DIY compass made of cardboard for children. Determine north using a homemade compass

When moving along a route in an unfamiliar area, you constantly have to check the route either with some specific landmarks or with the cardinal points. But a compass or GPS is not always at hand. What to do if you don't have a compass? Don’t despair, you can navigate by the sun, stars and moon (read how to do this in our article How to navigate by the sun, stars and moon). But you can go another way - make a compass with your own hands. Some will think how fashionable it is to make a compass with your own hands, because this is a high-precision device! Making a compass is actually not that difficult, and you will see this after reading this article.

The principle of operation of a compass is simple - one end of the arrow is magnetized and always points north - this is how a magnet reacts to the magnetic fields of our planet.

How to make a compass with your own hands from a needle and a container of water.

We will need:

Any container, except metal, filled with water (metal ones are not suitable, as they will distort the magnetic field).
Needle
A piece of floating material (cork, polystyrene, foam rubber)

In order to make a compass, we take floating material and cut out a platform for a needle from it. The main parameters of the piece are that the smaller the better, but the needle should not be above the surface of the water.

As you already understood, the needle acts as an arrow. In order to be able to determine the cardinal directions using our homemade compass, one end of the needle must be magnetized. If you have magnets at hand (they are present in the speakers of the player, receiver, electric motors, etc.), then you can magnetize the needle-arrow with their help. If there are no magnets, then you can simply hold one end of the needle over the flame for 25-35 seconds, after which this tip will be demagnetized. So, the arrow is ready. Its magnetized end will point to Serer, and the non-magnetized end will point to the South.

We attach the needle-arrow to the float. The most convenient way is to carefully pierce the float with a needle along the axis of symmetry (if the float is voluminous). This fastening is simple and at the same time reliable. Next, place the float with the needle in a container of water so that they do not touch the walls of the vessel. The compass is ready with your own hands, all that remains is to calibrate it.

If you know which tip of your needle was magnetized and which was not, you can immediately judge where north is by the position of the magnetized tip. If you don’t know, then the following facts will help you determine where North and South are: the place where the sun rises and where it sets (Sunrise-East, Sunset-West) or the position of the polar star. Using these signs you can easily calibrate your homemade compass.

Sometimes, apart from a needle, there is no floating material at hand. In this case, to make a compass, you can pick any leaf that can hold the needle above the water. Again, the smaller it is in size, the better.

How to make a compass with your own hands without a container of water

We will need:

Safety razor needle or blade
A cylindrical container, preferably transparent (no metal again)
Thin thread or fishing line

As stated earlier, we magnetize one end of our “arrow” using a needle or razor blade (you can also make an arrow from half a razor blade).

We tie a thread or fishing line to an improvised arrow at its center of gravity. We place the arrow inside the transparent vessel so that it is suspended. The vessel will protect our structure from the wind.

We calibrate the resulting compass using the method described in the last paragraph of the previous instructions and obtain a device ready for use.

Of course, you can use our compass in the form of an arrow on a string and without a container, but then it would be at least unreasonable to trust this compass in gusts of wind. So in such a situation we need to figure out how to protect our compass from the wind. You may need to use an awning or jacket as a windbreak.

Real compass

Sometimes on long trips there is an urgent need to correctly determine the cardinal directions. It may even happen that the life and health of the expedition members will depend on this. If you have a compass, it doesn't matter. What if it fails or is lost? Then the options are: determine the cardinal directions by the stars, the sun, signs, or make a primitive compass yourself. I just want to tell you how to make a compass yourself, using only available materials. We will look at several variations of such homemade devices. DIY compass made from a needle and a container of water

Making a compass with your own hands

We will need:

A glass or ceramic container with fresh water (metal ones are not suitable as they will distort the magnetic field).

A piece of floating material (cork, polystyrene, foam rubber)

Assembling a homemade compass.

Cut off a small piece of floating material. The most important thing is that it is of such a size as to ensure the buoyancy of the needle attached to it and at the same time that it is of such a size that the forces of surface tension of the water and the drag forces are negligible - this is necessary to ensure the accuracy of the readings.

Our needle will serve as an arrow. First you need to make sure that one end of the needle is magnetized and the other is not. If you have magnets at hand (they are present in the speakers of the player, receiver, electric motors, etc.), then you can magnetize the needle-arrow with their help. If there are no magnets, then you can simply hold one end of the needle over the flame for 25-35 seconds, after which this tip will be demagnetized (if you were interested in physics at school, you understand why this happens). So, the arrow is ready. Its magnetized end will point to Serer, and the non-magnetized end will point to the South.

We attach the needle-arrow to the float. The most convenient way is to carefully pierce the float with a needle along the axis of symmetry. This fastening is simple and at the same time reliable. All that remains is to simply place the float with the arrow in a container of water so that the walls of the container do not interfere with the rotation of the arrow. The compass is ready, all that remains is to calibrate it.

DIY compass without using liquid

We will need:

Safety razor needle or blade

Transparent bottle

Thin thread or fishing line

Assembly of the structure

We make a compass needle and magnetize it, as described in the previous instructions. To make an arrow, you can use a needle or a safety razor blade. You can also make an arrow from half a razor blade. We tie a thread or fishing line to an improvised arrow at its center of gravity. We place the arrow inside the transparent vessel so that it is suspended. The vessel will protect our structure from the wind.

Homemade compass from a safety razor blade and a bottle

Based on materials from the network (I don’t remember where I found it. Honestly!! But I thank the author, my notes) It’s not for nothing that I put this idea in the section for hunters and fishermen, if you like to travel, like to pick mushrooms or berries in the forest, then the compass is for you simply necessary, because without it it is very easy to get lost. Of course, you can buy a compass in a store, but I suggest making it yourself, try it and see how easy it is. First of all, you need a round box, preferably with a lid. Use a metal box, such as a shoe polish box. Anneal the iron box - heat it red-hot in the stove or on the stove and let it cool slowly. Then remove the scale from it and paint it with nitro paint. Using a compass, draw the bottom on the cardboard along the inner diameter of the box. Cut it out and make a hole with a diameter of 2 mm with smooth edges, into which fasten an ordinary underwear button so that the blind hole of the nipple of the button is at the top.

According to Figure 4, make a compass card from thick paper; paint it with watercolor paint and cut it out. Glue the card to the prepared bottom, and place the bottom in the box. Also make the side from cardboard and, having greased it with glue, place it tightly in the jar, pressing the card to the bottom of the jar.

The side should be 5-6 mm below the top edge of the jar or rim. Then, according to the diameter of the jar, cut out a circle from thin plexiglass - the glazing of the compass; Make a hole in the center of the circle and fasten a second linen button to it so that the blind hole of the button is at the bottom. Instead of plexiglass, you can take any transparent film or use photographic film, having first washed off the emulsion from it. Having installed the glazing on the side, secure it on top using a spring ring made from steel wire. Linen buttons installed on the bottom and glazing serve as thrust bearings in which the axis with the compass needle will rotate.

The assembly of the compass parts is shown in Figure 5. Based on the height of your box, determine the height of the arrow axis. Make the axle from wire that can rotate freely in thrust bearings. Carefully file the ends of the axle and sand them with a whetstone for sharpening the knives.

Place the arrow on the tin, cut it out, place it on a board, place an awl in the center of the arrow and, lightly hitting the awl with a hammer, punch a hole for the axle so that the axle fits tightly into the hole in the arrow. Take the axis with the arrow in your fingers and, holding it lightly, check whether the arrow is balanced.

If any end of the arrow outweighs, then file it. After the arrow is balanced, it must be removed and magnetized. First, at one end of the arrow, scratch the letter N with the tip of an awl, then take a magnet (Fig. 2) and draw its south pole (it is painted red) several times from the middle of the arrow to its end with a mark. Then use the north pole (it's colored blue) to do the same with the other end. And repeat this several times.

For magnetization, you can use magnets from the speakers of old receivers, tape recorders or televisions. They have the shape of a ring, so first this ring must be carefully broken into several parts with a hammer and chisel.

Now place the arrow on the axis, and holding the axis vertically in your fingers, you will see how it will immediately take a certain position. No matter how you change the position of the arrow, it will take the same direction. The end of the arrow that is marked with the letter N will always point north, and the other end will point south. Now install the axle in the bearings - and the compass is ready. That's it.

A magnetic compass is a strategically important thing on a hiking trip, and even more so in emergency survival conditions. That is why you need to know how to make a homemade compass in the wild, for example, in a forest, using only available materials: you can never be sure that all the necessary equipment will be at hand in difficult times.

The simplest compass made from available materials - here the needle plays the role of the arrow, and the cork and water are needed so that the “arrow” itself experiences virtually no resistance.

The Internet and some survival textbooks describe ways to create a homemade compass, however, a careful analysis of this information revealed many inaccuracies, misconceptions and outright stupidity. Therefore, I propose to consider not only how to make a compass, but also to understand the numerous misconceptions associated with this very popular topic.

How to make a homemade compass

Speaking about the design of a homemade compass, one could simply give an algorithm for its creation and leave it at that. However, it seems to me that despite the simplicity of this approach, it limits the reader’s diversity and forces him to look at the issue narrowly, excluding the possibility of improvisation in a situation when the need arises to make a compass with his own hands.

In this regard, I propose to consider not a specific algorithm for creating a compass, but its stages, which could be discussed in more detail, understanding their essence and subtleties, and thereby fully revealing their potential.

So, the entire process of creating a compass is divided into several stages:

At the very beginning, a search is made for an object that will act as an arrow.
At the second stage, magnetization of this object occurs.
Then the homemade compass needle is provided with the least friction conditions so that it can turn, positioned along the lines of force of the Earth's magnetic field and point in the direction of magnetic north and south.

If necessary, for correct operation of the needle, wind protection is used, because you will most likely have to work with such a compass not at home, but outdoors, where windy weather is the norm.

By the way, one of the first compasses that appeared in Europe was a magnetized needle floating on a cork in a vessel with water.

Making a compass at home

You can make two types of compasses - on water and on string.

For the first option we will need: a needle, a magnet, polystyrene foam, a wide glass container with water (deep plate).

We draw a magnet along one of the tips of the needle, 20-30 times in one direction. This is how we magnetize it.
Making a compass needle. We insert the needle into the foam so that both ends stick out from it. At the same time, our arrow must stay level on the water without turning over, that is, we must clearly find and establish the center of gravity.
We lower the arrow into a container of water. It will start spinning and after a while will stop, the magnetized end will point north.

For the second option, we will need a magnet, a needle, thread, tape, a piece of paper, a pencil, scissors and a glass container (a 3 liter jar will do).

Magnetize one end of the needle.
Insert a needle into a piece of paper.
We glue the thread to the paper with tape, and fasten the second end of the thread to a pencil. Let's equalize the center of gravity of our arrow.
We lower the arrow into the jar, and place the pencil on the support (neck of the jar).
The “arrow” will begin to spin, and the magnetized tip of the needle will point north.

Now you know how to make a compass with your own hands at home.

For this we will use available materials. Of course, when going hiking, hunting, or picking mushrooms, it is advisable to put a wire or nail, a piece of thread and a magnet in your pocket, but if you don’t have any of these, it doesn’t matter. We propose to consider two options for creating compasses in extreme conditions.

First: we need something small, metal. This could be a needle, a piece of wire or a nail. Now we need to magnetize one of its ends, how can we make a part in a compass, the most important one – the arrow, if there is no magnet? You can magnetize a metal object by friction. Rub it on your hair or woolen clothing. Now we tie a thread to our arrow. Be sure to find the center of gravity and balance the wire, otherwise the result will be incorrect. The length of the thread must be at least 40cm. We take the second edge in our hands or tie it to a stick and place it on a support. After our needle spins and balances, the magnetized edge will point accurately to the north.

For the second option, we need a hole with water or a bowl. We magnetize one end of our “arrow”. Take a leaf of a tree or a piece of bark and put it there. We lower it all into the puddle and see where the tip of the arrow points. That's where the north will be.

As you can see, making a compass is not difficult in any situation, you just need to be smart. You can experiment at home first. If something goes wrong, type in a search engine: how to make a compass - video, and watch. Now, for sure, there are no questions left.

It happens that you need to know exactly which side is south and which is north. At home, this can be useful when setting up an antenna, but travelers cannot do without such knowledge, especially in the wild. Of course, the easiest way is to use a regular compass. What to do if it is not at hand? How to make a compass at home and outdoors? It turns out it's very simple. You don't need special equipment - just improvised materials that every home has, or can be easily obtained in the forest.

Compass needle material

To create a primitive means of navigation, which is a magnetic compass, you need to have an object made of a ferromagnet - a material that can have magnetic properties in the absence of an external magnetic field. Such a material can be easily identified by holding a permanent magnet close to it - ferromagnets will be easily magnetized.

In fact, diamagnetic materials can also interact with a magnetic field, but for this you need to create a very strong magnetic field. For example, there is a well-known experiment in which a frog levitates in a magnetic field. It is shown in the video:

Well-known “household” ferromagnets include mainly products made of iron and its alloys. Items such as a nail, steel knife and scissors, safety pin, sewing needle and fishhook are all ferromagnetic items and are all suitable for making a homemade arrow.

The most convenient of them will be those that have less weight and size. This will become quite obvious when we consider the following steps.

However, in the absence of a miniature “arrow”, it is quite possible to use more bulky options.

Considering the subsequent stages, for example, imagine that a sewing needle was chosen as a magnetic needle - the most popular arrow option for a homemade compass.

Magnetizing an improvised arrow

In order for the needle - the future compass needle - to rotate in the Earth's magnetic field, it must be magnetized.

Often, ferromagnetic objects used as arrows may already be magnetized.

It is with this, it seems to me, that most misconceptions are connected, where people believe that they were able to magnetize an object, using in fact completely unsuitable methods for this. For example, they try to magnetize the needle by rubbing it on the hair. In other words, in this case there is an error in determining cause-and-effect relationships.

In the field, checking whether an object is magnetized or not is quite simple: you need to make a compass out of it and see if the needle turns. We will talk about exactly how this is done further.

In this case, after the “arrow” has completely stopped, you need to turn it in one direction, then in the other. If such an arrow constantly returns to the same position, then it is magnetized and there is no need to additionally magnetize it. By the way, the serviceability of a compass made in production is checked in the same way.

If the arrow was not magnetized, then it can be magnetized in two ways.

Method number 1 - using a magnet. This is the easiest and fastest way.

To do this, just place the arrow next to the magnet. In the wild, it is often suggested to remove the magnet from the speakers of your headphones or phone. However, in my opinion, this is irrational: the phone may still be useful. Everything is much simpler: just put the arrow on the phone or walkie-talkie itself so that it becomes magnetized, but it’s even easier to put it on a steel knife, which, as a rule, has magnetic properties.

There is no need to hold the arrow near such a magnet for a long time: usually a few seconds are enough.

The sides of an improvised arrow are determined empirically using the stars or the Sun.

That is, the cardinal directions are determined by the luminaries, and then it is determined which part of the arrow points where. And we talked about how to determine the cardinal directions by the Sun and stars here (Orientation by the Sun) and here (Orientation by the Polar Star).

Method No. 2 - using a coil and current. This method is more complicated and requires an insulated wire and a current source.

In this method, an insulated wire is wound in one layer around a needle in the form of a coil. If the wire turns out to be uninsulated, then the needle can be covered with dry toilet paper or a piece of polyethylene to insulate it from contact with the wire, and the turns should be made so that they do not touch each other.

An electric current is passed through the coil, as a result of which a magnetic field appears inside the coil, and the needle becomes the core of this electromagnet.

Where can I get electricity for this method? It's simple: most often the source of power in the wild is a flashlight battery or a phone battery, although there are other sources. The main thing is that the current is constant and not alternating, that is, a socket without additional circuits that equalize the electric current will not be suitable for this.

To determine which side of the needle points north, you can use the method proposed in the first method. However, there is another option.

To do this, you need to remember physics and the gimlet rule. In relation to this case, based on this rule, we can say that the gimlet will move in the direction where the improvised arrow will have its northern end. It is this end of the arrow that will point in the direction of the Earth's north magnetic pole.

Now that the bulk of the work has been done, all that remains is to allow the arrow to rotate freely. To do this you need to secure it correctly.

From blade and bottle

First you need to magnetize the blade. This can be done using magnetic elements of various devices. Souvenirs that are plastered on the refrigerator of any self-respecting traveler are also suitable for these purposes. In hiking conditions, it is enough to hold the metal over the phone or walkie-talkie.

In addition to the blade, you can take a needle or paper clip. A thread or fishing line is tied to a knot in the middle of the future compass needle. The design is placed in a transparent bottle. This is done to protect the device from the wind.

Compass made from blade and bottle

The magnetized end will indicate where north is. If a person has forgotten which part of the metal he touched with a magnet, this can be found out by the position of the celestial bodies. Where the North Star is located is the northern part of the sky. At noon the sun is in the south.

How to attach an arrow to a compass

In fact, unlike factory models, it is not at all necessary to attach the arrow in any special way. Typically, to reduce friction, the needle is either placed on water or suspended on a thin thread or fishing line. But there are some nuances here, which we will talk about.

For the water option, you can use a puddle or other natural body of water. But in the second case, there is a danger of losing the needle due to its drowning.

Also good options are containers, such as a plastic plate or aluminum pot, into which you can pour water and lower the needle onto it. In this case, it is important to ensure that the cookware does not have ferromagnetic parts. For example, a pot may have steel handles that cause changes in the readings of a homemade compass.

The photo below shows a disposable plastic plate with water in which a needle floats, attached to a piece of waterproof fabric - this is the compass of their improvised materials:

A good option for a “water” compass is polyethylene placed in a hole in the ground or sand and filled with water.

It is also worth making sure that the surface of the water remains clean, because a film formed by any substances or microscopic living organisms can also greatly affect the operation of a homemade compass, preventing the needle from rotating.

If the needle is very small and therefore light, then it can be slowly placed on the water - and it will remain afloat due to the forces of surface tension. To do this, it is important that the surface of the needle remains dry before it enters the water.

However, it will not be possible to keep a gypsy needle on the water in this way due to its large mass. Therefore, such a needle can be placed on a leaf of a tree or bush, or inserted into the hollow dry stem of some plant that has sufficient buoyancy to hold the needle on the surface of the water.

Also, a piece of foam plastic, a plastic bottle cap, and many other lightweight materials that do not cause magnetic deviations, which we described in detail here (Magnetic Compass), can serve as a flotation device for the needle.

It is important that during measurements the needle on the “boat” does not touch the walls of the vessel or the “shores” of the puddle, since in this case friction will not allow the needle to rotate freely.

Thus, thanks to water, it is possible to achieve the least resistance, and the needle itself turns and points north and south, even when weakly magnetized.

If you plan to hang the needle on a thread, then you can make a running simple knot on the thread, which will be further tightened under the weight of the needle, preventing it from slipping too much. In this case, you need to hang the needle approximately from the middle with a slight shift towards the eye, that is, the heavier part. The exact location where the thread is attached to the needle is determined experimentally.

By the way, instead of thread or fishing line, long human hair is quite suitable. I managed to achieve good results using this particular material. The video shows how to do this:

To make the needle slip out of the loop less, I wrapped it with two or three layers of toilet paper. In addition, this option, due to the windage, allows the needle to “calm down” faster, which significantly speeds up work with the compass.

It is very important for this option to use the thinnest and longest possible thread or fishing line, since only in this case will it be possible to sufficiently minimize the effect of twisting of the material, which can cause a large error in measurements.

Of these two, the option with water can rightfully be called the best, since it is the one that produces minimal errors and allows the improvised arrow to quickly stabilize.

So we looked at the design of a simple magnetic compass. However, in this version, the compass will be able to work mainly only at home: in nature, the design of a homemade compass will have to be supplemented with a wind barrier. This is especially important for a compass using a suspended needle mounting scheme.

Who has their own internal compass?

Orient themselves in space using the sun as a magnet. And bats have a magnetic substance in their bodies called magnetite, which they use as an “internal compass” to help them navigate space.

Making a mini compass at home is not a big problem. The main thing is to make sure that the magnet, which plays the role of the arrow, rotates with minimal friction. Typically, a magnetic needle is mounted on a point, which is essentially a bearing that provides minimal friction when turning the needle. Another option could be a magnetic needle floating on the surface of the water. This is exactly the option that was used by the author. Of course, for one-time use, you can limit yourself to a piece of foam pierced with a pin or a piece of an unbent paper clip. But for regular use, you can make something more fundamental, however, also at minimal cost.

Round plastic lids from dairy products with a diameter of 31 and 28 mm were used as body elements; the height of the lids is 10 mm. The lids fit perfectly into each other, forming halves of the body.

Actually, the role of the magnetic needle in the device is a ferrite magnet in the shape of a 10x4x4 mm parallelepiped; in addition, you will need two short strips of 10 x 4 mm tin. The magnet was taken from an old reed keypad. For reliable fastening in the case, a holder is cut out of packaging plastic, packaging scraps are selected that have a groove of the required width for installing a magnet.

Tin plates are bent in the manner shown in the photo, so that they are securely magnetized to the ends of the magnet.

In the lid of a smaller diameter we install one half of the holder, cut to fit.

Place the magnet.

Place the top half of the holder.

Using Moment glue we connect the halves of the body.

Now, using another compass, we determine the poles of the magnet and apply the appropriate markings.

Floating on the surface of the water, the compass copes with its tasks quite well.

A group of compasses can demonstrate the domain structure of a ferromagnet.

Wind protection

Most often, a transparent plastic bottle cut in the middle is offered as a wind barrier. This option, as for me, is not very convenient for either a “water” or a “thread” compass. In the first case, it will be difficult to keep the needle in the center of the volume, and it may come into contact with the walls, which, as we remember, leads to errors in measurements. In the second case, due to the thread being too short, forces associated with the resistance of the thread to twisting will act on the needle, which will also negatively affect the readings.

As a wind barrier, I personally would suggest natural shelters, combined with additional protection from the wind with your own body. An aluminum pot also copes well with this, providing both a container for water and protection from the wind. However, this option is only effective for a “water” compass. For a needle on a thread, you can use a karimat, twisting it into a tube and placing it vertically: this will provide good protection from the wind if the thread from which the needle is suspended is long enough.

If karimat, polyethylene or other materials for creating an artificial wind barrier are not available, the area does not have natural shelters, and the weather leaves much to be desired, then you need to use what you have, or wait until the weather calms down or clears up to move on to orientation methods according to the heavenly bodies.

And now, as promised, we will look at the most common misconceptions associated with this topic.

Misconceptions and their refutations

As the source of the most popular misconceptions, I chose the famous survival book “The Book that Will Save Your Life” by the equally famous Soviet extreme tourist Andrei Aleksandrovich Ilyin. Who knows, perhaps it was she who served as the reason for the myths that spread and took hold in people’s minds.

So, let's look at the "magnificent seven" of the most common myths associated with constructing a homemade compass.

Misconception No. 1. When building a homemade magnetic compass, you can use a needle as an axis for the arrow, which must be inserted into the base of the compass with the eye down.

Refutation: the design of the compass should not contain ferromagnetic elements, except for the needle itself. Otherwise, distortions in the compass readings associated with magnetic deviations occur.

Misconception No. 2. In order to magnetize a needle located in a coil through which an electric current flows, you need to spend at least 10 minutes.

Refutation: experience has shown that it takes no more than 5–10 seconds to magnetize the needle in this way. Moreover, in order to remagnetize the needle and change its poles to opposite ones, no more than 10 seconds are also sufficient. Spending additional time is not only useless, but also harmful, since in addition to temporary losses, the power source is discharged, which could be useful for other purposes, for example, starting a fire.

Misconception No. 3. The northern end of a needle magnetized in an electric coil will be the end from which the negative terminal of the battery was connected.

Rebuttal: The north end of the needle is determined by the gimlet rule, also known as the right hand rule. And according to this rule, the northern end will not always be the one from which the negative terminal was connected: here the direction of the winding turns will also play a role.

Misconception No. 4: In order for the needle to lie on the water, held by surface tension forces, it must be rubbed against your hair or between your fingers.

Refutation: even a needle completely degreased with ethanol will remain on the surface of the water. If its mass is too large for this, as in the case of a gypsy needle, then no amount of friction against hair and skin will help the matter.

Misconception No. 5. You cannot use metal containers for a homemade compass.

Rebuttal: The issue is not whether the cookware is metal, but whether the material from which the cookware is made is ferromagnetic. Thus, you can also use metal utensils. For example, the accuracy of measurements of a homemade compass will not be affected by either aluminum, magnesium, or copper, which are essentially not ferromagnetic, but para- and diamagnetic.

Misconception #6: You can't use salt water.

Refutation: the presence of salt in water does not have a noticeable effect on the readings of a homemade compass. It is also easy to verify this for yourself by conducting your own experiment with salt water and a magnetized needle.

It is also worth telling about another very common misconception, which is not directly related to the book mentioned, but is firmly rooted in the heads of many tourists and survivalists.

Misconception No. 7. You can magnetize a needle by rubbing it on your hair or on a woolen product.

Refutation: it will not be possible to magnetize a metal needle in this way, which can be easily verified in experiment.

Other types of homemade compasses

Of course, in addition to a magnetic compass, you can make other types of compasses yourself. For example, on the Internet you can find diagrams and instructions for making digital and electronic compasses.

However, such structures require “straight” hands and special parts. And while a person may be fine with straight arms, parts such as a magnetometer are unlikely to be found in the wild.

It is convenient to make such compasses at home if you have all the necessary parts and tools, but not on a hike, and certainly not in emergency conditions. Here, the first place is taken by a simple, time-tested model of a magnetic compass, which we have focused on.

To summarize all of the above, it can be argued that the simplest model of a homemade compass to make and use will be a sewing needle or a fishing hook, magnetized from contact with a knife and lowered onto the surface of the water. It is this option that will give the most accurate and “fast” readings, including due to the fact that it is much easier to protect such a structure from the wind than in the case of a suspended arrow. And such a compass does not require repairs, as such, because there is nothing to break here.

If you wish, you can try to provide a homemade compass with a scale, but I don’t see much point in this, because approximate angles can be determined without special scales and tools.

The idea can also be adopted before each trip to magnetize needles and hooks, which will be taken with you as part of the repair kit, fishing gear and NAZ. To do this, just place them on a permanent magnet for a few seconds. Such simple steps will help give needles and hooks another function, and the versatility of equipment is one of the fundamental principles of packing a backpack for long hiking trips.

However, you need to understand that a homemade compass is only a last resort: it is very inconvenient to use compared to a “real” one produced in a factory. Therefore, the right choice would be to buy a ready-made compass, and leave the magnetized needles and hooks only as a last resort, when trouble took you by surprise and the purchased compass was not nearby.

When going on a trip, you should think about all the outcomes of your vacation. Sometimes mysterious, dense, alluring forests, mountains, rocks call us deeper into them. And we follow this call of nature without noticing that we have moved far from the entrance, and you don’t know how to get out! Or you just need to arrange the plants according to Feng Shui, and for this you need to determine the cardinal directions, but what to do if you don’t have a compass at hand? In this article we will tell you how to create a wonderful compass at home, according to the definition of the sides, in different ways. So, let's begin!

DIY compass

Summarize

Of course, this design is not a full-fledged compass; its main purpose is to demonstrate the behavior of a magnet in an external magnetic field, to demonstrate. Naturally, if it is possible to demonstrate this more easily using compasses, but if you don’t have a large number of compasses, this option will do. Author - Denev.

Discuss the article HOW TO MAKE A COMPASS WITH YOUR OWN HANDS

Any container, except metal, filled with water (metal ones are not suitable, as they will distort the magnetic field).

In order to make a compass, we take floating material and cut out a platform for a needle from it. The main parameters of the piece are the smaller the better, but the needle should not be above the surface of the water.

I made a similar compass, but at home.

1). The sharp end of the sewing needle rubs against the magnet.

2). I pierced the wide cork of a bottle (or a thermos) with a needle so that it came out from the sides and not from the ends of the cork.

3). I lowered the stopper with the needle into a container of water so that it did not touch the walls of the container.

In the forest you can use a puddle of water.

The cork became a kind of float in the water and it turned out that the sharp end of the needle began to point north.

I also tried to do something similar without using water and a magnet.

1). The sharp end of the needle is rubbed against artificial fabric from clothing that has static on it.

2). I tied a thread to the center of the needle so that the needle hung evenly - neither end outweighed the other.

3). I put the thread and needle into the jar (it might be windy outside).

The result was the same - the sharp end of the needle began to point north.

In an emergency, you can navigate the terrain without a compass. For example:

On a clear night, according to the stars (polar star for the northern hemisphere, southern cross for the southern hemisphere).

Moss grows on tree trunks, stumps, and stones on the north side.

The tree crown is more luxuriant on the south side.

Snow in the spring does not melt for a long time on the northern side of the slopes of ravines, trees, large stones, or any objects that create shadow.

Using a wristwatch with arrows on a sunny day. Point the hour hand towards the Sun. Divide the angle formed between the hour hand and the number 1 in half and this line will be an indicator of the direction to the South. The only condition is that this angle must be less than 90 degrees.

And of course, you can build a primitive compass from scrap materials. To make it, you will need a steel object (sewing needle, nail, screw or piece of wire) and any floating object in the water into which you can stick or attach a steel object to it (a piece of foam plastic, a piece of cardboard paper or torn from a tree, a cork stopper from bottles of wine or a thermos, a sliver of wood and, of course, a container of water (not steel) in which you need to place a steel object attached to a floating object in such a way that they do not sink together. The floating steel object is oriented in the South-North direction. The meaning of all this is is that steel objects have a weak magnetization from the earth's magnetic field, sufficient for use as a primitive compass. The only difficulty that may arise is which end points to the North and which to the South. In this matter, only the Sun can help during the day, at night - stars or the moon.

A small steel needle can be made to float on the surface of the water on its own. To do this, you need to rub it a little with your fingers (the oilier your fingers, the better) and carefully place it on the surface of the water. If this procedure is carried out with due care, it will float held by the forces of surface tension of the water.

The children's compass shows that the point of the needle is directed towards the South. No manipulations were performed with the needle (such as magnetizing it with a magnet or heating the tip).

DIY compass

Compass on a thread and a needle

In fact, making a compass using needles and threads is very simple and most importantly effective! To begin with, take an ordinary needle; everyone has one somewhere at home. Then rub it properly with a magnet so that it becomes magnetized. The next step is to take any thread. If you find yourself on a hike and don’t have a spool with you, you can tear one from any clothing. Next, thread the needle and tie it in a knot. Be careful, it is advisable not to take it too tightly in your hands, it can transfer the charge to you and thereby become demagnetized.

Place it horizontally and observe. One end of the needle will point north and the other end will point south. On the right and left sides there will be the eastern and western sides of the world. Mark which end showed the north, this can be done with the help of brilliant green, iodine, which travelers always have. That's all. You can safely determine the cardinal directions using it, just like a standard compass.

How to make a compass from a needle and water

Another easy way to make a compass is the needle and water method. This is a very handy method that allows you to make a compass at home. So, to make a compass using this method, you need to take a needle. Magnetize it properly, this can be done using a magnet. Rub the needle on it, but not the whole part, but only one end. The other end must be uncharged. To discharge it, you can hold it over the fire, this will neutralize the charge. If you don’t have a special magnet, you can use any, even the smallest ones, like those on the refrigerator. Or use silk, it charges objects perfectly like no other.

The next step is to mark in color which side is magnetized so as not to confuse the sides. You can mark it with any paint or brilliant green, iodine or any other impurities. Next comes the most interesting part, pour water into the bowl, place the needle on a stable surface that will float on the water (pinoplast, wine cork, plastic, and any other objects that float on the surface of the water). Next you need to observe. The arrow will turn towards the north, behind it will be the south, and on the right and left sides there will be a direction to the east and west.. This is the way! Very light and effective in any terrain.

Compass made from a paper clip

So, to make a compass from a paper clip, you need to properly charge it. This can be done using a well-known magnet, or remember seventh grade physics and use silk. Rub it to recharge it. Next, you need to carefully place the paper clip on the cardboard or paper surface and lower it into the water. Make sure that nothing interferes with the movement of the paperclip. Eliminate all drafts and gusts of wind. It is also worth using a small piece of paper surface to avoid collision with the bowl of water. That's all, the compass is ready. If you did everything correctly, he will show you the way to the north. Bon Voyage!

DIY compass without using liquid

Safety razor needle or blade
Transparent bottle
Thin thread or fishing line

Assembly of the structure

We calibrate the resulting compass using the method described in the last paragraph of the previous instructions and obtain a device ready for use.

As you can see, making a compass yourself is not that difficult. On the one hand, we looked at some interesting solutions, but if you dig deeper, it becomes obvious that we have expanded our knowledge base with extremely useful information! Happy travels, friends.

And you will also find an interesting video from the network on our topic:

How to make a homemade compass

In order to make a homemade compass from cardboard, you need to cut out a circle. You need to draw the drawing correctly to get an even circle. The next step is to charge the needle using a magnet or using a lye by rubbing it against these objects. Or you can use a paper clip rather than a needle, the principle is the same. Next, insert a needle or wire into the cardboard. We install it and watch its movements. It should point towards the north. Next, we plot the cardinal directions to the south, in the appropriate order. That's it, the cardboard compass is ready! This can be given to a child for learning orienteering, your child will be happy!

How to make a carving

So, to make a carving in a compass in 3d, you need to compare the diameters. They must be the same for both the part and the thread. Next you need to choose which surface to apply on. Where the designation will come from, we set and use the initial boundary. After these steps, select a step.

And to make a carving in a compass, you first need to look at the diameters so that they match each other. External must be equal to internal. Their sizes can be measured. Then do the same, select the surface, steps and depth. These skills will also help you

How to make a cut and a hole in a compass

How to make a compass in 3d? To do this, you need to draw the correct drawing. There should be several such drawings from different sides. Top view, left side and interior. This is all done using different programs that are made specifically for these purposes. They are quite easy to use. On the drawing you need to indicate the main markings; they are indicated by a thick line. Thanks to this method, you can make different types.

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