# Ouija Board How-To Lite



## Brad Green (Jul 29, 2004)

I won't go into full detail on the Ouija Board's construction, better details can be found in Buckaneer Babe's post on the subject (that's where I got started), just search "Ouija" for the how-to. Basically, you need a ouija board and planchette, a pack of magnets (mine came from Lowe's Hardware, about nickel sized), a 3 rpm microwave motor-Ebay- (others have used reindeer motors, but both will reverse when they encounter a stop), thin felt self- adhesive 'feet', various odds and ends for the housing box and motor arm. Once you build the box, sketch the layout of the arc you want the planchette to run in, this will determine how long to make the arm. Attach the arm to the motor and mount it into the box and place the stops at either side of the arms travel (I built stops, but anything from wood blocks to tall wood screws will work). Now here's the thinking part. I placed a wood railing around the inside of the box for the ouija board to press into tightly, that gives it a firm, secure place for the board to sit as well as show exactly where the bottom of the board will be. This is important because you want the arm magnets to brush the bottom of the board throughout it's full travel in order to maintain a constant pull on the planchette. Now for the spin. I attached two magnets on the end of the arm about 1/8th of an inch apart. Next attach one magnet to the bottom of the planchette (Super Glue will work), making sure that the planchette is supported by the magnet and NOT the legs (they should just be hanging there, touching nothing, make spacers, or just glue two magnets together). What happens is that the planchette magnet is now constantly jumping between the magnetic fields created by the two arm magnets, causing it to spin (easy,no?). Now to get smooth and quite operation, stick THIN self adhesive felt pads to ALL the exposed magnet surfaces (you can find the pads in hardware at Walmart - get the cheap ones), next, break out the car wax! I used Mother's Carnuba wax on the board for that skating rink glide. Hopefully this helps, but if I've missed something, just let me know. Again, thanks to Buckaneer Babe for the idea!


----------

