Cribbage Boards

[kartracer63]

Thought I'd share with you some cribbage boards I made for a local realty company.

I went into the realty office with the idea that they should give all of their new cabin and lake home buyers one of my "Custom Carved Signs" as a house warming gift. It took me all of about 90 seconds to sell them on that idea.

Then somehow we got on the subject of cribbage boards, and that I could make them, and the owner's eyes just lit up. His voice even got all crackly when he asked me to repeat that I could make cribbage boards with their company logo carved into the cribbage board. Apparently there was another local guy that used to make them. But, he's no longer making them and the realty company really liked giving them out to local groups and fund raisers as door prizes and such.

Anyways... they ordered 25 cribbage boards.

The bank across the street from the realty company will be ordering 10 or more of the same type of board. The lumber yard is very interested in ordering some as well.

[kartracer63]

Here are a couple photos showing the bottom of the cribbage boards.

Thanks to Scott Worden for sharing the peg storage design.

Everything that I'm making now gets branded with my new branding iron.

I cut the keyhole so they can hang their board on the wall if they choose.

Not shown in these photos, every board will get 4 little felt pads stuck on too.

[myxpykalix]

This is the kind of story we like to hear. It must mean at least in your area the real estate market must be doing ok (based on that stack of boards you had finished) Good for you!

[CNYDWW]

This is just the kind of work i think we all like to see. Custom production like this pays a lot of bills. Very nice work.

[srwtlc]

Very nice Eric!

I'm starting to think that you live a little to close to me! ;)

Just kiddin', keep up the good work!

[don62]

Eric,

beautiful work - what wood did you use for the project and how did you finish (sand etc) the edges? all my attemps at cutting curves on wood have created a difficult edge to sand. don

[Acmeaviator]

I don't know how Eric is finishing his pieces...but for me the second best piece of equipment in my shop after the Bot is my Jet oscillating sander. Could'nt live without it.

[dlcw]

Brian,

I think the next piece of equipment you will find you can't live without is a wide-belt drum sander (aka Jet) for prepping stock for the CNC. I use my Performax ALOT more since I got my CNC. Makes for flattening figured and non-figured wood to exact thicknesses a breeze. No chip out like you get with a planer.

[dlcw]

Don - I picked up an inexpensive Rigid oscillating sander with the flat sanding capabilities. I use it a lot after pulling things off the CNC to smooth the edges. I find that even with a brand new bit, I still get rough edges that need to be smoothed.

I got the:
RIDGID Oscillating Edge/Belt Spindle Sander

from the orange store.

[kartracer63]

Thanks guys!

Don G.,

These are mostly hard maple. I also made a few using black ash.

I cut the boards out using a 1/4" downcut spiral bit. I cut down .2" per pass at a feed rate of 1"/sec at 19,000 rpm. I had acceptable results with those numbers. Although, according to Don Thomson, by the amount of screaching I was hearing from my bit, my feed rate might be a bit slow and my rpms on the router might have been a little high.

I don't have a fancy drum sander like those big dollar shops. So, I just chucked up a little sanding drum in the drill press to do the initial sanding of the edges. I finished up the sanding with my orbital palm sander.

I sprayed on minwax polyurethane with my hvlp spray gun ($12.99 @ harbor freight) straight out of the can (no thinning). This was the first time attempting this method of finishing. I was very pleased how well it went and how nice the boards look.

[Gary Campbell]

Eric...
Put some scrap on the table and try this: 1/4 Dn spiral, 10,5000-12K rpm .25 +/- per pass and 2 ips. That should get you some chips, reduce the scream and let your bit live a lot longer.

[srwtlc]

I built one of these 10+ years ago from some plans in ShopNotes magazine.

http://plansnow.com/dn3079c.html

The thing has logged a million miles and works great for sanding edges and any radius that's 2.5" and over. Uses a 6" x 89" belt.

Also picked up a MasterForce Oscillating Spindle Sander from Menards and was pleasantly surprised that it's really pretty decent for $199.

[don62]

Eric,
thanks for the details - made wooden round solitaire marble games a while back and sanding the edges (cross grain would create fibers) was such a pain and time consumer that i switched to square shape. your stack of boards show no signs of heavy or uneven sanding - nice work

adding to other comments - my wide belt sander (performax 16/32) and bandsaw are probably tied for the tools i could not live without. nothing goes for engraving on the bot before it goes through the surface sander. also have a ryobi spindle sander that is great.

[chiloquinruss]

I bought one of the 30 inch drum sander kits from Stockroom Supply and I just love it. I used thier plans on the Bot and made my own box. The unit works terrific and the dust collection is remarkable.

http://www.stockroomsupply.ca/shop/media/catalog/category/file_28.jpg

http://www.stockroomsupply.ca/shop/drum-sanders.html?SID=c69a395cad239db8bc258eddbc2cbaf9&cat=40


Russ

[Greencarvings]

I just purchased the Delta 18/36 drum sander. Any tips? What grit do you keep/use most often in the sander?

[kurt_rose]

Hey Eric! Beautiful work. Where are you buying the metal pegs from? I have a 38" Wood Master. Great machine. I use the Klingspor 80 grit for flattening and it lasts a surprisingly long time. After that my festool ROS makes quick work with the rest of the grits. It's expensive for a ROS but the dust collection is second to none.

[kartracer63]

Thanks for the compliments guys!

This is where I buy my pegs: http://www.petespegs.com/

[michael_schwartz]

I like the sales tactics. Sounds like you have a gift for selling people on an idea.

I have one of the rigid sanders as well and its a decent oscillating spindle sander. The oscillating edge/belt sander attachment is interesting but its a bit odd. I would plan to get a disc sander go to along with it as small parts tend to catch on the belt without a stop.

I have an old Powermatic 30 belt disc sander out being restored at the moment, but when I get it back I will primarily leave the ridged setup as a spindle sander.

[kartracer63]

The finish on the cribbage boards is complete and I delivered the boards to a very happy customer today.

[butch]

Eric
First I want to tell you thank you for posting the sign process. I was making some, but greatly improved the quality and time learning from your posting.

I build a couple hundred crib boards a year. Fun project and people seem to really like them.

Like Gary pointed out, you may be running your bit to fast - I run my 1/4 down spiral 2 flute end mill bits between 10,000 and 12,000 RPM on most woods, but especially maple and oak. I cut at speeds between 2 ips to 3 ips on most projects. Once in awhile I will slow it down, but if I am worried about accuracy, I cut back on the overlap rather than speed.

Also I quit using felt feet, as the boards slide around. I started using a non-skid rubber pad by Sheppard. You can research 9974 - Sheppard Hardware to find where they are sold. I buy mine from Ron's Home and Hardware, as I can get them about half the price I can find other places. Also I have found them on Amazon.com, but not as inexpensive. I get my metal pegs from Lee Valley Tools. If I buy 100 or more at a time, the price is around 60 cents each and they are nice looking pegs. They carry brass, aluminum and black so I can do 3 player boards. I just need to find the red pegs so I can start building cutthroat boards.

I also put a keyhole in the back. I sold a couple of them to a guy working in Japan and he gave them to a Japanese couple (elderly) he stayed with. They decided they didn't want to learn crib, but wanted to hang them. So I started putting the keyhole in them. People do like them. I also carve my logo in the back and have gotten good comments about that.

Nice work.

[kartracer63]

Here are a couple more cribbage boards I carved lately. I've got a lot of interest in these and have a couple more big orders in the works.

[curtiss]

What do you drill all the holes with (size ?) ... and how long does it take to make one ???

[kartracer63]

Here are a few cribbage boards that got shipped out today.

[jimboy]

Eric that is some awesome work and the salesmanship isn’t bad either.
Jim

[kartracer63]

Here's another cribbage board getting shipped out today.

[NeathawkSigns]

I was on here looking for ideas on what wood to use to make one of these for my mother and her bf for xmas and so glad I found this! Thank you for sharing.
Lindsay

[kartracer63]

Hi Lindsay,

Most of the cribbage boards I've been making lately are all Brown Maple. Although, the last trip to the saw mill, I picked out some sappy Cherry to try. I'm sure I'll post some photos when I get around to carving something in the Cherry.

[kartracer63]

Here's a couple more cribbage board orders that got shipped out today.

[kartracer63]

Here's another cribbage board just shipped out.

I've got a bunch ordered for Christmas gifts too.

[NeathawkSigns]

Hello,
I was making a board for a quick christmas present, and wasn't sure how big to make the holes. Any suggestions would be great! Thanks.
Lindsay

[ssflyer]

I use my 1/8" tapered ballnose - the taper makes for a nice fit. Of course there are various peg sizes, so this would vary...

[kartracer63]

Ron is right... you can use your 1/8" tapered ball nose bit. This is what I used to drill many peg holes.

However, I've recently switched to a 1/8" upcut spiral from Centurion Tools http://www.centuriontools.com/router_bits_toolcase/centurion_tools_showcase.html?page=full&cart=132460223943756485&__max=6&--eqskudatarq=18US2.6252RES14&id1=374&id2=538&id3=539

I'm using a PC router and spinning this bit at 10,000 rpm. Awesome bit!

[ssflyer]

Eric,

Thanks - that a lot cheaper than my tapered ballnose, too!

[butch]

I use a 1/8" ball bit or a 1/8"End Mill if I don't do a carving in the center.

[kartracer63]

Here are a few more completed cribbage boards.

[kartracer63]

Here are a few more cribbage boards shipped out.

[kartracer63]

Here's a '57 Chevy Nomad cribbage board shipped out recently.

[myxpykalix]

I had a 55 Nomad Wagon as a teenager, one of the cooler cars i had. Eric I had no idea so many people play cribbage, you must be making a decent living between cribbage boards and signs:D good for you!

[kartracer63]

I made these cribbage boards for company to give out to their top five dealers here in the U.S.

He liked the design so much, he ordered one for himself as well.

[David Iannone]

Great Work Eric. I really like seeing pictures of your work. Nice projects, it gives me inspiration to get carving again.

[kartracer63]

This one was made for a friend. As a Sons of Anarchy fan myself, I was more than happy to make this for him.

[MogulTx]

I don't watch the show, but the art on this is pretty starkly excellent. I bet he was stoked when he/she got that! Good work, Eric.


Monty

[stump]

Wow. looks great!

Where did you get the graphic?

[dstacey]

Great work Eric!
I just noticed the clamps you show in your earlier post, are those cam clamps and did you build them? Show me some additional detail on them?
Thanks for sharing,
Dave

[kartracer63]

Miles, I made the vector from a jpeg.

Dave, I bought my camclamps from David Bushsbaum's Sandbox. They are awesome and I'd highly recommend them. You can find them here (http://welcometothesandbox.com/purchase.htm).

[dstacey]

Thanks Eric!

[Towersonline]

Eric, How did you do the conversion from JPG to vector? I have tried several solutions. However, the vectors are not readable in V-Carve Pro.

Bill Thorpe

[kartracer63]

Bill,

I didn't say "I did it in V-Carve Pro", and I didn't say "it would be easy".

I believe I converted this one in CorelDraw. But, I don't see any reason you couldn't do it V-Carve Pro. I've converted several bitmaps to vectors using V-Carve Pro. Although, most of them were much less complicated than this one.

[myxpykalix]

Bill you might try using inkscape for jpeg to vector conversion.
www.inkscape.org

[curtiss]

Eric, How did you create the hole pattern for the board?? It is really quite complex.

[Bob Eustace]

Eric, How did you do the conversion from JPG to vector? I have tried several solutions. However, the vectors are not readable in V-Carve Pro.

Bill Thorpe

Bill V-carve does it easy with PRACTICE! Have a peek at this brilliant tutorial.

http://www.vectric.org/video/aspire3_5/tips_and_tricks/4_vector_text_editing/4_vector_text_editing.wmv

Bob

[backyard_cnc]

I want to try my hand at making a crib board and learning to play the game. I wonder about how deep I should drill the holes assuming I go with standard 1/8" pins?

appreciate any guidance

Gerald

[kartracer63]

Gerald,

I drill my holes (for the 1/8" pegs) .4" deep.

[backyard_cnc]

thanks so much for sharing that Eric. I wonder how thick is the stock you are using for the very nice boards you do? Also was the design detail for the peg storage area posted on the forum somewhere?

gerald

[kartracer63]

Gerald,

My cribbage board thickness is usually in the range of .8 to .95".

The peg storage design details were never posted. I credited Scott Worden with the inspiration for my peg storage design.

[backyard_cnc]

thanks Eric, got enough info to try a design and the storage should be easy enough to work up from stratch in ARTCAM EXPRESS. I'll post a picture once I get something cut. Checked out the local leevalley tool store for source of pegs today and they have a variety in stock.

gerald

[kartracer63]

Gerald,

You could also get pegs here (http://www.petespegs.com/standardpegs.htm). Free shipping too.

[backyard_cnc]

yes I did check out Petes site but we have a leevalley tools here in my city so I can get them over the counter with no wait time and likely buy other stuff while I am there:). Maybe if I was churning them out like you do Petes would be a better way to go.

gerald

[genek]

Did you cut them out of one board or did you do a glue up.
Nice job. Wish i could do things like that.

[kartracer63]

Eugene,

They're cut from a board wide enough to fit the cribbage board without any gluing.

[pappybaynes]

Ron is right... you can use your 1/8" tapered ball nose bit. This is what I used to drill many peg holes.

However, I've recently switched to a 1/8" upcut spiral from Centurion Tools http://www.centuriontools.com/router_bits_toolcase/centurion_tools_showcase.html?page=full&cart=132460223943756485&__max=6&--eqskudatarq=18US2.6252RES14&id1=374&id2=538&id3=539

I'm using a PC router and spinning this bit at 10,000 rpm. Awesome bit!

Erick, what is your feed / plunge rate for the holes? Thanks!!
Dick

[butch]

I want to try my hand at making a crib board and learning to play the game. I wonder about how deep I should drill the holes assuming I go with standard 1/8" pins?

appreciate any guidance

Gerald

I usually drill .22" deep. I like the pegs to bottom out so they have less chance of sticking. I use metal pegs from Lee Valley Hardware or the wood pegs from them, depending on the board I am making. I use either a 1/8" end mill from Centurion or a 1/8" ball nose from Centurion if I am making a carving on the front of the board. Usually my boards are between .8 and .85 thick and 11" Diameter. I like to leave them a little thick so I don't accidentally drill through to the pocket I make for a peg drawer, which is .4" deep. I also cut a keyhole .35 deep, so that is another reason I like to only drill the peg holes .22 deep. I use to go .35 on the peg holes but I found the pegs would stick as I played and if the boards ended up too close to .75 I would drill through in spots.
Realize I make a bit different cribbage board than most people, so I may be quite different than others. But I found a good market for them and sell them across the USA, Canada, Japan and some to England so far.
Go to www.cribbage.org (http://www.cribbage.org) for the official rules on crib. Its a great game and I have people that buy my mini crib boards to haul around to cafes and such and play. So, as I learned there are lots of people hooked or know someone hooked on cribbage.
http://wildwood-manufacturing.com/photo_gallery/Cribbage/slides/BFriend%20display.html
you can see my boards on my web "http://wildwood-manufacturing.com/" in the photo gallery. Hope this helps.

[pappybaynes]

Thanks Butch - what is your plunge rate when drilling the holes???

[butch]

Thanks Butch - what is your plunge rate when drilling the holes???
I stay with the recommended speed of 1/2" per second. That is what was recommended when I first started and I guess it always worked so I never changed. Now my speed in X and Y I adjust by the type of wood and such but Z I have never changed. That also helped me pick a shallower drill than I first started with. Changing from .4 and then .35 to .2" seemed to cut my time by about 5 min or so a board. I did a few other things like cutting the clearance to .0625 and making certain the bit only does one clearing drill (so it only goes in and out of each hole twice). That some other adjustments have now cut my time by over 10 minutes a board from two years ago. Makes a lot of difference when you are doing 15 or 20 at a time.

[pappybaynes]

Thanks again Butch! Does the drill operation actually drill the hole twice or do I have to run that operation twice??

[kartracer63]

Dick,

I drill in one shot "full depth" @ ½"/second with Centurian's 1/8" upcut end mill.

[butch]

Thanks again Butch! Does the drill operation actually drill the hole twice or do I have to run that operation twice??
I set the Cut depth to .22
the Peck depth to .125
the retract gap to .0625
I also use down spiral bits to prevent pulling the boards up as I cut, as I do not have a vacuum table, and I am drilling either maple or oak. So my concern was trying to stop burning up bits. By doing this, I drill a 1/8" hole, 1/8" deep, then retract .0625 to clear the hole of waste, then it returns and finishes the hole to .2 or even .25". If you are using pine or other soft wood you probably can just cut right to the bottom, just watch to assure the waste sawdust is not being burnt.
I run these bits at 10,000 RPM and once I started doing the above I haven't burnt a bit - well not often anyway. And usually if I see burnt chips it because I have hit a hard knot or fault in the board.
Hope this helps, and now you must post your progress!
Actually I jumped in on Eric - sorry Eric, wasn't trying to steal your post. Thanks for all the information you provide it has helped a great deal. Like your crib boards. Also really like your signs and your explanations have helped me not only in signs, but dealing with outdoor carvings. I have almost quit using paint and go with ink now on V-carvings.

[butch]

I just was reading some back messages - I know almost a year old! - You said you were going to use felt feet. I found they slide all over the place. I use a rubber foot. I found these non-skid rubber feet in a hardware store but they quit supplying them.. So I found them at Ron's Home and Hardware. 9974-Sheppard Hardware non-skid feet. They are about the same price as felt but don't slide around.
How do you like that peg storage? I need to do something like that for cribbage boards shapped like states and such.

[kartracer63]

Butch,

Thanks for the info on the rubber pads.

The peg storage is a lot of extra work. But, it's a unique way to do the compartment. It adds about 20 minutes to each cribbage board.

[NeathawkSigns]

Hi - I hope you don't mind - I used your design to make a sample cribbage board for a potential customer. I'm a contractor looking at a really large job for an assisted living facility. I'm going to offer to make boards for all of their residents if I get the job - which is basically a complete rehab of the entire exterior of the very large building. I'll post a picture later!

By the way - I saw that someone asked how to place the holes. I used the "Copy Object Along Vectors" function in aspire. I think it took me all of 20 minutes to design the whole thing.

Thanks!
Ryan

[NeathawkSigns]

The cribbage board I made scored me a meeting with the person in charge of of purchasing furniture and signs for a company that runs several assisted living facilities! Thanks again! I will get around to posting pictures soon!

Ryan

[kartracer63]

That's great Ryan!