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Step 9Making the board
Ok, so now the magnet assembly is moving how you want, you now need to make the 'lid' with the Ouija symbols on it. This usually is the alphabet, 0-9, yes, no and goodbye. There are no hard and fast rules on how they should look or where they need to go (I have seen literally hundreds of different designs), so do it how you want!
My original plan was to use a sheet of plexiglass or Perspex for the lid, and print out my Ouija design on some parchment looking paper and varnish/glue it on top - so there is an idea for you. I did however think that would not have looked very handcrafted at all, so I ended up doing something else...
I fired up my old soldering iron for some wood burning action. You don't want to use your good iron here as it is pretty tough on the tip. If you have a woodburner tool (which is kinda like a soldering iron) then you have better tools than me, and you'll have more fun than I did.
I still printed out my design on paper, but then transferred the design onto my plywood top with a pencil - the old scribble on back of paper with soft pencil, flip over then trace over the design I-don't-have-any-carbon-paper trick.
I then proceeded to spend an inordinate amount of time burning the design into the timber. I also got to discover that harder grain takes ages to burn into, and that my extremely el-cheapo plywood had filler in some areas - filler does not burn well!!
I then gave the lid 3 coats of stain/varnish with a light sanding between. I used a satin finish for two reasons... firstly because I wanted it to look old, and secondly I wanted the plachette to move in a slightly jerky movement (like a disembodied hand moving it) rather than just slip and slide around. The satin finish gives a bit more friction. I think matte would be too much, and would end up shiny from the sliding over time anyway. Gloss should be ok too, but the planchette movement would be much smoother.
On the bottom side of the board, I wanted to make sure the magnet bracket could slide along easily - so I used some spray glue to attach a sheet of OHP transparency film on the wood.
My original plan was to use a sheet of plexiglass or Perspex for the lid, and print out my Ouija design on some parchment looking paper and varnish/glue it on top - so there is an idea for you. I did however think that would not have looked very handcrafted at all, so I ended up doing something else...
I fired up my old soldering iron for some wood burning action. You don't want to use your good iron here as it is pretty tough on the tip. If you have a woodburner tool (which is kinda like a soldering iron) then you have better tools than me, and you'll have more fun than I did.
I still printed out my design on paper, but then transferred the design onto my plywood top with a pencil - the old scribble on back of paper with soft pencil, flip over then trace over the design I-don't-have-any-carbon-paper trick.
I then proceeded to spend an inordinate amount of time burning the design into the timber. I also got to discover that harder grain takes ages to burn into, and that my extremely el-cheapo plywood had filler in some areas - filler does not burn well!!
I then gave the lid 3 coats of stain/varnish with a light sanding between. I used a satin finish for two reasons... firstly because I wanted it to look old, and secondly I wanted the plachette to move in a slightly jerky movement (like a disembodied hand moving it) rather than just slip and slide around. The satin finish gives a bit more friction. I think matte would be too much, and would end up shiny from the sliding over time anyway. Gloss should be ok too, but the planchette movement would be much smoother.
On the bottom side of the board, I wanted to make sure the magnet bracket could slide along easily - so I used some spray glue to attach a sheet of OHP transparency film on the wood.
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