I used a used toilet paper roll, but any round form about the same size will work just fine.

The wire should be enamel coated magnet wire. This is solid copper wire with a baked on insulation, usually red, although it can be clear. Uninsulated wire will not work. Wire with rubber or plastic insulation will not work without some extra work.

If your motor looks like the one in the picture, you are most of the way there. Study the picture carefully....

If your magnet is dark grey or brown, it is probably a ceramic magnet. Just about any kind of magnet should work, but it has to be strong (small refrigerator magnets or those rubbery sheet magnets probably won't work). If all you have is small magnets, try stacking them together. The large rectangular magnets from Radio Shack work very well. If your Radio Shack doesn't carry them (or you don't have a Radio Shack nearby), try your local hardware store (such as Lowe's or Home Depot), they usually have a large selection of magnets for doing things like magnetizing tools or hanging tools on walls. Again, get a strong, relatively flat magnet. Circular magnets should work.

The sanding of the coils is probably the trickiest part. Reread these directions and see if the correspond with your understanding of the web page instructions:

• Make the coil per the directions.
  
  
• Take your sandpaper and sand all of the insulation off of one tail of the coil (the wire sticking out from the coil). It should be bright and shiny copper all the way around.
  
  
• Now, lay the coil down on something that is safe to sand on. On the other tail, sand off all of the insulation on the top half of the wire. When you get through, the wire should be red on one side and copper colored on the other.
  
  

Other things to try:

• Make sure your paper clips are good quality metal and are not covered with plastic or rubber. Sand them lightly on the surfaces that contact the battery and on the surfaces that the coil lays on.
  
  
• If all else fails, make sure you have a fresh battery -- previous errors in sanding the coils may have created a short circuit that drained your battery.
  
  
• Have someone else read the instructions without looking at your construction -- sometimes a fresh viewpoint can point out problems and misconceptions.