Table Top Game

  My grand kids are board game players, encouraged by their Oma and Mother.  About half the time I play along, and almost never win.  The kids were here for a couple of days over March Break and a game idea showed up in my News Feed, so I decided to make it.

 I don't know what the game is called, it looks like a 'bar top' sort of game, of which there are many.  Mostly the bar room games involve some degree of skill and....some degree of betting to make increase interest.

  This game involves some skill and is moderately interesting without betting too.

all stained and nice to look at.

playable but not pretty.

  The object of the game is to rest the game at an angle on a table top and raise the marble up the board using the two strings to pull the hoop.  You need to steer the marble around the holes, or....it falls in and you dump it out the lower right hand corner, reset the hoop and try again.  To make it more challenging we added the necessity of pulling the marble up, moving across the top and then lowering the marble down. Up turned out to be easier up than down.

  It is a wood working project and so begins with a box.

  It is one of my favourite types of project. The wood is re-claimed. The front and back are cheap, cheap plywood that was a packing case from over seas.  The wood is such poor quality that it is filled with dirt and voids. It was just adequate to it original purpose so re-use is a bonus.  The sides are from old fence boards I picked up one day from the end of a drive way.

  As an aside the plywood was pretty warped so the glue needed nails to help.  I dug out a tool that I bought a long time ago when I had trim to install.  I bought this because I had a bunch of trim as grid work on a ceiling.  I didn't need an air nailer and compressor and hose and, and,and.  The electric nailer drives 1 inch brads, well enough. As a tool that I don't use often, I like that it doesn't need any care or attention for years at a time.  Interestingly I have used it lately a couple of times and now don't store it in the bottom drawer at the back of the shop any longer.

  I bought this long, long before cordless air nail guns were invented.

  The first effort wasn't difficult enough so, back to the shop, more holes and shazam, fun for everyone.

cheers, ianw