Quoridor Game - Woodworking

 

I was looking for another boardgame to make out of wood, similar to Tak or Quarto but that could be played with more than 2 players. Basically, a 'quick' mental game. Luckily the company that made quarto makes a few wooden games so I tried out my own version. I took an old piece of oak trim/molding I had saved for about 10 years in the rafters (oops!) and planed it down flat, then laminated it into a flat board. I got it nice and thin, and then laminated it to a piece of plywood. I then cut a bunch of approximately 1/4" slots in the oak. The slots don't go all the way through because I didn't want to expose the thin plywood (or reduce the strength TOO much). 

I'm never sure how many clamps to use, so I settled for all of them. Once that was glued up and trimmed back down to 'square' I added some mitred edges to hide the plywood and to frame it. I also added some mitred keys on the corners to look pretty using some scrap oak.

For the playing pieces, I cut up a bunch of walnut to match the frame and 4 player pieces out of the four types of wood I had lying around; walnut, oak, maple and something red - maybe cherry? I got it for free so not sure what it is. It's lighter when cut is all I know for certain.

I thought the first iteration of the player pieces looked a bit bland so I added a little dado around the top to make them look more like castle towers. Super easy.

And finally the best part, applying the finish. I used linseed oil on it and like any finish, it really pops after. You can see how the player pieces (4 colours) contrast heavily between the before and after.