Member
Hello Keith-I'm back-I was only curiious about the angle. From my old pool
husling days, I expected 45s from the back center--something like the angle of inflection = angle of deflection-i.e if the puck travels parallel to
the right edge, and inboard ,say 4 ", then theoretically it will return "close"
to 4" inboard from and parallel to the left edge,. Less friction ,less moon
phase etc. I'll try the 110 if thats best though---
LeeB--
Think outside the box,
the light's much brighter.
[OP]
Member
Originally Posted by Leland Berry
Uhhhhh.........what?
I think I'm going to stick with the 110 degree angle. That way I don't have to cut into a whole new sheet of ply.
Thanks, Leland.
- Keith
"Listen, here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker. "
Member
Great project. Thanks for all the photos. It is nice to see kids playing with something other than video games.
[OP]
Member
Great project. Thanks for all the photos. It is nice to see kids playing with something other than video games.
That's exactly my motivation, Norman. Thanks!
"Listen, here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker. "
[OP]
Member
Update: Saturday, November 17
---------------------
Before I talk about what I did today, I want to talk about a decision I made early this morning regarding the angle of deflection at the end of the board. I laid out this angle at what turned out to be 110 degrees. This was a result of what I thought "looked good", and not necessarily any thought toward a puck coming off the rubber band correctly. There was a question as to whether that angle was going to be too much, giving an undesirable bounce. Well, this morning, I grabbed a scrap piece of ply and laid out a 90 degree angle. After looking at this scrap on the board, comparing it the "inspiration picture", and imagining how the puck would come off at that angle, I made the executive decision to keep my original 110 degrees. Hopefully that won't bite me in the butt later.
So today, I decided that I was going to try and tackle something new to me, that being inlaying. I've watched a bunch of online videos and read a lot more threads on this subject, and since these were only going to be straight lines, figured that I could do it. I needed to layout and cut a total of five grooves; one for a "Foul" line, and four scoring cells. I was kinda fired-up to put into use a far underused tool, which was my Dremel. I cranked down a spiral straight bit, clamped down a straight edge, and went to town...
It went really smoothly at first. Then my concentration slipped for only a second, and I let the Dremel come away from the edge for a split second.It wasn't a HUGE deal, but was going to cause me to make the inlayed walnut line 1/16th wider than I planned it. Oh well. The process of plowing out all five grooves took about 20 minutes, only because I was trying to be as careful as possible. In the end, it looked like this...
At this point, I got to "milling" the inlay material. To match the trim, I used scraps of walnut. It was a little tricky, and it didn't take me long at ALL to make sure LOML knew that a perfect stocking stuffer for me this year would be a good set of exacto knives. I did my best with the knives I had, and even managed not to slice into a major vein in my hand.
I managed to keep the number of times that I got over-zealous with the downward pressure, thereby slightly gouging the plywood, to one! BONUS!
After cleaning up all of the inlays, I gave the playing surface a sanding, taking it through 120, 150, 180, and 220 on the ROS. The sanding process, and subsequent pressurized air I used to clean it off, showed me that I still have a lot to learn as far as inlaying, but overall...I'm OK with the way it looks.
I am going to stain the game surface with a light colored stain, and then apply several coats of poly. For the walnut trim, however, I would like to use BLO. I love the way it brings out the richness in the wood. At this point, I'd like to get opinions as to final assembly and finishing. I'm definitely going to stain the plywood before I attach all of the walnut trim, but should I also apply the BLO previous to assembly, too? I'm concerned with messing up one or the other if I wait until after final assembly to finish it all. I'd really appreciate any comments or opinions.
Thanks for looking!!
- Keith
"Listen, here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker. "
Member
Just a Suggestion
Keith,Update: Saturday, November 17
---------------------
Before I talk about what I did today, I want to talk about a decision I made early this morning regarding the angle of deflection at the end of the board. I laid out this angle at what turned out to be 110 degrees. This was a result of what I thought "looked good", and not necessarily any thought toward a puck coming off the rubber band correctly. There was a question as to whether that angle was going to be too much, giving an undesirable bounce. Well, this morning, I grabbed a scrap piece of ply and laid out a 90 degree angle. After looking at this scrap on the board, comparing it the "inspiration picture", and imagining how the puck would come off at that angle, I made the executive decision to keep my original 110 degrees. Hopefully that won't bite me in the butt later.
So today, I decided that I was going to try and tackle something new to me, that being inlaying. I've watched a bunch of online videos and read a lot more threads on this subject, and since these were only going to be straight lines, figured that I could do it. I needed to layout and cut a total of five grooves; one for a "Foul" line, and four scoring cells. I was kinda fired-up to put into use a far underused tool, which was my Dremel. I cranked down a spiral straight bit, clamped down a straight edge, and went to town...
It went really smoothly at first. Then my concentration slipped for only a second, and I let the Dremel come away from the edge for a split second.
At this point, I got to "milling" the inlay material. To match the trim, I used scraps of walnut. It was a little tricky, and it didn't take me long at ALL to make sure LOML knew that a perfect stocking stuffer for me this year would be a good set of exacto knives. I did my best with the knives I had, and even managed not to slice into a major vein in my hand.
I managed to keep the number of times that I got over-zealous with the downward pressure, thereby slightly gouging the plywood, to one! BONUS!
After cleaning up all of the inlays, I gave the playing surface a sanding, taking it through 120, 150, 180, and 220 on the ROS. The sanding process, and subsequent pressurized air I used to clean it off, showed me that I still have a lot to learn as far as inlaying, but overall...I'm OK with the way it looks.
I am going to stain the game surface with a light colored stain, and then apply several coats of poly. For the walnut trim, however, I would like to use BLO. I love the way it brings out the richness in the wood. At this point, I'd like to get opinions as to final assembly and finishing. I'm definitely going to stain the plywood before I attach all of the walnut trim, but should I also apply the BLO previous to assembly, too? I'm concerned with messing up one or the other if I wait until after final assembly to finish it all. I'd really appreciate any comments or opinions.
Thanks for looking!!
- Keith
I am no pro by any stretch of the imagination, but in the third picture where you are trimming down the walnut inlay, flip the chisel over and use the back of the bevel to help control the depth of cut. Think that you will find that it gives you much greater control, also a gentle hand with a card scraper can come in very handy for this type of work. Project is looking good and your son should get many hours of enjoyment.
Heather
[OP]
Member
Thanks for the suggestion, Heather. I am still getting to know how to effectively use a chisel, so any tips are appreciated! I will try that on the next board I do.Keith,
I am no pro by any stretch of the imagination, but in the third picture where you are trimming down the walnut inlay, flip the chisel over and use the back of the bevel to help control the depth of cut. Think that you will find that it gives you much greater control, also a gentle hand with a card scraper can come in very handy for this type of work. Project is looking good and your son should get many hours of enjoyment.
Heather
- Keith
"Listen, here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker. "
[OP]
Member
Update: Wednesday, November 28, 2007
A few family obligations, along with traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday, kept me away from this project longer than I wanted to be, but I'm back at it now. At this point, I'm ready to get all of the trim pieces glued up, and head into final sanding. I quickly realized that I am in desperate need of longer clamps.Being that the board is 48" long, and the longest clamps I have are 36", I had to use some CCP.....Creative Clamping Practices.
After letting it sit overnight, I unclamped it, slapped a 1/4" roundover bit in my laminate trimmer, and rounded over all sharp edges...
...
At this point, I went through four stages of sanding, to a final 220 grit. Some of the more cramped areas needed some hand sanding, which led me to realize that I had somehow let myself run out of sheets of 150 and 180 grit paper.5-hole disks don't necessarily fold in half that well. DAMHIKT. This is the state that the board currently sits in...
The only steps I have left to do are to purchase and install some maple doweling for the rubber band posts, then apply the finish. Based on the input of some well-informed woodworker friends, I've decided to go with Behlens Rock Hard varnish. While the pucks aren't going to be able to do a ton of damage to the surface and sides of the board, this will be primarily used by kids, so I want it to be durable. I haven't yet decided whether I'm going to apply a coat of BLO before the Rock Hard.
A few notes before I wrap it up for the day. I'll be making another one of these boards before Christmas, which is going to allow me to apply a few lessons learned, and for those of you that mentioned you might like to make one, they could help you, too. First, I will sand the interior face of all trim before I glue it to the board. Not that hand sanding was difficult by any means, but running the ROS over the walnut will certainly cut down on sanding time, which is not my favorite part anyway.Next, I will apply the green felt to the hardboard before I glue the hardboard down. I think this will give the gutter a cleaner look than having to apply an over-sized piece and trimming away the extra.
The one thing that I am probably NOT going to be able to do is inlay the text, indicating the "Foul" line, and the four scoring levels. At this point, I think I need to get the Rock Hard on the board to give it a proper curing time in order to buff it out to a gloss finish. I'm bummed about this, but one learning step at a time, I suppose.
Thanks for looking!!!
- Keith
"Listen, here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker. "
Member
Ok, BUMP for update!
One good turn deserves another
Member
Keith,
I do a great deal of patent research as a "hobby" and was able to pull up the patent information for a similar, if not the same, tabletop game. The drawings and specifications are readily available on Google's Patent Search:
http://www.google.com/patents?id=sCw...eboard#PPP1,M1
You're well into the construction, but it does give information on the dimensions and angles.
Regards,
Dan
The heft and feel of a well-worn handle,
The sight of shavings that curl from the blade;
The logs in the woodpile, the sentiment of huge beams in an old fashioned house;
The smell of fresh cut timber and the pungent fragrance of burning leaves;
The crackle of kindling and the hiss of burning logs.
Abundant to all the needs of man, how poor the world would be
Without wood.
-- Everard Jean Hinrichs
Member
Great project...make this next for your son, Nok Hockey! Played this for hours as a kid, of course that was looooong before video games. Everyone had them, and they were often "homemade":
http://www.amazon.com/Back-to-Basics...7814860&sr=1-1
[OP]
Member
Yeah.....it has been a while since I've given an update. This doesn't mean that no work has been done. In fact, since my last post, I've actually started and completed a second board! The difference with this board, however, is that it actually works.
Dan, thanks very much for the link to the patent info. Extremely interesting, albeit a little late.
More to come. Thanks for your interest!!!
- Keith
"Listen, here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker. "
Member
Hey Keith what angle did you finally settle on over the 110?
One good turn deserves another
[OP]
Member
Straight-up 90 degrees. I put together a scaled-down mock-up using this angle, and the pucks bounced clean and true. Sure wish I woulda done that in the first place.
- Keith
"Listen, here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker. "
Member
Very nice- that's on my to do list. How'd the pucks work out? They sounded rather small, but the next larger size that I could find (2"?) sound too big.
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