Setting Marker Line widths in Legend

Question

I have read all these posts and can not get this to work. I am trying to increase the width of the line in the legend. I have tried SwatchLegend, PlotLegends->LegendMarkerSize->20... I have tried various versions and setups. I even tried having a legend value that has all the settings and it does nothing. the new thing I am trying is "LegendLineWidth" -> 35 or "LegendMarkerSize"->20... or use LegendApperance->... No changes.

Here is my code...

Needs["PlotLegends`"]

life1 = ((1/t) - 0.003214)*(1/45)

life2 = ((1/t) - 0.006429)*(1/45)

life3 = ((1/t) - 0.009643)*(1/45)

life4 = ((1/t) - 0.012857)*(1/45)

life5 = ((1/t) - 0.03214)*(1/45)

life6 = ((1/t) - 0.06429)*(1/45)

life7 = ((1/t) - 0.09643)*(1/45)

life8 = ((1/t) - 0.12857)*(1/45)

LogPlot[{life1, life2, life3, life4, life5, life6, life7, life8}, {t, 
  0, 250}, PlotRange -> {1*10^-5, 10^-1}, Frame -> True, 
 FrameLabel -> {"Time (s)", "LpB"}, 
 RotateLabel -> True, 
 BaseStyle -> {FontFamily -> "Helvetica", FontSize -> 12}, 
 PlotStyle -> {{Red, Thickness[Medium]}, {Blue, Dashing[{Large}], 
    Thickness[Medium]}, {Yellow, Dashing[{Medium}], 
    Thickness[Medium]}, {Black, Dashing[{Small}], 
    Thickness[Medium]}, {Orange, Dashing[{Tiny}],
    Thickness[Medium]}, {Green, DotDashed, Thickness[Large]}, {Cyan, 
    Thin}, {Purple, Thickness[Large]}}, 
 LegendAppearance -> {LegendMarkerSize -> 40}, 
 PlotLegend -> {Style["0.025mm", 14], Style["0.05mm", 14], 
   Style["0.075mm", 14], Style["0.1mm", 14], Style["0.25mm", 14], 
   Style["0.5mm", 14], Style["0.75mm", 14], Style["1.0mm", 14]}, 
 LegendPosition -> {0, 0.2}, LegendShadow -> None, 
 LegendSize -> {0.95, 0.4}, LegendBorder -> None, 
 LegendTextSpace -> 6, ImageSize -> Large]

Answer 1

If you have version 9 or higher, you can use the option PlotLegends and set its value to LineLegend[...] and use the LegendMarkerSize option inside LineLegend:

lives = (1/t - {0.003214, , 0.006429, 0.009643, 0.012857, 0.03214, 
      0.06429, 0.09643, 0.12857})/45;
leglabels = Style[#, 14] & /@ {"0.025mm", "0.05mm", "0.075mm", "0.1mm", 
    "0.25mm", "0.5mm", "0.75mm", "1.0mm"};
pstyle = {{Red, Thickness[Medium]}, {Blue, Dashing[{Large}], 
    Thickness[Medium]}, {Yellow, Dashing[{Medium}], 
    Thickness[Medium]}, {Black, Dashing[{Small}], 
    Thickness[Medium]}, {Orange, Dashing[{Tiny}], 
    Thickness[Medium]}, {Green, DotDashed, Thickness[Large]}, {Cyan, 
    Thin}, {Purple, Thickness[Large]}};

LogPlot[Evaluate@lives, {t, 0, 250}, PlotRange -> {1*10^-5, 10^-1}, 
 Frame -> True, FrameLabel -> {"Time (s)", "LpB"}, RotateLabel -> True,
 BaseStyle -> {FontFamily -> "Helvetica", FontSize -> 12}, PlotStyle -> pstyle, 
 PlotLegends -> LineLegend[leglabels, LegendMarkerSize -> {40, 12}], 
 ImageSize -> Large]

Note: LegendAppearance is an option for charting functions; it doesn't work in plotting functions.