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Project 27—Flying Ouija Board

I can’t count how many times I have heard silly stories of Ouija boards flying across the room or spelling out evil phrases without any human interaction. Now that the world is connected via the Internet, I dare you to type in the search phrase “Ouija dangers” and spend a few minutes reading some of the warnings posted by superstitious people who think that these simple toys are like gateways to a dark universe full of angry spirits. No really, I highly recommend you spend a few minutes reading about the all-powerful Ouija board before you dare touch one; it’s for your own safety—doh! OK then, you are still reading, which proves that you are not afraid to unleash angry demons into your living room by moving a bit of plastic around a 12-inch piece of cardboard that you bought in the toy department, so let’s begin. You will obviously need a Ouija board like the one shown in Figure 6-27 in order to pull off this prank. The board is about the same as any board game and comes with a plastic device called a

planchette, which is used to reveal the message by pointing to letters or words on the board.

The general idea is that answers come from the spirit world, or as some believe, the “dark side.” Whoa, I’m getting goosebumps! Some believe that the messages are spelled out due to something called the “ideomotor effect,” a psychological phenomenon wherein a subject makes motions unconsciously. Personally, I think it’s just hocus pocus, like every other ghost story, and people just like to pass them on. This time, however, there will be no second guesses. When that planchette stands up all by itself and starts to twirl, there will be no doubt that evil spirits have manifested themselves into the game, or at least that’s what it might look like. The magic we are going to use is called “magnetism,” and I guarantee you will not have to wear a black robe and boil up a cauldron of newt tongues in order to make it work! There is a bit of danger involved though, since you are going to be handling extremely powerful NIB (neodymium)

magnets, which can really make you sorry if not handled with extreme caution. If you have never had the chance to work with large NIB magnets, then let me warn you that they are like no other magnet you have ever played with, not even close. Each magnet in the stack shown in Figure 6-28 measures 1 by 3 inches, and can easily lift a large filing cabinet by itself. It takes a great deal of force to twist one of the magnets away from the stack, and must be done wearing gloves in order to avoid having a finger pinched if one of the magnets slips while handling it.

I have had the joyous opportunity to experience first hand what it feels like to have a finger slammed between two of these magnets, and I can tell you that I now have a new respect of them! Yes, a purple fingernail for 3 months is a clear reminder that these things can really be dangerous. Now that I have warned you, just like the Internet store where you might purchase them from will, we can move ahead and get back to the project. You will need at least one large NIB magnet, and either a few smaller ones to hide under the original Ouija board’s planchette, or another large NIB magnet to hide inside a home-brew planchette. The large magnet will be worn strapped to your leg so you can secretly manipulate the planchette (which will contain another magnet, or several smaller ones), making it move to certain chosen board locations, or make it jerk wildly, flipping around or completely off the board. Unlike normal magnets,

which have a moderate amount of pull for an inch or two, the large NIB magnets are extremely powerful up to 6 inches or more and can move large objects through solid table tops with ease. In Figure 6-29, some foolish dude is demonstrating how easily the magnets clamp against his wrist as he tries to shake them free without success by flailing his arm up and down. Yes, like I said before, they are crazy powerful, so keep them wrapped in cloth, or at opposite sides of your workbench when they are in storage.

If you want to use the original Ouija planchette, then you could install a few small NIB magnets under the plastic, or right into one of the three small

Project 27—Flying Ouija Board

Figure 6-28 A stack of seriously powerful NIB magnets

tubes that hold the felt legs in place. Figure 6-28 shows two smaller cylindrical NIB magnets stuck to the pile which would be perfect for mounting directly under the original planchette using a bit of hot glue or tape. The only disadvantage of this method is that it will be difficult to hide a large magnet under the plastic planchette, and a really small magnet will not let you make any wild movements or flying effects. I chose to fashion a crude planchette from a slab of wood I found in my garage that was large enough to conceal the 1 by 3 inch NIB magnet right inside the body so it would not be seen if a suspicious person were to flip it over for observation. I traced the original shape on

Project 27—Flying Ouija Board

Figure 6-30 Cutting a new planchette

Figure 6-31 Magnet installed and hidden under felt

to the wood and then cut the new planchette with a jigsaw and drilled, like the original plastic design. The thick wood is better than the plastic for this project because it will easily survive a journey to the floor as it flies off the table if you really want to wake up your séance participants. Figure 6-30 shows the initial planchette cut from a bit of scrap 2 by 6 inch board. The viewing window was also made so that the small plastic disk from the original planchette could be installed.

Using a hammer and a flat-head screwdriver as a chisel (what else are they good for), I gouged out a rectangular hole into the new planchette that would hide the NIB magnet. The magnet was then sealed with some hot glue just to be safe before adding

the felt lining that would not only conceal the magnet but allow a smooth, friction free movement over the board. Consider adding a thin piece of wood or plastic glued over the magnet in the shape of the planchette to further seal the magnet in place, just to be safe. Spend a bit of time sanding the rough wood and paint or varnish the new planchette to make it look like it is actually part of the original game. The viewing window can be popped out of the original plastic planchette and installed in your home brew unit to further make it look like the real deal. Figure 6-31 shows the rough-cut hole, which now hides the magnet right before covering the bottom of the planchette with black felt.

To manipulate the new magnetic planchette, strap one or more large NIB magnets to your leg so they are under your pant leg just above the knee. This allows you to covertly move the planchette to any place you like by lifting your leg so the two magnets are less than 6 inches apart. If you have the leg magnet set to repel the planchette magnet, the planchette will move to a random place on the board by lifting your leg so the magnets are about 5-6 inches apart. If you come a lot closer, then the planchette will move very quickly away from the repelling magnet, and may even fly right off the table, or flip around and stand on its side, for a truly evil-looking effect. To increase control over the planchette, strap on the leg magnet so it attracts the planchette magnet, then it will follow your knee with precise

movements so that you can spell out words. If you come very close to the table top with your knee, you can make the planchette feel as though it were glued to the table top, creating an eerie feeling for those that are trying to move it. An old camera or laptop bag strap makes a good magnet strap if you glue one side of the strap to the magnets to hold them in place. You can also use a belt or dog collar to hold the magnets to your leg, just keep in mind that the strap should not cut off your circulation nor should it allow the magnets to come free from

the belt. Figure 6-32 shows the camera bag strap I glued to the backs of the magnets, which I also sealed with duck tape.

With the NIB magnets strapped to your leg just above your knee, practice moving your leg around to manipulate the new magnetic planchette. You will want to mark the belt magnets “repel” or “attract” once you figure out which side does what so you can either control or repel the planchette. The repelling motion seems to be the most dramatic effect, and it can cause the planchette to literally stand on end and spin depending on how fast or close you move the leg magnet. If you really want to mess with your superstitious séance participants, then the magnetic attraction system will be more fun as you get to spell out words and take total control over the direction and position of the planchette any time you like. Another thing to practice is looking innocent while you move your magnetic leg, using as little upper body movement as you can. If the table top is low enough, lift off with your toes so your body sits still in the chair, and nobody will ever see you do it. With a little practice, you will have your Ouija board spelling out complete words with ease, and the next time your buddies feel like telling ghost stories, they will be able to do it without lying. Figure 6-33 shows my new magnet planchette

flying into action just before standing on end and spinning around like the dark lord himself had control over it. You’d better call a priest to do an exorcism!

All of these projects will certainly help you conjure up some evil spirits to fool your friends,

but I’m sure that a true Evil Genius like yourself can dream up a host of new devices that will bring the “dark side” to life for that perfect gag to unleash on the superstitious to whom you owe one. Evil is abound! In the next section, we will inflict some harmless, but effective “shock and awe” projects to bring your evil deeds to a new level.

Project 27—Flying Ouija Board