Just a small update on this project. I ended up making one of these for everyone in my D&D group. They loved them! It was very rewarding watching them all fiddle with them while we played, enjoying the clickiness that the magnets provide. Have I mentioned that I love magnets?
We did hit a few snags putting them together (I had each person assemble their own). Depending on the hardwood grain, certain pieces can be a little easier to break if too much force is applied when putting them together. Some of the tabs on the side piece broke for one of my friends. And another friend had the middle piece tab that holds the selection indicator in place break off. Not a big deal as I just cut replacement parts (having a laser cutter still feels so cool). But just something to keep in mind if you’re going to make this out of hardwood. Plywood seems to be a little more robust as it doesn’t have the directional grain issue.
Also one of my friends got a few of the magnets in backwards, which lead to a very non clicky experience. We used a magnet to test which ones were in upside down and then popped them out and fixed it. There’s definitely a noticeable difference, even with just one magnet out of place. If anyone tries to make one of these and its not quite clicky enough, take a magnet and place it over each of the embedded magnets to ensure you don’t have any upside down.