Hnefatafl Board

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    This is a 7x7 square hnefatafl-type game board, with a merrels board on the reverse. It is hand carved of oak, with bone mounts and hand-made bronze nails. The dark trim wood is some scrap piece I had. Not sure what it is, possibly some strain of mahogany, but it carved horribly.




    Hnefatafl Board 2

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    Side view. The next step is to replace the store-bought marbles with some hand-made ones. The large green one (king) was my first attempt. I'm still researching game pieces so I'll have a better idea of how to do them.




    Merrels side during carving

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    The Merrels (Nine Mans Morris) side of the board while carving. The marble holes were all carved individually. Next time, I'll go with flat bottom pieces - those holes took forever.




    Holding Jig

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    This is a small jig I made to hold the bone roundels while I filed and engraved them. It's basically a jewelers clamp that is affixed to the table. The wingnut raises and lowers the throat, and the wedge tightens it down. It works very well. It is paralleled by various Viking examples of small wedged clamps of bone.




    Bone bits

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    The bone blanks were cut out using a drill bit I forged and filed to shape, made from a masonry nail. The blanks were cut wet to cut down on bone dust flying everywhere.