A Goban Prototype 9*9 - Part Two
Time for another update on my prototype board. Since the last post I have had to re-do the first piece which led to a slight alignment issue. Not enough to stop the prototype but enough to make me re-consider my method of cutting the lines. I will go into that in more detail in post three but for now this is more specifically about the holes and the board surrounds.
The Holes.
Once I had the central three groupings glued together I could start on drilling the star point holes.
Now these are supposed to be a diameter of 4mm. Which is all very well but as my lines are a slightly thicker at 1.5mm the 4mm does not look prominent enough so I am enlarging to 5mm. When I do the full board I will be keeping to official sizes and have a different approach in mind. For now I drilled the holes on my milling machine essentially by eye. This was actually quite effective but for the main board I will be doing this mechanically which has advantages and disadvantages...
The Surrounds
While gluing was continuing to take place with larger and larger clamps I went back to the computer drawing board and drew some plans for the surrounds. I played around with sizes but eventually settled for the following with a reduced angle around the edge.
As noted before the pieces would be lap jointed.
Up to this point I had hit minimal process flaws (or at least minimal flaws that require drastic adjustments) now they started coming thick and fast. The first is something I know I succumb to and it is the 'it's near the end if I just do this then I can finish in an hour' which usually always leads to shoddy workmanship. Here I mucked up the lap joint angle and rather than stop and do it properly I quickly cut some other pieces out and then attempted to force them in with clamps. Though it 'worked' it should have been done in a neater fashion. I must therefore remember to take my time near the end and (probably) to step away if a mistake has been made and re-start. If I start clock watching then bad things happen.
Caulking
The next issue is one that could be worked around or may require a new approach. After glueing had finished I varnished the board. This is needed to protect the grain from the wood filler but did not appear to be enough. The filler was a ronseal dark wood two step which 'should' have given my thirty minutes to 'caulk' allowing me to tidy excess off of the main board. It did not work that way. Any excess hardened very rapidly and though thin refused to be taken off with water so the board was liberally covered. Not a major issue if the varnishing had done its job. The next step is to plane off the top to reveal clean wood. This went badly for two reasons. Firstly the surrounding lap jointed wood was for two edges had its grain at right angles to the board. This can lead to tear out as the plane moved across grain and secondly the wood filler was like concrete and the metal blade of the plane was cut to pieces trying to clean up things. I got 'most' of the filler off but in the process did tear and damage the wood which looks a lot rougher than it should be.
As a comparison the wood looks lovely and smooth on the bottom. At one point I switched from the plane to sanding as there comes a point when the plane was unusable (without a £30 replacement blade) but rapidly noticed that the filler had not filled the gaps as well as I had hoped so had to stop.
Tidy Up
That done there was a small amount of tidy up. I sawed the edges down before adding a small angle to the edge (I went 30 degrees as opposed to 45 due to wood loss). I think I need to spend extra time on this step here as the wood is not as smooth round the edges as it should be and I can do better if I add some steps to the cutting plan to cope.
Varnishing
Finally there is re-varnishing. The lines were not as dark as I would have liked so a light color oil would not assist so I kept to the darker (more dark oak) oil. Applying three coats. I might wax as well in future but it does depend on how the current finish both sounds and re-acts.
Future Measurements
Two key measurements lied in how much wood had been taken off the top (0.5 mm so 'fine') and whether the measurements 'fit' the stones.
Next Steps
This is a prototype and is a useable board so is successful in that. I have made some key adjustments for the next attempt. The first is that the edges will not be lap jointed. I will butt joint them instead as it simplifies the structure. Next I am reconsidering the caulking approach. If I did caulk again then I would buy some black wood filler (it does exist but also appears to be the concrete like two step stuff) but I would need to experiment with various varnishes to see the best way to try and keep the top clean. At the moment I am strongly considering an alternative. My table saw is extremely accurate so I may cut planks at 0.98mm thick that fit exactly in the gaps out of a much darker wood. That way I am increasing the use of what worked well and decreasing what did not. The main issue here is the filler planks need to be exact (especially vertically) and if they are not then it will show.
The other change is that I want to adjust the vertical cut lines method. For a full board the 9*9 method will not work consistently and 'consistent' is what we need so I could either use a cutting board (basically build a board with raised sections matching the lines and 'slide' the piece to cut over these lines thus keeping them exactly in line) or have a cutting piece. Here I will build a test piece and a 1:1 scale plan onto it and then mark the lines. This will then be cut using line of sight and the table saw. Then when cutting the actual pieces after the first cut I will put a plank into a cut slot of the test piece and match that to a cut of the actual piece (which brings them 'in line') and then make sure the test pieces next cut is over the blade. The key here is to know the start and end point exactly as any marginally discrepancies in line gaps need replicating over all the structural parts of the board. This will be more obvious when I show pictures when carrying out the operation.
Conclusion
So there we have it. I have just ordered several planed planks of White Beech and Black Walnut and will start on plans for the 19*19. Posts will go up to cover what happens with that project as well.
The board is useable though is actually too dark for easy use. As a proto-type it has done its job and now to implement the procedural improvements on a larger board.
The Holes.
Once I had the central three groupings glued together I could start on drilling the star point holes.
Now these are supposed to be a diameter of 4mm. Which is all very well but as my lines are a slightly thicker at 1.5mm the 4mm does not look prominent enough so I am enlarging to 5mm. When I do the full board I will be keeping to official sizes and have a different approach in mind. For now I drilled the holes on my milling machine essentially by eye. This was actually quite effective but for the main board I will be doing this mechanically which has advantages and disadvantages...
The mill with improvised clamping
Gratuitous clamp shot. You can never have enough clamps...
The Surrounds
While gluing was continuing to take place with larger and larger clamps I went back to the computer drawing board and drew some plans for the surrounds. I played around with sizes but eventually settled for the following with a reduced angle around the edge.
As noted before the pieces would be lap jointed.
Up to this point I had hit minimal process flaws (or at least minimal flaws that require drastic adjustments) now they started coming thick and fast. The first is something I know I succumb to and it is the 'it's near the end if I just do this then I can finish in an hour' which usually always leads to shoddy workmanship. Here I mucked up the lap joint angle and rather than stop and do it properly I quickly cut some other pieces out and then attempted to force them in with clamps. Though it 'worked' it should have been done in a neater fashion. I must therefore remember to take my time near the end and (probably) to step away if a mistake has been made and re-start. If I start clock watching then bad things happen.
Caulking
The next issue is one that could be worked around or may require a new approach. After glueing had finished I varnished the board. This is needed to protect the grain from the wood filler but did not appear to be enough. The filler was a ronseal dark wood two step which 'should' have given my thirty minutes to 'caulk' allowing me to tidy excess off of the main board. It did not work that way. Any excess hardened very rapidly and though thin refused to be taken off with water so the board was liberally covered. Not a major issue if the varnishing had done its job. The next step is to plane off the top to reveal clean wood. This went badly for two reasons. Firstly the surrounding lap jointed wood was for two edges had its grain at right angles to the board. This can lead to tear out as the plane moved across grain and secondly the wood filler was like concrete and the metal blade of the plane was cut to pieces trying to clean up things. I got 'most' of the filler off but in the process did tear and damage the wood which looks a lot rougher than it should be.
As a comparison the wood looks lovely and smooth on the bottom. At one point I switched from the plane to sanding as there comes a point when the plane was unusable (without a £30 replacement blade) but rapidly noticed that the filler had not filled the gaps as well as I had hoped so had to stop.
Tidy Up
That done there was a small amount of tidy up. I sawed the edges down before adding a small angle to the edge (I went 30 degrees as opposed to 45 due to wood loss). I think I need to spend extra time on this step here as the wood is not as smooth round the edges as it should be and I can do better if I add some steps to the cutting plan to cope.
Varnishing
Finally there is re-varnishing. The lines were not as dark as I would have liked so a light color oil would not assist so I kept to the darker (more dark oak) oil. Applying three coats. I might wax as well in future but it does depend on how the current finish both sounds and re-acts.
Future Measurements
Two key measurements lied in how much wood had been taken off the top (0.5 mm so 'fine') and whether the measurements 'fit' the stones.
Next Steps
This is a prototype and is a useable board so is successful in that. I have made some key adjustments for the next attempt. The first is that the edges will not be lap jointed. I will butt joint them instead as it simplifies the structure. Next I am reconsidering the caulking approach. If I did caulk again then I would buy some black wood filler (it does exist but also appears to be the concrete like two step stuff) but I would need to experiment with various varnishes to see the best way to try and keep the top clean. At the moment I am strongly considering an alternative. My table saw is extremely accurate so I may cut planks at 0.98mm thick that fit exactly in the gaps out of a much darker wood. That way I am increasing the use of what worked well and decreasing what did not. The main issue here is the filler planks need to be exact (especially vertically) and if they are not then it will show.
The other change is that I want to adjust the vertical cut lines method. For a full board the 9*9 method will not work consistently and 'consistent' is what we need so I could either use a cutting board (basically build a board with raised sections matching the lines and 'slide' the piece to cut over these lines thus keeping them exactly in line) or have a cutting piece. Here I will build a test piece and a 1:1 scale plan onto it and then mark the lines. This will then be cut using line of sight and the table saw. Then when cutting the actual pieces after the first cut I will put a plank into a cut slot of the test piece and match that to a cut of the actual piece (which brings them 'in line') and then make sure the test pieces next cut is over the blade. The key here is to know the start and end point exactly as any marginally discrepancies in line gaps need replicating over all the structural parts of the board. This will be more obvious when I show pictures when carrying out the operation.
Conclusion
So there we have it. I have just ordered several planed planks of White Beech and Black Walnut and will start on plans for the 19*19. Posts will go up to cover what happens with that project as well.
The board is useable though is actually too dark for easy use. As a proto-type it has done its job and now to implement the procedural improvements on a larger board.
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