Considered as one of the useful tools is the compass which also provides some fun on how the magnet can be manipulated as it moves around. Although it is not commonly found in living rooms, it could give more fun especially when up to hundreds of compasses were collected and decided to turn it to an entertaining play time into an actual piece of furniture such as an incredible coffee table. The video below shows how the fun project was simply built while illustrating the science of magnetism.

The compass table is comprised of 500 compasses which are arranged in a circular pattern and encased with a glass top so that an unusual table will be formed. The compasses are inlaid into a custom and personalized table top as the coasters were made to match the table by embedding with small magnets. A neat visual effect on the compass needles can be created by moving the coaster around. The finish product of the table can be seen in the images below. Since the compasses themselves are magnets, their reliability in mass quantities and close proximity decreases.

The assembly of the project starts with the IKEA prefab legs and the circular table was slightly modified since it was a bit too small to fit all the compasses. In order to fit 4 legs on the table top, two 45 degree lines were cut and marked on the end of the table leg. As shown in the below image, the three different layers of sanded plywood make up the table top so that the overall table top thickness and the right depth for the compasses can be attained. Also shown is how the legs were mounted and attached onto the table.

The arrangement of the compasses was made as tightly as possible, as seen in the image below, by taking a bit of massaging to make a symmetrical tight fitting. The coasters contain the rare earth magnets as the coasters will be glued and clamped on the next image.

The glass top sits directly on the top of the compasses nicely without scratching the tops of the compasses.