have been packed before the cover ink was dry, leaving a slight speckled pattern that has no effect on the science inside—we checked. And Science is our middle name.

Okay, it isn't the cheapest magnet in the warehouse - but we pulled about 35-40 pounds with this 4-7/8" x 1" x 3/4" ceramic magnet,  and we think it's a bargain. It has a 6" bracket with mounting holes on 5-1/2" centers, plus a 1/2" ID eyehook bolted into the center of it. It's all set to troll the bottom of the lake next time your filing cabinet falls overboard.

What would you use to fill in those little circles? You’d use this extra-wide Scantek™ test-taking mechanical pencil? You passed! The lead in this beauty is the famous #2, and is .9 mm wide, like an italic pen nib. Comes with refill leads, a pocket clip and a large eraser. If our Tech Whiz Billy had had this pencil when he was younger, he'd have made double 800s on the SAT and wouldn't be working here today. Also great for doing calligraphy in pencil, which makes teachers swoon.

You don't have to be a scientist to love these science and lab notebooks. All new, mostly hardcover, most with graph paper pages, some with lines, all with numbered pages and room for project or experiment names and dates. In a nutshell, they’re big, blank books that are as suitable for your diary entries, drawings, poems, collages, shopping lists and hand-written great American novel as they are for science notes. A few have university, lab or drug company names on the front and most are 8-1/2” x 11” with some a little smaller and some a little larger. (But Surplus rules apply: you get what you get without throwing a fit) Can you say “assorted”? Our each is a pack of (2) different, at least one of which will be a hardcover.

Very popular with elementary school teachers, these hardcover blank books let students create their own storybooks. (Middle-schoolers interviewing and making books for primary grade kids is a popular and civilizing project.) Also great for sketching, journaling or scrapbooking. Pure white blank covers with (14) sheets (28 pages) of 80-lb blank paper inside with a sewn-in binding. You pick the 6” x 8” books or the 8-1/2” x 11” versions.

Rare earth magnets are usually killers for their size, and these thick nickel neodymium discs are no exception. The price, on the other hand, for (3) 7/16" dia x 1/4" 5-lb lift or (2) 15/32” dia x 3/16” 8-lb lift magnets each stored on a 2" dia steel disc, is a rare exception.