Crokinole Boards

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I had never heard of Crokinole when a client asked if I could make a board.for their family. I did some research and asked question, then got down to business. The board and base are Russian birch plywood. The outside frame is bent maple. The 26” diameter playing surface has multiple layers of polyurethane that is buffed and waxed to a slick, glass-like finish. I used steel shelf pegs for the bumpers. Once others saw what I was making other orders came in. The most difficult part was the bent maple frame. Many board builders make an octagonal base and use a mitered frame. I just wanted to try something new!

>>The most difficult part was the bent maple frame.<<

Try laminating 2 or 3 strips together with the seams offset from each other. You may need a helper for assembly.

Losing fingers since 1969

The frame is two strips of 1/8” maple. I pre-bent them on a 30” form. The first ring was glued and tacked around the base. Rather than an exact fit, I drew from my knowledge of corking a clarinet tenon and tapered the starting end and overlapped the trailing end, then sanded it to the correct thickness with a disc sander. The second ring was done the same way with no tacks. I used a lot of spring clamps and small, slotted scrap pieces to get a good lamination.

As always – THANK YOU for any feedback. I love learning from people who have done this a lot longer than me. Great community!

There’s more than one way to skin a cat! ?

But for brainstorming, I would butt joint the rings, but set the seams offset (like rings on a piston)the butts won’t matter because they’re glued to the other ring. ?

Losing fingers since 1969