Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Dominoes
Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX
>I want to make a set of dominoes and was planning on using some holly for the blocks (1" x 2" x 1/2"), most likely some combo of burning/staining/painting for the pips (yeah, ebony pips would be cool, I even have some on hand, but more work than I want right now). Will also probably make a cute little paulownia box for the set. Anything I'm missing? Is holly a good choice?
Thanks,
Pam
Re: Dominoes
Dale Lenz-Tahlequah, OK
>Hi Pam,
I've thought about making wooden dominoes many times. A problems about using wood with the grain showing though is the grain pattern: you can memorize the grain of the double five etc..
I guess you could chose a wood with very bland grain, like louwand(sp), Philippian mahogany??....Dale
Re: Dominoes
Mike G.
>Holly would probably be a good choice as far as grain because it doesn't have any pattern to it.
Mike G.
Re: Dominoes
Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX
>Thanks, guys. The holly is pretty figureless, but I'll wipe some with oil before using it.
Pam
Re: Dominoes
Alan Hamilton
>Pam,
Have you thought about using dogwood? If you can get it, of course. I love the way it gets smoother and more polished as it's used. Nothing feels as wonderful as dogwood that's been well handled and hard used. It's so close grained I doubt the grain would help anyone.
Alan
Re: Dominoes
Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX
>Oh, yeah, I'd love to use dogwood; but all I have are several lace spindles from that dry stock at LV. I'd have to glue it up before recutting. The holly is on hand, normally for making inlays.
Do you know of a good dogwood source?
Pam
Re: Dominoes
Alan Hamilton
>Pam,
I'm sorry to say I do not.
You can't trust me, though. If I had a source I'd keep it to myself.
Alan
Re: Dominoes
Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX
>As it turns out, Sir William has donated several pieces he put up for handles. So I'm off, will definitely upload photos.
William said I should carve some dragons on the backs, but I'm thinking something much simpler since I'll have to make 49 of them. Or maybe I should make a label/decal instead.
Pam
Re: Dominoes
Alan Hamilton
>Pam,
"Seek and ye shall find. Ask and it shall be given."
Some guys have all the luck.
Alan
Re: Dominoes
Pam Niedermayer - Austin, TX
>Tell you what, Alan, it was very nice of William, quite generous, wouldn't even let me pay shipping. Besides, it's all your fault. If you hadn't recommended dogwood I'd be cutting up my holly as we speak. :)
Pam