https://wiki.tjhowse.com/ 2026-04-16T21:51:36+00:00 https://wiki.tjhowse.com/ https://wiki.tjhowse.com/_media/wiki:logo.png text/html 2022-01-23T00:22:45+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.tjhowse.com/projects:crokinole_board:work_logs:work_log_1 What I want to accomplish * Decide what to buy, * Buy it. What I've done I decided to go with oil-based varnish and stain because I like the smell and it's much cheaper. Wax This smells incredible. Stain This will be going in the gutter and on the strips. I'm thinking of staining only the outer of the edge strips and leaving the inner au naturale, for some contrast. text/html 2022-01-23T00:22:51+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.tjhowse.com/projects:crokinole_board:work_logs:work_log_2 What I want to accomplish * Do some test cuts of some scrap plywood with the router, * Build a circle-cutting jig, * See how plywood sands, * Test out the stain, * Test out the varnish. What I've done Circle-cutting jig I inherited this router from my father in law. It took a moderate amount of WD40 and violence but I got all the moving parts moving. It's quite powerful, and takes 1/2 text/html 2022-01-23T00:22:58+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.tjhowse.com/projects:crokinole_board:work_logs:work_log_3 What I want to accomplish * Build a wood steamer, * Bend the oak strips for the edge. What I've done Wood Steamer I read that PVC started to get soft at 120°C, so I built my steamer out of 40mm plumbing PVC tubing, some elbows I had leftover from another project, an electric frypan and some MDF. text/html 2022-01-23T00:23:05+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.tjhowse.com/projects:crokinole_board:work_logs:work_log_4 What I want to accomplish * Determine how to mark the lines on the board. What I've done Experiments Other people have used V-shaped router bits to gouge the circles and lines into the board, then filled them with paint. I did a few experiments with that technique and found it hard to get reliable results. If it goes wrong the entire top board is a write-off, so I was very nervous. If the pivot point moves by a tiny amount the circle won't meet up at the end of the sweep, and that would be… text/html 2022-01-23T00:23:12+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.tjhowse.com/projects:crokinole_board:work_logs:work_log_5 What I want to accomplish * Cut out the top board. What I've done Dithered a lot Dither dither. Just do it I felt like I'd done enough experiments and preparation. I threw down some sacrificial particleboard, marked the centre of the board and drilled a 12mm hole, then set up my jig and went for it. text/html 2022-01-23T00:23:18+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.tjhowse.com/projects:crokinole_board:work_logs:work_log_6 What I want to accomplish * Glue the offcuts and cut out the base. What I've done Glue, clamps and ratchet straps I cut up the remainder of the plywood board into four bits. I stacked them up together and sanded the edges so they were reasonably crisp. I should've spent a bit longer at this. text/html 2022-01-23T00:23:25+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.tjhowse.com/projects:crokinole_board:work_logs:work_log_7 What I want to accomplish * Drill the hole in the centre of the top board. What I've done This damn hole I need to cut a 1-3/8“ (35mm) hole in the centre of the top board. This is scary. I bought a set of rubbish forstner bits and was very disappointed in their performance. text/html 2022-01-23T00:23:31+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.tjhowse.com/projects:crokinole_board:work_logs:work_log_8 What I want to accomplish * Attach the edge strips to the base. What I've done Never enough clamps After bending I left the edge wood to dry for a few days. I then strapped the edge strip to the bottom board with a ratchet strap. I would eventually snip off the strap hooks and tie the loose ends together to avoid the hooks damaging the wood. This strap technique is pretty fiddly and frustrating, especially once everything's covered in glue. I trimmed the end of the strip with a chisel by… text/html 2022-01-23T00:23:38+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.tjhowse.com/projects:crokinole_board:work_logs:work_log_9 What I want to accomplish * Mark the lines. What I've done Pure terror I needed to draw three concentric circles on the playing surface with a radius of of 4“, 8” and 12“.The centre of the playing surface already had a 35mm hole in it, so I turned down a 35mm disc on my drill press text/html 2022-01-23T00:23:44+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.tjhowse.com/projects:crokinole_board:work_logs:work_log_10 What I want to accomplish * Make the posts, * Mark and drill the post positions. What I've done The easiest bit I bought some stiff irrigation tubing of the correct outside diameter, and some stainless wood screws with heads slightly smaller than that. I put two layers of heat shrink on the top 1/2 text/html 2022-01-23T00:23:50+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.tjhowse.com/projects:crokinole_board:work_logs:work_log_11 What I want to accomplish * Finish the playing surface. What I've done The final coat This became a running joke in our household. “I'm going downstairs for a bit to put the final coat on the crokinole board,” I said. Every second night for about two weeks. I'm not exaggerating. It was hell. text/html 2022-01-23T00:23:57+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.tjhowse.com/projects:crokinole_board:work_logs:work_log_12 What I want to accomplish * Finish the base, * Attach the playing surface to the base, * Attach felt to the base. What I've done Final varnish coats on base I sanded the edge strips down a bit too much and had to re-stain them, followed by a few coats of varnish. I'm not 100% happy with how they look, but I'm pretty much done with this project now. Perfection is the enemy of getting things done. text/html 2022-01-23T00:24:02+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.tjhowse.com/projects:crokinole_board:work_logs:work_log_final What I would do differently The base To be avoided. I had to spend a fair bit of time getting the surface of the base lined up properly after gluing. Lots of sanding and tweaking, and the end result was OK but not great. If I were to do this again, with the same size sheet of ply, I would cut the playing surface out, and cut up the remainder of the board into four corners. I'd then stack them up and rout the straight edges perfectly flat and smooth. I'd then glue them directly to the base of… text/html 2022-01-23T00:24:07+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://wiki.tjhowse.com/projects:crokinole_board:work_logs:work_log_supplemental A few months later The permanent marker I used to mark the lines has significantly faded under indirect indoor sunlight after a few months of sitting on the living room table. It's still perfectly visible, but it's not as bold as it once was. I would recommend using a paint pen, or routing the lines and filling the groove with paint, rather than a permanent marker atop the varnish.