The Compass That Doesn't Point North

In this Instructable I'll show you how I made Jack Sparrow's unique compass from Pirates of the Caribbean.

Materials:

• Wood scraps: --- for this project I used pieces of scrap wood that I had lying around. My pieces were about 1/4 inch thick.

• Wooden half-sphere: --- mine was 2" in diameter.

• Wooden Popsicle sticks / coffee stirring sticks: --- I used some extra wide Popsicle sticks, about 1 inch wide. I also used extra thin coffee stirring sticks, about 1/4 inch thick.

• Oven-bake clay
• Thick construction paper
• Hinges and a button clasp
• Black or brown distressed leather
• Acrylic paints

Tools:

• Wood glue
• Super glue
• Dremel / rotary tool
• Sandpaper
• Wood carving knives
• Craft knife / Exacto-blade
• Drill

To make the basic box shape, begin with two 1/4" thick pieces of wood. My squares were 3x3", and of course you can adjust accordingly.

Next, cut the four corners of each square, creating an uneven octagon. This will be the top and bottom of the compass. If you are like me and get easily confused and/or flustered, it might be to your advantage to label them 'Top' and 'Bottom'.

For the sides, you want to make sure that the bottom half of the compass is deeper than the top half. So, the bottom's sides need to be taller. Now, exact measurements are really not my thing; in fact, they make me even more confused. So I just eyeball it and call it good for me, but it does make it slightly inconvenient when writing directions. So for your sake and the sake of my sanity, I'm going to round up and say the bottom's sides are 1" tall, and the top's sides are 3/4" tall. Glue the sides onto the base using a strong wood glue, clamp it tight, and let it dry completely.

For the corners, you could totally make super precise wood pieces that fit perfectly into place, but frankly, I'm super lazy and have ZERO patience for that kind of thing. Instead I shaped clay directly onto the wood, baked it, and sanded it down to fit nicely. Although, if you do try this method, make sure that 1) the oven isn't on very high when you bake the clay, or else the wood and/or glue will burn, and 2) make sure the clay is completely hardened.

For the outer details on the box, I used extra thin coffee stirring sticks. I'm fairly certain you can get these at any craft store, but if you can't find any, just cut normal craft sticks down to size. My sticks were about 1/4" wide.

To begin, cut the sticks to size and glue them into place, bordering each side of the compass's halves. If my poor wording makes literally no sense to you, as I'm sure it won't (sorry), reference the pictures above. I also glued a border around the top of the box.

To fill in the gaps resulting from my hatred of exact measurements, I mixed together some Mod-Podge and sawdust. This creates a thick hole filler that will dry nice and hard, and can even be sanded smooth when dry. I mushed some of this into all the gaps and let it dry, then sanded it smooth.

For the top half of the compass box, you'll need a wooden 2'' half sphere. I bought mine from a craft store for way too much money. Trace out the size of the half-sphere onto the center of the lid of the box. Then, using a compass (ha), make a second, smaller circle inside of the first. This is where you will hollow out both pieces. Again, pictures included to un-confuse you. Using a drill and a rotary tool, cut out the inside of the smallest circle on the lid of the box. Likewise, carve out the inside of the sphere, aligning it with the hole in the lid. As you may be able to see from the pictures, carving out the sphere did not go well for me. But, it doesn't have to be perfect, unless you're a perfectionist. It just needs to be hollow enough to fit the sundial into later. Set the lid aside for now.

For the bottom half, we need a removable platform that will hold the sundial over the compass, while also not interfering with the compass's spinning mechanism. To make this, I used 1'' wide Popsicle sticks. First, I cut a few sticks to size so that they would exactly fit into the box. I glued supporting crossbeams onto the underside to keep them together. When cut down to the right size and shape, the platform should sit right near the top without falling in, as shown in the pictures above.

Next, cut a circular hole into the center of the platform. The hole should be just slightly bigger than the half-sphere that we used for the lid. To cut out the hole, I drilled a plethora of holes right next to each other along the line, then used a rotary tool to finish it up and file it smooth.

For the base of the compass, I just happened to conveniently find this plastic ring that fit EXACTLY over the hole. If you don't have a convenient plastic ring sitting around, you can make one out of clay or wood pretty easily.

Now the platform should have a hole in the middle that opens into the compartment for the compass. When the compass is completely finished, you might want to glue the platform in place, but for now it's easier to make it able to be popped in and out.

For the compass itself, start with a circle of construction paper. This circle should fit underneath the hole in the platform, so slightly bigger than that hole.

Using a compass (ha it's just so funny), find the center of the circle and make three circles; one on the very edge, and a set of circles nearer to the center. Pictures for reference. Next draw the little arrow, and four points radiating out from the center of the circle to the edges. Between each of these points, make a smaller point that ends at the smallest of the circles. Pictures for reference. Finally, make lines between all the points... There is literally no way can explain this and have it make sense, so I suppose it would be best to just reference the pictures.

Color the compass accordingly, making sure the northern arrow is a nice bright red. I suggest using colored pencil and not marker, as this will make the weathering step less messy. Outline the design in black pen.

To weather the paper and make it look old and worn, dip it into some coffee or black tea. Then bake it in the oven just until it is dry. If it curled or warped, you can press it under some heavy books for a while to straighten it out.

Now to make the compass spin. Jack Sparrow's compass is unique for not pointing North. But, it isn't broken--instead, it points to what the person holding it wants most in all the world. I think that's just splendid, so naturally I had to make my compass able to point at whatever I want it to. To make this happen, I built a very simple mechanism, and while I'm certain there is a better way to do this... I did it this way.

Start by gluing a wooden dowel in the center of the back of the paper compass. My wooden dowel may or may not be a pencil that I sacrificed for a better cause. Anyway, now drill a teeny weeny hole into the dowel, making sure to not go all the way through. With the same size drill bit, drill a teeny weeny hole into the center of the bottom half of the compass box. Using a rotary tool or wood carving knife, carve a recession around the tiny hole on the BOTTOM of the box. Not inside, but on the bottom. This is where you'll put the cranky thing that spins the compass.

Now align the wooden dowel with the hole in the bottom of the box. For this next step, I used a very thin wooden stick, but you could also use a sturdy length of metal wire. Whatever you choose to use, glue it into the hole in the dowel and string it through the bottom of the box. I then added a wooden bead to the underside, just for better grip when turning. Finally, snip the excess wire or stick to sit flush with the bead. Do a test spin, and make sure you haven't accidentally glued the thing too much so that it doesn't rotate in the hole.

I used clay to make the sundial that goes on top of the compass. To do this, I made a support with three legs that fits over the ring on the platform we made earlier. The legs should meet in the center of the circle. I also broke this piece right after I took it out of the oven, and had to glue it back together later.

For the second piece, make a thin-ish circle just slightly smaller than a quarter. Carve tick marks around the outside edge for effect.

The last piece is the sundial itself. The only way I can think to describe its shape is one of these ( < ) with an s in the middle. Look at the pictures for reference.

When these have been baked and cooled, paint them black. Then dry brush a good coat of coppery-gold. Dry-brushing is when you get a small amount of paint on a dry paintbrush, then wipe most of it off on a paper towel. Then brush the remaining paint onto your surface, and voila. This brings out the texture on whatever surface you're painting, and in this case, makes the compass look like weathered metal. I also painted the ring on the platform with this color to match.

For the compass box, paint the not-raised parts in a dark navy blue color. Then paint the raised bits in white.

To make the compass look less new and more like its been carried all over the world and thrown into the sea a few times, mix up a dark brown wash. A wash is paint mixed with a bit of water. When brushed over the surface, it will seep into the cracks and recesses. Then dab it gently with a paper towel to get off the excess. The result is the slightly dirty and worn look that we're going for.

Now, glue the sundial into place.

Now, it's time to add the hinges and clasp. For the hinges in the back, you may need to carefully remove some of the white raised bits to screw them on properly. When the hinges are on, do the same to the front, adding the clasp.

Finally, cut a piece of black or brown leather to fit nicely into the lid of the box. Cut a hole in the center corresponding with the dome, and glue it in place.

Finished! I hope your new unique compass leads you through many salty adventures that end in hoards of shining treasure. Drink up, me hearties yo ho!