At Apex Magnets, we do more than help you find the right magnets for your needs—we also like to play around with our products to find fun and effective ways to use magnets in our everyday lives. Our most recent project? A customizable sword stand. By creating a sword stand that we can change to fit our needs, we’ve found a way to safely store swords in one location while eliminating the need to buy new stands when the sword collection grows. Here’s how we did it:  What you’ll need: 
  • 1/2”x1/8” countersink rings (2 magnets per block)
  • Sturdier wood (such as maple)
  • 2 metal strips—these will serve as the tracks for the magnets in the blocks
  • Screws & Nails
  • Wood glue
How to create and assemble the stand:  The dimensions of the completed sword stand are 16” x 42” x 40”.  
  • Assemble the base, feet, and sides 
  To begin this project, grab your wood to assemble the base, feet, and sides. We preferred to use maple wood because it is a sturdier wood, but this is strictly a personal choice. The boards used for the sides will be 1” x 8” x 40”, while the board for the base should be 1” x 8” x 42.” The base will be a bit wider as it covers the edge of the swords while also helping to brace the sides of the stand. The feet of the stand should be 16” wide and 4” high, which helps keep the stand from falling over. When this step is completed, you should have an outline that resembles the figure below.  

Uses of Apex Magnets

 
  • Assemble the top w/ steel strips
  Continuing along, it is time to move onto the top. Use a router to create a ¾” wide x ⅛” deep groove in each of the 1-3/4” x ¾” boards, to hold the metal strips. Then, secure 2” wide boards with glue and nails to the top side pieces for additional strength to help hold the swords in place. When completed, the top of your stand should resemble the figure below.   Apex Magnets sword stand    
  • Create spacing blocks
  The key to the customizable part of this project is the individual magnetic spacing blocks. Each block will be 3/4” thick and 7” long. To incorporate the countersink magnets, drill a ½” X ⅛” deep hole at each end of the wooden blocks using a ½” Forstner bit. Install a magnet in each hole so that it sits flush using #6 x 1/2” countersunk wood screws. The magnets should align with the steel strips on the stand. Once finished, your spacing blocks will resemble the figure below.   Apex Magnets sword stands   And there you have it! You can see the finished project and how it works here! How would you use Apex Magnets? Even if you aren’t a sword enthusiast, you could repurpose this DIY to hold other objects such as pool cues, walking canes, umbrellas, or anything else that can benefit from adjustable slots. How do you use Apex Magnets? We’ve heard of some pretty innovative uses of our products, including the use of magnets to keep lures in place while fishing in Japan!  If you’ve made something creative with our magnets, we want to hear from you. Send us an email at service@apexmagnets.com or message us on Facebook for a chance to be featured.