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Newsgroups: rec.games.go
Subject: Re: more thoughts on building gobans...
From: crich@filenet.com (Charles Rich)
Date: 23 Apr 2002 13:46:55 -0700

Tad, Hans and others' recent posts about making go-bans have been
timely for me.  I have just started making some boards for my
children's school out of 1" MDF (medium density fiberboard) and have
some thoughts for a nicer board to come later.

I began with a 13x13 size board just to experiment with materials and
also figure out a good way to draw the lines.  I intended to simulated
a medium contrast, straight woodgrain before making the lines so I
began by sanding the already smooth MDF with 400 grit sandpaper to
remove its water resistant surface and then dyed it a vivid yellow
using water based dye.  Sanding off the surface is necessary because
the dye goes on very blotchy otherwise, after sanding it the dye goes
on evenly and penetrates nicely.

After that dried, I sealed it with lacquer intending to follow up with
a brown lacquer coat which I would streak through while wet with a
notched graining tool.  Normally, this technique results in a pretty
realistic faux woodgrain finish but I found that after applying the
sealing lacquer, the bright yellow dropped down to a deeply muted
yellow-brown that contrasted evenly with the black and white stones
and actually looked pretty good for a cheap board.  This is now drying
while I type.  I have a feeling that graining this might make the
board too dark.

After sanding this layer smooth and applying one more clear lacquer
coat I will try making the lines with a Rapidograph pen using acetate
ink (thanks to someone else on rec.games.go for that tip).

I am contemplating finishing the whole thing with a thin coat of
marine grade epoxy rubbed out to a satin sheen for a durable over all
finish.  As untraditional as that may be, the first go-ban I even made
was finished with fiberglass resin and made a sharp "Tack" sound that
reminds me of Panda's Egg's stone placement sound.  We'll see.

Cheers!
Charles Rich
(Bothell, WA USA)