3 Making the Guide

The first mark will be equal to the radius of the circle. For our example, we are making a 36-foot circle with a nine foot center, the radius of which is 54. On rope, you can make a mark with a felt-tipped pen or magic marker. On a metal measuring tape (or on a rope) you can make the mark by wrapping a piece of tape at the designated point. (I like to number each one.) Then each additional path will be spaced according to the appropriate calculation that you made at the beginning. For our example, that is 14 and 3/4 inches apart. In such case, the second mark will be 54 inches plus 14 and 3/4 inches, or 68 and 3/4 inches. The third mark will be 68 and 3/4 inches plus 14 and 3/4 inches, and so forth, until all of the marks are completed.

The guide needs to be securely fastened to the center of the labyrinth. You could have someone hold a broomstick in the center, but they would get very bored and would likely move. I suggest a board with a nail in it, which you can tape to the floor so that it doesn't move. The guide must have 360-degree movement. Since I make labyrinths frequently, I have constructed a round board with a one-inch hole in the middle. Over that hole I have placed a floor flange for a one-inch pipe (found in the plumbing department of any hardware store). Screw the flange to the piece of wood, over the hole. I mark the center of the labyrinth with an "X." Looking through the hole in the board (through the flange) I line up the board on the center "X." Then I screw a four-inch piece of pipe into the flang and place a 20-kilo (44-pound) barbell weight over the pipe, to keep the board from moving. The pipe is long enough so that it sticks up above the weight. I attach the guide to the pipe by making a loop in the rope or tying a loop to the end of the tape measure.