Create a Jefferson Cipher Wheel

A cipher wheel is a secret or disguised method of communicating – kids can think of it as a way to write secret messages. Ciphers can take all different forms, but one thing is for sure: If you want to communicate secretly your cipher tools have to be secure.

When Jefferson was alive almost all communications were hand carried. It would be easy for a messenger to open and read a confidential letter regarding Revolutionary war troop movement. To get around this Thomas Jefferson invented a cipher wheel.

Jefferson’s wheel cipher tool had 36 disks on it, allowing each message to contain 36 jibberish characters that could transform into a message such as RETREAT NOW since the wheels could be ordered in any way desired, and the letters on each wheel contained the whole alphabet. The number of combinations in just the ordering of those 36 wheels was mind-boggling, starting with a 3 followed by 41 zeroes! Add in that each wheel had 26 options and you are far beyond a cipher that is easy to crack. In this project, we will create a DIY cipher tool with just 8 wheels.