Recent cribbage board

[John W Henderson]

Finished a cribbage board for a friend of mine who was recently diagnosed with cancer. He spends a lot of time at home resting, and since taking up woodworking about a year ago I gravitated toward making cribbage boards and offered to make him one. With the help of a group at work with a laser engraver I added a nice double-meaning message on the back for him (cribbage opponent, cancer). I really liked how this one turned out.

It's maple or hickory (I buy cutoffs from a local cabinet shop and the piece I got had "Hick" written on the end, but I think it looked more like maple due to the reddish grain) and the inlays and border are jatoba (Brazillian cherry).

I cheat and pre-calculate my hole spacings and then use a Bridgeport mill at work to pre-drill 1/16" holes before finishing. Then I finish (General Finishes wiping oil & urethane semi-gloss in this case) and then use a drill press free hand to bore out the 1/16" pilots to 1/8". This way my holes are literally perfectly straight and aligned. Thanks for any comments! I'm trying to work my way up to all the other amazing work I see on this forum!

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[Jim Rimmer]

Great looking board. Your friend will surely like it. Our best wishes for him.

[Bruce Page]

Very nice John. Do you have a trick for those nice clean holes? I always get some tear out on the edges.

[Peter J Lee]

I really like that one too. Is it a rookie question to ask how you did the arrows?

[John W Henderson]

@Bruce Page: Well, the pilot holes are done with a 1/16" end mill, so super sharp and rigid. A lot for me depends on the wood. Getting finish on before the final 1/8" holes also might help just keep all those fibers bonded together. A lot depends on the wood. I can post pics of some other boards with jatoba as the main wood -- that stuff is super hard and dense, but likes to chip out like nothing I've ever used. So, pilot holes and luck is my answer, and in that order :)

@Peter J Lee: Not a rookie question at all! They are inlays. I use a coping saw to cut them out and then sand all six until they are the same size. Once they're right, the process is:
-- Double side tape them to the wood
-- Trace them with an exacto knife
-- Remove them
-- Trace the exacto cut with mechanical pencil
-- Use a 1/16" router to route up to the pencil line (getting as close as I can to the corners)
-- Use an exacto knife to chip/cut away at the corners
-- Keep shaving the recess until the triangle feels like it will go in
-- Sand the triangle with a bevel on the inserting side to make sure it wedges in there nice
-- Apply glue to the recess, insert the inlay, clamp using a piece of wood covered in blue painters tape
-- Pull off in 30-60min
-- Level down to the surface with a card scraper

I learned everything I know about inlays from this Wood Whisperer vid: thewoodwhisperer.com/router-based-inlay/

[Jack Hogoboom]

Beautiful work. I really want to make one for my daughter, but the holes have scared me off.

[Peter J Lee]

Thanks John.

[John W Henderson]

@Jack: The holes are tricky. I'm lucky in that I have the Bridgeport mill access. Just clamp the board in and know where your holes are within 0.001" :)

Other options I considered were getting some of those guide templates from Rockler or online. Something like this: http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=10120.

I actual made my own template in a drawing program such that I could easily adjust the hole spacing because my boards tend not to be the same length. It's just a simple down and back path, but it works well enough for me. From what I've heard in looking for how to do this well, some other things that can help:
-- Tape a paper template to the board and punch each hole by hand to make a divot
-- Pilot drill with a stubby bit (ones that are much shorter for increased rigidity)
-- Use a new, sharp bit

You might even want to see how some test holes work using a router bit. Those are more similar to end mill bits and are designed to be plunged and very rigid. I tried the hand punching thing and that just didn't work so well. You could try and see how much it would cost for someone to laser cut you a template? Anyway, there's some ideas for you!

P.S. just noticed that the Wood Whisperer vid didn't show up above... it's: http://thewoodwhisperer.com/router-based-inlay/

[Jeff Hamilton Jr.]

Really well done ... and what a thoughtful gesture as well; your friend will no doubt cherish the board, but more importantly, the friendship.