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Chess Board Safe With Hardware Chess Men

Here is a safe that I made. It uses neodymium magnets as locks for the drawer. The chess men are made out of metal, so they move the magnets, thus locking or unlocking the safe.

I credit the idea of this safe to Andrew Lewis' article in Make magazine.

18 comments

Aug 20, 2011. 6:06 PMRememberThePlot says:

Very neat project (and result) here! I was thinking about making my own, and I was wondering about how much was the cost for all the materials needed?

Aug 20, 2011. 10:51 PMData643 (author) says:

I'm not exactly sure how much it cost, as I built it several years ago. The main box / board was very inexpensive. The magnets cost me $2.50 each from a local magnet store ($10 total). All I remember about the hardware chess men is that they cost a lot ($30 - $50). If you sourced the hardware better you would be able to dramatically reduce the cost.

Aug 21, 2011. 7:24 PMRememberThePlot says:

Ah, I see. Well thank you for giving an estimate!

Apr 11, 2010. 10:57 AMseabananers says:

no i didnt leave an e out of my comment below i forgot the c

Apr 11, 2010. 10:56 AMseabananers says:

i like this cuz i lik chess

Mar 29, 2010. 1:57 AMskimmo says:

ha i was think about making on of these the other day

Mar 26, 2010. 10:17 AM

oldanvilyoungsmith says:

THAT.....IS.....SO.....TOTALLY......AWESOME!!!! (faints)

but seriously, I wish you had done an ible, that looks so cool, just the chessmen themselves have already given me some ideas. Great work, 5 stars

Mar 28, 2010. 5:21 PMData643 (author) says:

If you get Make magazine, it has a step by step guide to make this in issue 16

Mar 28, 2010. 1:53 AM52filipino says:

where did you get the pieces

Mar 28, 2010. 10:49 AMData643 (author) says:

I went to the hardware isle in Home Depot.

Mar 26, 2010. 7:11 PMMusicman41 says:

I love the idea and the locking system. My question is: How do you keep the magnets from falling out of the notches when the drawer is open?

Mar 27, 2010. 9:30 PMData643 (author) says:

You just have to be careful about it : )

Mar 26, 2010. 6:12 PMnativity4me says:

better idea: MAGNETIC BOARD....helps too keep those pieces in place if your in something thats moving (car, camper, etc). or have to interrupt a game for some other reason. :)

im gonna make this for hubby. hes a chess player, i am not, i need to learn.

love the SAFE idea, no one would know your valuables are in there, great idea!

MICHELLE

Mar 26, 2010. 11:05 AM

noahh says:

This is great. Alas, I read and reread that article, and was unable to understand the mechanism. If I did, I would make this.

Mar 26, 2010. 3:10 PMData643 (author) says:

Maybe this will help you understand it. The lighter colored wood bars with the notches in them are fixed to the base. The drawer also has notches in it. When the magnets are moved so that they are sitting in both notches, it keeps the drawer from moving out.

Hope this helps.

Mar 26, 2010. 6:01 PM

noahh says:

I think I get it now. Thanks.