Okay folks, today’s project started when I found this gorgeous chunk of maple wood behind my buddy’s sawmill. Looked too cool to waste, so I stared at it drinking coffee for like three days straight. Finally had a lightbulb moment – what if I made it dance? Like actually wobble and sway? And oh yeah, it needed to pop off easy for storage cause my garage is a warzone.

First Steps

Grabbed my jigsaw first thing Monday morning. Cut that maple slab into uneven strips – made sure each piece had funky natural edges. Sanded forever, arms burning, sawdust up my nose. Forgot eye protection like a dumbass too.

The Wobble Part

Here’s where I nearly lost it. Needed counterweights so the timber pieces wouldn’t just flop over. Raided my kid’s Legos (don’t tell him). Glued little brick stacks under each wooden strip until they balanced just right when nudged. Took eleven tries per piece – kept toppling like drunk dominoes.

Big Disaster Moment:

Thought super glue would hold weights to wood. Wrong. First test spin sent Lego bricks flying everywhere. Nearly took out my workshop window. Switched to concrete screws instead – drilled tiny holes straight through the weights.

Making It Removable

This part was slick. Cut circular steel plates for bases, epoxied powerful magnets underneath. Then hammered matching plates onto the timber bottoms. Boom – they click down solid but lift right off with a twist. Magnets came from dead microwave parts, naturally.

Final Assembly

Laid everything on the patio. Poured concrete in old takeout containers for feet bases. While wet, stuck the magnet plates in crooked on purpose – looks cooler that way. Waited two days biting nails till I could test.

Victory Dance:

Plugged in an old speaker beneath the setup, blasted Queen’s Another One Bites the Dust. Whole thing started shimmying! Those maple strips wiggled like Elvis hips. Yanked one off mid-dance – clicked back on smooth. Neighbor’s dog started howling along. Absolute win.

Should I spray paint it neon? Jury’s still out. Might just let the maple gray naturally. Honestly though? Best part is shoving the whole contraption in a milk crate when the wife yells about patio space. Magnets for the freaking win.