Backgammon is an ancient oriental game. The place of their origin is not known exactly, but they are already about 5000 years old, which is confirmed by historical manuscripts. The oldest board for the game was discovered in Asia Minor, in the town of Shakhri-Sukhta. Scientists have established that the thing was created around 3000 BC. e. The same board was found in the tomb of Tutankhamun.
One legend says that once the inhabitants of India decided to test the inventiveness of the Persians and presented them with chess. They believed that they would not understand the rules of this unusual game. However, the sage from Persia was able to uncover the secret and in response sent them his game, which the Indians could not solve for 12 years. Bozorgmerch sent them nothing more than a game of backgammon (translated from Persian “backgammon ottoman” means “battle on a wooden board”).
In Western Europe, the game spread thanks to the crusaders in the XII century. It gained popularity in the Middle Ages in European countries, where it got its name - trick-truck. It imitates a blow of bones. The name "backgammon" was used among kings and nobles.
The game has gained considerable popularity in our time. Many craftsmen do not cease to amaze with their new original performance of inlay. This article will describe how to make backgammon with your own hands.
What does the game develop?
Like chess, backgammon is called upon to train thinking. Only in the first case does logical thinking develop, and in the second, resourcefulness and ingenuity. Scientists say that after everyday backgammon games, the level of intelligence rises by 10%. This is the conclusion reached by researchers in the UK.
What does the board look like?
The board has a rectangular shape. 24 points are applied to it (12 on each side). The board consists of two sides. Each item, as a rule, represents a narrow elongated triangle, the base of which is located along the edge, and the height reaches half of the board. Six points on one side are called the player’s house. Its location depends on the rules of the game. The board is divided in the middle by a vertical strip called the "bar". Usually put down checkers there. Each player has 15 pieces. A move is determined by a pair of dice - dawn. There are two pairs for each player, as well as glasses for mixing bones.
Joinery during the performance of the board
Many are interested in how to make backgammon with your own hands. Such a process can be done even by a novice in woodcarving. The first step is a detailed drawing. Backgammon in this case will be obtained without size errors.
You will need:
What should be the plywood? Sanded carefully, it does not have roughness or burrs, which is very important for the manufacturing process.
Board size
Before you make backgammon, decide what size board you want to get. They are different:
- small backgammon (dimensions - 40x20x3.5 cm);
- middle backgammon (50x25x3.5 cm);
- large backgammon (60x30x3.5 cm).
What is the main thing when performing thread on a backgammon board?
In most cases, carved backgammon, the sizes of which are indicated above, are made in the classical style with its flat reliefs. Such work will be affordable even for beginners. Half of the success lies in the right picture. Widespread ornaments with plants or arabesques.
For example, consider panels made of alder. On the one hand, they are veneered with ash. If you want to do this part of the work on your own, it should be noted that veneer is applied only on one side. After drying, the panel will bend towards the veneer. In order not to get a similar result, on the opposite side you should glue plain paper, you can even newspaper. When the glue dries, there will be no deformation in this case. When working with panels, it is advised to put them on polyethylene from packaging with soft inflatable pimples. This will protect the parts from damage during operation.
The film is laid with the smooth side to the workpiece, otherwise during operation the chips will clog in the pimples and may damage the surface. When applying a tone to a material, you may get an undesirable effect.
How to transfer a drawing?
The drawing is transferred to the blank by means of carbon paper. Stock up on a finished image, the scale of which is designed to be applied over the entire plane. This will help to avoid symmetry breaking, which is an important point in the manufacture of boards. After transferring the pattern by means of a carbon copy, it should be corrected by hand.
Thread background selection
At such a stage as selecting the background for the thread, there are two methods:
- The classic method involves cutting with a knife along the contour of the pattern, followed by sampling the background using flat chisels. It should be noted that during operation the knife must enter the wood at an angle of 90 degrees. If you cannot observe the perpendicularity of the knife to the harvested material, then it is permissible to slightly overwhelm it at an arbitrary angle to the side of the ornament sheets. Further, when working out the thread, you can correct the pattern distorted for this reason.
- The second way is to select the background using a hand mill and a finger mill. An undoubted advantage of this method is the speed of execution and the accuracy of observing the required right angle along the edge of the ornament. Background selection around all elements is clear and subject to the level. Hands with such a laborious process do not strain. The disadvantages include the need to use a milling cutter. Work with it is possible only in the conditions of a carpentry workshop, as it makes noise and creates excessive dust. The depth of the background image is approximately 5 mm. Those places where the cutter could not get should be trimmed with a knife or flat chisels. The rules given in the first method are followed here. Hands work you still need.
Carving tools
To make backgammon with your own hands, you will need the following tools:
- A jamb knife with an acute angle to the tip.
- The flat shape of the chisels is 1, 2, 3, 5, 10 mm in size.
- Chisels with a semicircular shape in size 6, 9 mm.
Arabesque processing
After sampling the background in all hard-to-reach places, you should start working on the ornament. Start from the lower and upper edges of the panel. The intersection of parts are cut with a knife. A depth of 2 mm is taken. By cutting a flat chisel, the lower and upper points of the pattern are identified. Thus, the ornament will be intertwined.
Then, future drawing profiles are drawn. By means of a knife or a flat chisel, a convex part of the profile is formed. Then, with the help of semicircular chisels, the concave parts of the profiles are processed. The operation should be repeated with the central part of the ornament. The drawing needs to be worked out a second time, correcting all the flaws.
Matting background
Matting the background means piercing it around all the carved elements. This can achieve the graphic arabesques. For this purpose, you can use a simple sharpened screw. Various punches are also used. Then continues the tattoo of all the remaining parts. The carving process at this stage ends, you can proceed to the finishing part.
Giving tone
Backgammon with their own hands involves the implementation of tinting. For this process, you can use stains on the water. Usually one color is used, which is diluted to three shades: light, medium and dark. In this case, two species of wood were used: ash and alder. To emphasize the beauty of each of them, two stains were used: dark oak and teak. Teak is suitable for ash, and dark oak is suitable for alder.
First of all, a carved panel is subject to tinting. The lightest paint covers all threads. Then, not allowing the stain to dry, a medium tint is applied to the milled faces of the panel.
The next step involves coloring the background. It is covered in the darkest tone. Do this with caution. The paint is applied with extreme accuracy so as not to get on the light part. Coloring should start from the center of the selected background area, moving to towering carved parts. In this case, the minimum amount of dye is taken with a brush.
The wooden surface should be allowed to dry, and then on the other hand cover the veneer with ash stain teak. The carpentry components of the board are covered in the same tone.
After the stain has dried, the raised pile is removed with the help of a skin. The main thing is not to damage the paint on sharp edges that remain on the thread after working with chisels.
The whole board is coated with colorless varnish. For this purpose, a two-component matte varnish is used.
The second option for manufacturing backgammon
The manufacture of such a product as carved backgammon has been described above. Another method involves burning patterns.
To make backgammon with your own hands in the second way, you will need:
- polished plywood (two sheets of light wood with a thickness index of 4-8 mm, size 480x240 mm);
- two wood slats 30x10 mm in size, 220 mm long for holes;
- PVA glue;
- stain;
- varnish;
- jigsaw;
- apparatus for burning.
Working process
The manufacturing process of backgammon boards in this case involves the following steps:
- Work begins with the design of the external and internal sides. The prepared drawing is burned on both sides by the selected cliche.
- Wooden slats are glued to the spike and glued around the perimeter of the board.
- In wide slats, holes for chips are cut out and also glued.
- Next, loops and lock are installed.
- In conclusion, the board is covered with colorless varnish in three layers.
What chips are used?
Chips are made from hardwood. You can use ready-made plastic for playing checkers.
Conclusion
The most beautiful backgammon boards are not like chess. Their reverse side is always decorated with magnificent patterns or patterns. Hand-made backgammon looks spectacular. The price of such a product is quite high.