a few birch rings and couple birch/walnut rings and a quick finger measuring board.(told my kids it was for a game so the rings would fit for xmas.)
My two sons played a game at colonial williamsburg called “shut the box” and enjoyed it very much. I commented to LOML that I wanted to make them one.
Well, it came down to the wire… but I got my sons’ present done in time – because of customer orders (some quite late) I didn’t get started on this until yesterday (23 December)
The box is Mahogany and the box joints were done with an incra ibox (wow does that thing ever make box joints easier) The gaps are my fault, not the jig’s :) I glued the corners with hide glue.
The hinges were made using an incra hingecrafter and are set so that the box lays flat when open.
The top “roll area” is lined with heavy suede leather and makes for a very satisfying “feel” when you roll the dice…
Speaking of which… the dice are kingwood, 1 inch square, and were made on my carvewright. The dots were created with a white paint pen in the divots.
The top and fold-down keys were of course carved on my Carvewright and the lettering is gold leaf (genuine real stuff I put on… not paint)
The whole thing was finished with 2 coats of thin shellac, rubbed down and then buffed with wax.
Thanks for looking, and I hope my boys enjoy it!
Lawrence
I am new and have little or no skill communicating via ‘lumberjocks’ blog or forum. I submitted a question regarding the design of an ‘old fashioned marble game’ several hours ago and don’t know what to expect. I see that it has to be ‘accepted’, but don’t know how long that takes and where do I look for a response. Not being impatient, just don’t know. Any help will be much appreciated…......
Good afternoon & Seasons Greetings to all. This is my first attempt to communicate via the Lunberjocks forum, so would appreciate your patience. I am looking for plans for an ‘old fashioned marble game’ that my wife promised my grandson I would build for Christmas; our celebration is yet 5 days away. The design that I am looking for has 2 upright channels, connected by 4+ sloped horizontal channels, which empty into a box at the bottom. Drop the marble in the top channel and it zig-zags to the bottom. I know that this is very a very basic project, but I would appreciate some dimensions, sketch, etc. Thanks in advance for any response….
I saw this incredible project posted by Albachippie and knew I had to try it. He referenced others, so surely neither of us claim to be the originator of the design but I am happy to have joined the club.
The blocks, like my predecessor’s are white oak, quarter sawn. I learned from his “mistakes” and used cocobolo as the dots. I turned a pen blank, which I confess was just a reason to use my dusty lathe. It’s my favorite tool but I just don’t have reason to use it often enough. The finish is a spray on clear coat of shellac which I am not happy with. I regret not keeping a reasonable oil on hand. I will fix that after Christmas!
And at present I have no plans to match his skills with a box. I still marvel at a carpenter that can actually make a square box. It is the most challenging element of the hobby.
Thanks to all who preceded this project and for LJ for giving us all a place to share. Merry Christmas
Greetings All,
After my retirement I needed something to occupy my time. As a retired plastics engineer, I decided to follow along the lines into woodworking. After setting up shop, which I am still working on, I tackled a step stool that my wife has asked for many times(saves me from getting off the couch from football game watching to reach something for her in the kitchen).
I made the steps from our oak hardwood floor leftovers. The sides and supports are from poplar. Finished with teak oil and polished with Liberon wax.
I can now stay focused on the game and let my wife do the climbing(she is happy and isn’t that what it’s all about!).
A while back I met a woodworker from another forum and he gave me a lovely little piece of kingwood. I’ve been showing it off to visitors for some time now, meaning all the while to make something out of it. I finally got around to using it for a set of dice for my sons for a “shut the box” game I am making for them for Christmas (yes, I know it is coming very soon… tomorrow will be a shop day!)
At any rate, the dice are 1×1 square and are amazingly (lucky) balanced. The kingwood is a perfect compliment for the mahogany shut the box case and I can’t wait to give it to my boys.
This is the jig I used- for the 2,3,4,5 I had the side pieces removed and I carved the dots all at once for all 4 dies- the 1 and 6 required additional jigging and I had to carve the dies individually after cutting them loose.
Here’s a quick youtube video I did showing how accurate you can get with the Carvewright – (I’ll be honest I suprised myself!) The edge rounds are .02 deep and were carved accurately (square) to as far as my eyesight could tell.
[url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v16xYoZsDbY]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v16xYoZsDbY[/url]
Lawrence
