Tips for making my own board game - "Camelot"

[AceHarding]

Hey guys! I'm brand new to the forum (and the craft).

I recently decided to delve into the hobby of carving, both hand- and power-carving (I received a Dremel for Christmas). As a board game enthusiast, I'm eager to craft my own wooden sets!

I wanted to start with a classic game, and since we already own a wooden checkerboard/chessboard, I did some research and decided on a game called "Camelot" (other names include "Chivalry" and "Inside Moves"). It has simple components and has a classic feel, while still something new and fun to teach my friends and family.

So I've been laying out my plans for how to tackle this bad boy, but due to my extreme inexperience, I am lacking guidance for certain steps. I knew you folks might be able to give me some expert pointers. (If I need to direct any of these questions to other forums, please let me know.)

Please note, I have done no carving for this project yet besides selecting an ideal basswood board and plenty of blocks of basswood for the pieces.

My questions:

1. Can basswood be stained dark enough for the black pieces? Or should I simply paint them? The game has black and white pieces. Obviously I don't expect a jet black stain, as long they are significantly darker. If so, any favorite flavors?

2. Any tips for weighting the pieces? I worry that basswood will result in lightweight pieces that feel cheap; if there's an attractive fool-proof way to add weight to the bottom or inside, that might help. Details: Per player, the pieces consist of 10 "men" (or pawns) and 4 "knights". I plan to buy 20 pawn-like pieces from a craft store, and carve the 8 knights myself to make them stand out.

3. Checkerboard pattern with stain? For the spaces, I was considering a checkered pattern using a light and dark stain -- is this even worth considering? If you can direct me to a tried-and-true guide regarding sealing/staining, I would appreciate it, as I've found conflicting advice in my own research concerning whether or not to seal and using what methods.

Thank you in advance for your time and sage wisdom. Anything you can offer will be greatly appreciated.

EDIT: After posting this, I clearly need to redirect some of these questions to the staining/finishing sub forum. I would, however, still appreciate any advice on the points that are not specific to stains.

I should add that I plan to use my Dremel plunge router attachment to rout a groove around the outside border of the game, for character.

[Claude]

Welcome to the forum!
1. Yes, it can be stained or painted. Personally, I would use ordinary black acrylic paint (water-based), diluted about 10 parts water to one part paint. If this isn't dark enough, I'd do a second or third coat.

2. If you really want them heavy, the safe way would be to get some tungsten fishing weights from the sporting goods store, drill a hole in the bottom of each piece, insert the weight, seal with 5 minute two-part epoxy. Then cut a piece of felt the same size as the bottom of the piece, and glue on with contact cement. Here's an example: Black Tungsten Beads | Bass Pro Shops

3. Trying to stain small squares without any of the stain bleeding over into adjacent squares is difficult. One way to control the bleeding is to use a wood burner and burn the lines between the squares - doesn't have to be deep, but just enough so the stain doesn't bleed over. Also helps to use a sanding sealer before attempting to stain. Try on a piece of scrap first.

Claude

[AceHarding]

Excellent! Thank you, Claude. I do have a wood burner and had not even thought about using that for the lines. And the fishing weights sound just right.

[Magicman]

Hi Ace
I made a chess board a long time ago. I made a square frame and mounted it to a base. I cut individual squares 1.5" square enough for the entire board. I used Walnut and Maple wood for the two colors and glued each piece inside the frame.
If you measure correctly they should fit exactly.
Larry

[Buffalo Bif]

Hi Ace, welcome to the forum. here's an idea- instead of buying pawns, use 20 blocks of wood- you could carve them over time, as the mood struck you. meantime you'd be playing after carving only the knights.
don't forget to share pics of your knights, too please

[BobBlaney]

Ace,
Welcome to the forum. For a game board take a look at these veneer layups.

He does beautiful inlay work, I have used many on boxes. I think the staining idea, even with woodburning, may get messy. Oil satins have a tendency to creep. Gels are tough to put down because they have to be wiped off.

Good luck on your project and please share some pictures with us.

[Big Barn]

If you have access to a table saw - making the board is fairly easy. What you do is cut 4 strips of a dark & 4 of a light wood to the same width (say 1.5"), this will give you a board 12" wide & at least 15" in length. If a checker or chess board you'll need 4 strips of each (I'd suggest walnut(dark) & maple or sugar pinie(white)). Lay the boards/strips in an alertnating pattern (1 white, 1 dark, 1 white, 1 dark & so on). Glue these alternating boards together & clamp. Now you have a board that's striped - 12" wide & 15" long. After the board dryes, turn it 90 degrees & using the table saw cut eight (10) 1.5" strips from it - this will give you 2 extra incase you want to replace any. Now you should have 8(+2) boards with alternating colored squares. Take these new 8 strips, glue & clamp them together. When dry, check the edges & slightly sand. Add trim or veneer to cover the edge, finish the top with a poly or epoxy clear coat & you should be good to go. Now I did leave out a couple of steps, like sanding & the boards need to be the same thickness (or really close). And be sure you start with the right color of square in the lower right when you final assemble the board. I'd bet if you google'd 'How to make a chess board' you'll find everything you would need in a better format & clearer instructions.

[Robson Valley]

Ace: You can thin out artists' acrylic black and use it as a wash, the wood grain will show through. Don't like it? Paint again/change the dilution.

I might make a checker board some day but it won't be flat. I'd like enough squares to be elevated so there are hills and valleys.

[AceHarding]

Thank you for all the advice, it's more than I could have hoped. The wooden squares idea sounds great, but probably beyond my current abilities as I lack a good saw. However, I've already picked out some other games to make, so these ideas will be applicable.

Buffalo Bif, that's a good idea. It would be more satisfying to have carved all the pieces myself.

Robson -- I completely agree; in fact the last two squares in "Camelot" (the victory squares) are called the "castle" spaces, and I'd considered carving and gluing on some little castle crenelations for those spaces. But I'm not going to overdo it.

[Robson Valley]

If you mark the boundaries of the squares with a good detail knife, the paint/stain shouldn't bleed into adjacent squares (test on scrap). Then you can burnish the cut closed.