Keith, I don't usually comment on project posts but I have to say that that is spectacular. Seeing your finished product makes me want to work on one for my kids today.
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Keith, I don't usually comment on project posts but I have to say that that is spectacular. Seeing your finished product makes me want to work on one for my kids today.
That turned out beautifully, Keith. Very well done. Your son will love it.
Beautiful!
Keith, thanks for all the great info. and inspiration. I was in the planning stages for the same project when I came across your post.
As I built mine I did a couple of things differently. First, I was interested in building a more traditional tabletop shuffleboard as well as the bounce-back type. I then figured why not do both in one? So I built one on each side of the gameboard (I increased the sides to 1 3/4" width to allow the rollers to work on either side). I used 1/2" ply for the gameboard surface and dadoed it into the sides. I then glued 1/4" ply onto the reverse for the smaller traditional shuffleboard surface. Also, to simplify the tedious sanding process I decided not to notch the end of the playing board where the shooters are propelled. It doesn't appear to make any difference in the actual playing of the game. Also, I didn't cut notches for the dowel posts - but instead used a flat bottom drill bit to drill into the side rails. I glued the center rail in place which eliminated the need for routing the center groove. I also used screws to hold the rubber bands since I had some that seemed to work perfectly and wanted to make sure the posts would hold up to the pressure from the bands since I only used 1/2" ply. The most confusing thing was the angle of the rubberband deflection. After a lot of trial and error, I went with 90' and it works very well. I couldn't get proper deflection @ 110' (even though that is about what it appears to be in the manufacturers pictures).
On the playing surface, I used decal numbers and letters which worked fairly well (very minimal reaction with the game pieces). I also re-configured the point numbering (25, 50, 75, 100) to make it a bit more equitable and graduated the sizes of the point areas to make it more difficult to get the higher point value (each one goes down by 1/2". And using another poster's suggestion, I looked for a way to store the playing pieces. I decided on 1/4" X 1/16" rare-earth magnets. I inlayed the storage area (the area where the pieces go when you over-roll the game pieces) with a piece of a rubber placemat and then drilled 1/4" holes and epoxied the magnets in place. They work beautifully, even when the board is upside down.
Again, thanks for your inspiration - this is an awesome project! (sorry, some of the pics did not go through).