Hi everyone! I finished another board game (Scrabble previously) - this time a personalized backgammon board for a Christmas present.
I used 6 different woods in the board, and another 2 for the checkers. I have a newfound appreciation for the trickiness of doing inlays (especially with a variety of woods), but overall I’m very happy with the result.
The main board and walls are made from Cherry. Triangles are made from Curly Maple and Wenge.
The exterior of the board features the owner’s initials engraved on one side, and a floral design comprised of engravings and a variety of wood inlays.
The flower petals are inlaid Purpleheart, Yellowheart, and Bloodwood, and the butterfly is Curly Maple.
I filled the engraved sections (text, and the flower stems and leaves) with a clear epoxy resin and sanded it smooth. In order to minimize the mess I used a toothpick and slowly dripped the resin into the engravings.
Inlaid wood not merely tricky to craft, but such boards age and respond to moisture differently-- sometimes offering up unexpected bulges and cracks. But I still love the look—just part of a kind of ‘living’ art and craft. As a backgammon fan will only add that the “triangles” are called points, and the “checkers” are called pips. May I recommend a doubling cube to complete the set? Beautiful work!
Very nice. Reminds me of being in the barracks in Germany, a bottle of Riesling, Gouda cheese roll, and playing backgammon, while watching AFRTS IN BLACK AND WHITE, with the sound off and Jerry Jeff Walker and all the other country greats PLUS Jimmy Buffet blaring on the stereo. Good times.
