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How to Make Cribbage Pegs

Unlike most card games, cribbage is played with a scoring board in which players record their score with little pegs. Each player has two pegs to record scores. There are two pegs per player because one peg shows the previous score and the second peg shows the new score, and having both on the board allows everyone to see the tally. If your pegs break, you can make new ones yourself, even if you are not a master craftsman or hobbyist.

Things You'll Need

Ruler
Wood block
Saw
Beading plane
Block plane
Sand paper

Instructions

- 1
  Measure the diameter of a hole on your cribbage board if you do not have any pegs left. Otherwise just measure the diameter of one of your old pegs. You need this number to know how wide to make your new pegs.
- 2
  Buy a standard that has the same diameter as your cribbage board holes or pegs. Generally, the smallest standard size for a wooden dowel you can get a store is 1/4 inch. If your holes or pegs are not much thinner than this, buy a standard dowel.
- 3
  Cut your own dowel to turn into cribbage pegs from a piece of wood. Good wood options include chestnut, walnut, and cherry. These are strong woods that feel good to the touch. Cut the dowel from the wood piece with a beading plane, which creates a rounded cylindrical shape that you then break off from the rest of the wood or a rounding block to smooth over a square block of wood into a dowel shape.
- 4
  Cut the dowel into pieces that equal the same height as your other pegs. If you don't have other pegs, make the piece any size you want. Experiment by inserting the dowel into the cribbage holes to see how deep it goes.
- 5
  Sand the peg pieces to a smooth round shape on top of the peg. Start with a high-grit sand paper, such as 200, and finish off with a refining grit like 600 for a smooth finish.
- 6
  Stain the peg pieces or even paint them for a finishing decorative touch.

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