Awesome! The basic set I donated to my office xmas charities fundraiser ended up raising $265 CDN which I was quite happy with, the wood only cost about $30. So onto making a few more to auction off over the next little while. I found a more local wood supplier and while no yellowheart he did have yellow cypress. I’ll have the order this weekend and I’ll post if it’s a viable alternative to yellowheart.
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The inset approach like on the gold is my favorite. Well done! I think this approach would make some of the different resource types read better in colour over a whole map, like the wood/forest.
Also if one has an interlocking outer frame the interlocking hexes wouldn’t really be necessary—they could just abut like in the cardboard version.
Part of the reason to make them interlocking was to avoid the dreaded table shake. These are just about tight enough to pick up one piece and let the rest of them hang from it. But they are just loose enough that they can be put together and taken apart easily enough.
I considered the flat edges, like the original game, but ultimately decided the interlocking was nicer looking and a good feature for my “delux” edition.
NOTE for those who are making the GF provided Catan Board, the interlocking pieces from the PDF are just a smidge too tight and caused the board to buckle. BUT it was only evident after you put together the Basic + Extended. If you are making ONLY the basic, you should be fine, if you are adding the extended, you might want to consider loosening up the tolerances just a hair. TINY changes make a big difference as you make the board larger.
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This is absolutely stunning! Awesome use of different wood in the case.
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Awesome. Are teh files posted somehewere for public consumption?
There are also laser cut designs on Thingverse.
Which files are you looking for? The main Basic Catan Resources are available already from Glowforge.
They aren’t very easy to find though.
I think it’s here: https://glowforge.com/laser-cut-catan-board
Some folks have added to those with tiles, borders, number chips, etc. on thingiverse.
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Oh. Yah. I wonder why it’s not in the catalog?
I think they are still trying to get the proper credentials from the makers of the Catan Game so that they can provide it with the same privileges as everything else in the catalog.
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Plus it needs some work for the catalog with instructions and Proofgrade recommendations. Maybe they want more Proofgrade hardwood choices first.
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I would greatly encourage that. You need ideally 6 different colored woods for the resources + Desert (Lumber, Brick, Sheep, Wheat, Ore, Desert). I would almost say 7 colors so you can do something different with the number and Harbor pieces.
But then again, just more wood variety in Proofgrade would be awesome
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Thanks for those insights from your production.
However, I have a 3rd edition Catan with a plexi interlocking outer frame and we have no problem with table shake causing problems. Though, perhaps our game seismics are much tamer 
I was thinking of similarly designing one without hex interlinks in wood and plexi but engraving slightly recessed edge areas for the roads and cities/settlements to set into.
But anyhoo… beautiful job. The storage box really moved it over the edge in awesomeness.
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I haven’t been exposed to Catan, but this is truly a spectacular gift and shows a wealth of care and planning. Bravo!
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We started playing before it was in English. Mild “seismic” events can wreck havoc on your fragile world.
We found something out the hard way between the English and German versions. It isn’t just the languages that are different, the cards are different sizes too. We bought an expansion in English and couldn’t use it easily with our current base set. So my brother got a Catan expansion for Christmas and we bought the German version for ourselves.
Personally, I like the German one. It gives it a more exotic feel when you are showing it to someone who hasn’t played before. Hehe
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As a reminder, the Glowforge catalog is far from the only place to find9or place) laser cutter files.
Did you paint the maple for the sea pieces before or after you cut them out. The whole thing looks fantastic.
When you say the tiles are available from glow forge where are they and are you talking about the plain hexagon coasters?