Kaisi Magnetic Silicone Project Mat S-140 Review

Kaisi Magnetic Silicone Project Mat S-140 Review

Buy it at Amazon: Kaisi Magnetic Silicone Project Mat S-140 [Affiliate Link]

Takeaway: Good non-slip texture, many trays for small parts/screws, could use more magnetic surface.

This silicone mat measures about 13.5"W x 10"L. The mat is about 1/16" thick and has a smooth yet high-friction surface texture. Around the mat are different sized shallow trays for project pieces and on the right hand side are 116 small square depressions for storing screws and nuts in numbered order, so you can keep track of where they go as you assemble/disassemble your projects. I was a bit disappointed to find out most of the mat is not magnetic and only three small areas are. There's the circle in the top left corner and two smaller trays to its right (the magnets positions are visible from the bottom of the mat but they are sealed inside and not removable/replaceable). These three areas are labeled 'magnetic' and work as advertised. Small screws stayed adhered to the magnet even when I lifted up, flipped over, and shook the mat. The numbered section is pretty useful for tiny screws and nuts. those the numbers can be a bit hard to read. There's also a 24cm ruler along the bottom of the mat, but again the lettering and markings are hard to make out as they don't have a contrasting color.

Since the mat doesn't slide around and provides some grip, I'm less likely to lose any small pieces when taking apart my electronics to fix them on the mat. When you putting parts in a non-magnetic section (or working with non-metal parts), you have to be careful not to lift or move the mat because the pieces could fall out of the trays. The depth of the tray keeps them in place but only to a point and moving the mat when it's full of stuff can be a challenge. I recommend putting the mat on a cookie sheet in case you need to transport the entire thing to another location. On the main section, the screws didn't roll or slide off when I shook the mat slightly thanks to the mat's grippy surface.

Overall, the mat works well and helps me keep track of and organize small parts when assembling and disassembling electronics or models. There are a multitude of trays for separating pieces of various sizes from different sections of your project. The magnetic sections work well, but I would have preferred more of them or a more significant portion of the mat to have magnetic coverage. The silicone is easy to clean/wipe off when the mat gets dirty and it supposedly has high heat-resistance which I did not test.

Buy it at Amazon: Kaisi Magnetic Silicone Project Mat S-140 [Affiliate Link]