Blue Senet Boxes

Two new Senet boxes.  No dark boarders for the game squares this time, and we used a brayer to apply the paint--really like the fading effect.  The markings and the sun disk on the scarab are copper leaf.

Casting new Tafl Game Pieces

So we decided we wanted a choice of game pieces for our Tafl boards.  For the new set, we're going simple, just a sphere on a base, inspired by some of the simple stone pieces of authentic germanic boards.  It's all one piece, cast in the same mold, but we'll play around with simple color variations.  These four will be used to create a 4-piece master mold.  This picture shows the new ones in front of a few of our larger Tafl pieces.

Blank Tablut Gameboard

It's been over a week since I've cut anything, so I cut and shaped the frame to this 11 x 11 Tablut board that I made about 2 weeks ago.  Here they are, unsanded, unstained, and unglued.   We're also working on a new design for the tafl game pieces.  I found some cool glass globe style tafl game pieces online that I think I'll base a new set on.

Carved Senet and Tjau Game Box Lids

These are some examples of our first Senet and Tjau game boards.  The squares, symbols, and edging are all hand carved.  These take more time and care to create, but are very much worth the effort.

Gluing the Tablut Frame

Finally got around to gluing the frame for the Tablut board.  The frame is only about half an inch thick at its widest, so my corner straps were a little tricky to get in place. 

The individual squares for this board are 1 1/4 inches on a side, and the overall gameboard is just under 12" x 12" with the frame.

Oiling Senet Boxes

Applying Danish oil is something we do to all our boxes and gameboards.  Whether we use dark walnut or natural, it really brings out the grain of the wood.  For most of our game boards, this is the second to last step before we finish them. The last step is typically to apply a water-based polycrylic finish to further protect the wood and any paint or leafing.

Casualties of the Creative Process

When we started building game boxes about a year ago, specifically Senet and Tjau boxes, we went through a lot of designs and experiments to see what we liked.  This unseemly pile is the group of unfinished, some almost finished, boxes and designs.  Most of them we'll be able to complete in the coming days.  Some of them we'll probably quietly put away and use as utility boxes.

Finished Tablut board

Well, mostly finished. The 9x9 gameboard is still drying (applied a coat of danish oil).  Played around with a few different router settings before settling on a border frame that we liked. Once it's dried and glued, we'll probably add a high gloss or semi gloss finish to it.