Let’s see some cribbage boards

[Zac wingert]

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I made a cribbage board board for my father for christmas. Let’s see some of yours, I’m sure I’m not the only one that made one this Christmas. The center is a piece of African mahogany I’ve been saving for this and the frame is mango. It has a 1/4” chamfer on the underside and I used a lot from rockler. The kit was super easy to use, only complaint is the drill bit gets clogged up and if you don’t clean it out pretty much every hole it either gets stuck or causes tear out.

Also, any suggestions? I intended to make a more portable type board as my father takes his to Alaska on backpacking trips. Once the kit arrived I realized it was gonna be way to big for that however it built it. So I only made that open pocket for the pegs. I’d like to make him a smaller one later with card and peg storage, maybe even hinged and folding in half.

I am a greenhorn at woodworking so so I am very happy with the outcome.

[Gary Ragatz]

That's a handsome board, and it looks like you did a very nice job on it!

I can offer a couple of suggestions - as much as a cribbage player as a woodworker:

1) If you want to make a smaller, more portable board, consider a board that has 60 holes per player arranged in two parallel rows of 30 (a game is out-and-back twice) rather than a full 120 holes with curves. All the templates I see at Rockler are for the 120-hole boards, but you could probably adapt one of their templates.

2) You might ask your Dad how often he plays a 3-player game. If it's usually 2-player or 4-player, you can get by with only 2 sets of holes (this wouldn't make much difference with the 120-holes-per-player style board, but with the out-and-back style, the board can be considerably narrower).

3) Wood choice - I made a board for my Mom, using some distinctively grained wood, like the mahogany you used in your board. It was beautiful, and she loved it as a piece of woodworking, but she found it hard to play on because, as she aged it was hard for her to see the holes against the varied colors of the grain. Her favorite board wound up being one that was painted solid white, with extra-large peg holes (not exactly an exciting woodworking project). If your Dad has any issues with his vision, a wood with less variation in the grain might be better.

[Randy Viellenave]

Nice board! For travel, I made a couple different sizes: One size to keep in the car or back pack, and the other for taking on vacation. I haven't come up with a compact design that includes card storage ( I have one I bought), but played a lot of hands on these.

Small travel board:
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This one is about 9.5" long, made to fit inside a water tight container from Home Depot.:
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I have another version on the drawing board now, hopefully will get time to make some more (not that I need them).

[Michael Costa]

I bought the small Rockler 3 person template and have plans to make a cribbage board (or few) soon. I almost bought some acrylic from Lowe's to make my own template but you have to buy the full sheet and it's more expensive than the Rockler template.

Couple questions...

Is the mango tapered down or is that an illusion created by the miter?
Do you have it mounted on a raised base or just sitting on something?

[Zac wingert]

Randy, thanks, I don’t even know how to play and I should probably learn before the next one. How did you make that mortise and Tenon looking peg storage? Was it cut prior to glue up. Also, I see your on Oahu. I grew up in Hawaii kai and moved to Hilo for work six years ago. Good to see another Hawaii person on here once in a while.

Michael, not exactly sure what you mean about a taper. There is a chamfer on the underside and it is on little rubber cutting board feet. I tried to make it look like it’s floating. If the edges are not uniform it is not on purpose and probably happened when sanding.

[Zac wingert]

Gary, thanks. I was trying to find more from my mom before I built it but she didn’t know either. The next one for him, I’ll take your advice and do 60. I think I’d just not have to repeat one of the steps with the template as many times. Could probably get away with a two player pattern as well.

[Ralph Okonieski]

Very nice work. Nice combination of woods!

[Michael Costa]

If you don't know what I mean about a taper its probably just an illusion. It appears as though the the mahogany it's completely flat (horizontal) and the mango has a very slight downward taper. Again, I'm sure the miters are creating this illusion. Or, I've been exposed to too many finishing fumes today.

[Randy Viellenave]

Aloha Zac, I did cut everything before glue up, had to make sure it fit... I knew it would not align perfectly, so I left a little extra, then trimmed it up afterward. Next time I am going to gouge a hole in the bottom and put in a magnetic flap.

As for the template, What I do (until I got the CNC) is make a bunch of spacers - set a board with back and side fence on the drill press, then drill one hole, add a spacer, drill the next. It is a whole bunch of little pieces, but it works fairly well, just keep it clear of sawdust. The larger boards were made that way, and the small one I used a cheap x/y positioner from Amazon (metric) and did some test holes until I figured it out in terms of size and backlash. I buy pegs at cribbagesupply.com. I have a sample drawing in sketchup, if you're interested pm me.

[Tony Pisano]

This is a simple board made from a ceiling joist taken from our 1870's house. The bottom cutout holds the pegs and a deck of cards. The two copper strips put some tension on the sliding cover to keep it closed.

[Zac wingert]

If you don't know what I mean about a taper its probably just an illusion. It appears as though the the mahogany it's completely flat (horizontal) and the mango has a very slight downward taper. Again, I'm sure the miters are creating this illusion. Or, I've been exposed to too many finishing fumes today.

haha yea, no taper then. Everything is intended to be completely flat. Also, I have a horrible 6” bench jointer so maybe it is off. I don’t think my dad will notice.

[Zac wingert]

This is a simple board made from a ceiling joist taken from our 1870's house. The bottom cutout holds the pegs and a deck of cards. The two copper strips put some tension on the sliding cover to keep it closed.

Wow, I now wish I hade something like that for the non travel board. That is a substantial piece. Maybe thank you