Hobbies And Interests
The Reversi or Othello Board
An Othello board consists of eight rows and columns of equal size, traditionally marked out on green baize. Cover plywood on both sides with baize. Mark a 1-inch border all around the board. Mark eight rows and columns 1½-inches wide using a black felt tip marker on one side, leaving the border clear.
Nine Men's Morris or Merels Board
Mark a 1-inch border all around the board. Mark a second square with sides 2-inches from the border. Mark a third square with sides 4-inches from the border. Mark with a large dot all four corners of the three squares. Mark the center point of all four sides of the three squares with a dot. Join the three dots representing the centers of the three left hand sides of the squares with a line. Repeat for the three right-hand sides, bottom sides and top sides. This completes marking out the Merels board.
Backgammon Board
Using a 14-inch square piece of plywood as the base, cut a 14-inch long, ¼-inch thick, 1-inch wide baton and glue and nail it across center of plywood to represent the 'bar'. Cut four 6-inch batons from same timber and cut two 14-inch long, ¼-inch thick, ½-inch wide batons for borders. Glue and nail borders in place. On light-colored veneer, draw 12 isosceles triangles each with 1-inch base and 5-inch height and cut out. Repeat on dark veneer. Glue triangles in position with bases against 1-inch borders alternating with dark and light triangles. Smooth with sandpaper, finish with wax polish.
Chess or Draughts Board
Draw a 1-inch border all around the board. Draw eight rows and columns 1½-inches square using a pencil, leaving the border clear. Using two different color wood veneers, cut 32 squares, each 1½-inches square, in each color. Glue squares on plywood in an alternating pattern, keeping grain direction uniform. Cut four additional pieces of veneer of a third color 14-inches by 1-inch to cover the border. Miter the corners, glue in place. Smooth with sandpaper, finish with wax polish.