Tales of Berseria: Laphicet's Compass

thingiverse

This is Laphicet's compass from Tales of Berseria, split into sections for printing on a standard 200mmx200mm bed printer. This is a *functional* gimbal compass: it is self-levelling and has a needle that points north! Most of the pieces have small slots in them for 9 gauge metal wire, which I used small segments of to assist in the assembly process (in addition to E6000 and epoxy as needed). The needle has slots for two neodymium magnets, which is how it works as a functional compass needle. The magnets I used were these: https://www.magnet4sale.com/n52-5-16x1-neodymium-rare-earth-cylindrical-magnet/. I recommend printing the needle with the lightest settings possible, even if it means extra postprocessing work, since that will make it function better as a compass needle. I balanced the needle itself on a small aluminum point. I put a very small amount of masking tape under one side of the needle to balance it for northern hemisphere usage. I used McMaster-Carr parts 6391K153 (x2), 6391K155 (x2), and 1570K22 for assembly. Or, in simpler terms, a keyed shaft (which I cut with a dremel into four pieces) and bearings. I had to sand down the shaft a fair bit in order to get it to rotate smoothly in the bearings, so I kinda suspect I bought the wrong shaft, but I'm not a real mechanical engineer so who knows? ;-) I also reused a small bit of the shaft to make the aluminum pointed mount for the needle mentioned above: this is important because the mount can't be ferromagnetic, or it'll throw off the needle. I cut it to a point with my dremel, which was a long and painful process that likely would have taken 7 seconds if I had a proper tool, like a lathe. For finishing I made use of XTC-3D, Modern Metals spray paint, Alclad Polished Brass paint, Molotow Liquid Chrome paint, Alclad Aqua Gloss sealant, and an enormous amount of sandpaper and elbow grease, as well as Liquitex acrylics for the faux-wood base. The details are were done with spray paint and (extremely carefully applied) stencils. The compass rose itself is a separate 9.25" acrylic circle.