A Catan Board
Oct 2023Like my chessboard, a Catan board is difficult because it needs to be dimensionally stable with humidity changes and accidents like spilling stuff on it. Then, it needs machining through a top layer of something pretty into another layer of something pretty.
So I made my board out of 4 layers.
- Cherry veneer - this is the top and it gets cut through for the piece spots
- Mahogany veneer - handmade by slicing mahogany to .2" thickness. 4-5 slices of about 6" cover the board.
- Plywood - 1/4" random plywood to have a dimensionally stable base
- Cherry veneer - for a pretty bottom
In addition, there's a border made out of rosewood or wenge.
1. Glue the cherry veneer to the 'bottom' of the plywood and let it dry. I used Titebond Genuine Hide Glue.
2. Glue mahogany boards to the top of the plywood to form a pretty and solid layer.
3. Glue another cherry veneer sheet on top of the mahogany boards. More hide glue.
3. Use the CNC to cut the holes for the playing pieces, removing the cherry veneer and exposing the mahogany underlayer. Also make a rim around the board to have glue surface for the edge bands.
5. Cut the edge bands and glue them to the sides of the hex. This uses my trusty miter saw along with epoxy glue.
After sanding it down to 240 grit I finished it with one coat of tung oil for color then multiple coats of polyurethane for water and general protection.
