Marble Solitaire Game
Since we’re all stuck at home, a few maker friends decided to create projects using ONLY what we have on hand, so a scrap wood challenge! Over the course of the challenge we’ve been sharing the progress on Instagram using the hashtag #BuildAtHome and we are inviting you guys to join in on the fun!
Make sure to check out all the other awesome #BuildAtHome projects my friends have made, they are linked down below!
Also check out the full build video below!
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WHAT YOU’LL NEED
Scrap Wood to make a 16'“ x 16” square
1/2” Core Box Bit with Bearing
I started by creating a template for the game, you can download it here - MARBLE SOLITAIRE TEMPLATE
The template is only one piece of paper, but if you print it three more times you can line them up to create the full scale template.
The finished board ends up being around 15” in diameter…
I glued up some scraps to create a blank that was 16'“ x 16” just to be safe.
The pieces making up the blank should be at least 3/4” thick.
While the glue dried I used the paper template to make a routing template on plywood.
I used a center punch on all the crosshairs of the paper template to mark out where to drill all the holes.
In the picture below, you can see all the little points from the center punch.
You can also see that I cut the plywood template into a circle. I actually don’t think this part was necessary since I will not be using the edge of the template as a cutting guide… but it did help a bit with alignment later on.
Using a 3/4” forstner bit, I drilled holes on all the markings I made in the previous step.
The template is ready and the glue is dry on the blank! Time to make all the cuts on the blank!
The first cut to make is the outer well that will hold the marbles that are taken out of gameplay.
To do this I used a 1” core box bit in my plunge router attached to a circle cutting jig (the router comes with this jig).
I set the bit so the center of it was about 6” from the pivot point of the jig.
And set the depth to only cut 1/4” deep, then took shallow passes until I plunged to that depth.
Next I swapped to a spiral bit and adjusted the pivot point of the circle cutting jig to cut out a 15” circle.
(Quick tip: When drilling the hole at the pivot point for the circle jig, don’t drill too deep or you will have to fill in a hole later on, don’t ask me how I know… ha!)
The next step is to create all the wells to hold the marbles.
To do this I put the plywood template on the board using double sided tape.
Then I used a 1/2” core box bit with a bearing in my trim router to create all the little wells in the board.
I set the depth of the bit to also cut 1/4” deep, just like the outer well.
And that’s all there is to it!
Just apply some finish and it’s done!
The kids were so excited to play the game, so much so that I didn’t want to take it away from them to take good pictures of it!
They really feel challenged to try and beat it, I am noticing a lot less screen time!
I’d say this project was a success and it looks cool on our coffee table!
What’s really cool about this project is that it was made from scrap wood, so the design possibilities are endless. It would be really cool to glue up some contrasting wood or make some sort of pattern in the wood as well!
If you want to check out more amazing scrap wood projects you can make while you’re stuck at home, check out some of these projects my friends made!