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Thread: Embedding magnets in segments

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Embedding magnets in segments

    The idea is to build a cylindrical checkerboard. Imagine rings of 9 segments. 8 of them alternate cherry and mapleand the 9th segment is ebony (or some other combination). Imagine 10 rings. 8 are as just described and there is a bottom and top ring of ebony.

    Now imagine drilling each segment from the inside and embedding a rare-earth magnet in each one.

    If we turn this into a cylindrical vessel, we should have a round checker/chess board.

    -- Gotta keep north/south straight
    -- The magnet has to be spaced back far enough so we don't accidentally turn down to it. It has to be close enough that the pieces will stick.
    -- I would put the whole thing on a rotating base

    It seems to me that I am creating an interesting twist on checkers in that you can't see the whole board.

    I'm considering this for next years Christmas presents.

    Anybody see any big problems?

  2. #2
    Sounds like a cool idea Roger. I don't think it the magnets on the inside of the segments is a big deal as long as you drill them before assembly, with a depth stop and use rare earth magnets. I wonder if you could turn two other cylinders one black, one red.. that would slip over the checker board cylinder and use a plug cutter or hole saw to cut out the pieces of the checkers. Then they would have the same curvature of the board. Back drill the back sides with a stop for the insertion of a small washer or something iron.

    Be sure and show the end result, sounds kinda neat.
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    No, it's not thin enough yet.
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  3. #3
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    An interesting idea. I hadn't considered shaping the backs of the checkers. The disadvantage of making them concave would be that you would have to align them correctly. Maybe I should go the other way and make the backs spherical so they would be easy to grasp.
    Last edited by Roger Feeley; 02-25-2014 at 5:03 PM.

  4. #4
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    You guys are definitely getting cabin fever.

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