Success! Here is a video of the case, post magnet insertion:
Speck HD Wrap Smart Cover
The magnets worked like a charm. The cover now turns on and puts the ipad to sleep when closed.
They have pretty decent adhesion, though if I did it again, I might get slightly more powerful magnets. The cover is just too heavy to not flop down when held upside down.
The magnets I used can be purchased here:
Tiny Magnets
Larger Magnets
I used a piece of scrap paper to lay over the screen, and attached the magnets in order to make a template to transfer the location to the front cover.
I attached them to the case by notching out enough rubber to slide them in so that they were about halfway depressed into the case. I removed the excess rubber using an old wood burning pen that I had laying around, with a squared off nib:
I cut the globs of melted rubber around the edges of the notches with a hobby knife, and saved that material. I then aligned the magnets on the ipad, and marked which way they faced so I could just flop them laterally when inserting into the cover. My arrangement went something like this: [][___][___][] [][___][___][]
I then superglued the magnets in place, and using the material I cut out previously, proceeded to re-melt it, and seal the magnets in on one side:
(It's horrific looking, I know, but it works.)
I then found a piece of suitable thin fabric (my original plan to use felt fell through as it degraded the magnets pull too much) and using fabric glue and superglue, attached it to the case, over my prior destruction:
I used a teal blue, but I think black would have looked nicer. I may rip it off and replace it if I find it really bothers me.
Thats pretty much it. Took about an hour from start to finish.
A few things to note:
The wood burning pen works really well. Almost too well. If you go this route, be very careful not to melt all the way through the cover.
Everything I did with the pen could be accomplished using a suitably sharp hobby knife. Again, just take care not to cut all the way through the cover... or yourself.
The magnets need to be very close to the edge of the cover to be effective.
I originally had a separate, lower power magnet to operate the smart on/off feature, but found that with the new magnets oriented as they are, it's no longer needed.
These magnets, when the cover is wrapped around the back book style, can turn off the screen if the cover is squeezed tightly against the back. It doesn't happen every time, but it's happened to me enough that I'm trying to figure out a way to prevent it. Perhaps a slightly deeper depression cut in the cover, and a piece of styrene or other plastic card below the magnets.
Over all, it was an easy project, and the total cost for the magnets was 8 bucks. I'm satisfied with the way it turned out, and I'm hoping some of you reading this will have their own senses of adventure kindled enough to attempt it.
I look forward to seeing you all improve on the stumble forward I made with this little project. Happy modding!