I am ordering a shinkaya goban form shodan imports and I have a set of Single convex yunzi stones. I wanted to know if that would damage the board too much and how (if there is a way) i can fix small dings in the board. I plan on getting some shell and slate stones too.

Thanks

It's the nature of the go board to dent. I don't think you can worry about it.

If you start to not be able to see the lines, then I would get it resurfaced and lined. If you did that for dents... you would not have a go board for long.

If your go-board never gets any dents, you will stay 16k...

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Agree with those who say that your board will and should become dented naturally.

However, I don't think single convex stones are going to dent your board nearly as much as bi-convex stones would.

I don't know, I find single convex stones are quite capable of denting gobans



But yes, generally denting on a goban is considered a good thing, a part of the game's natural aesthetic.

Shin Kaya is spruce and you can probably steam out the dents.
Just put a web cloth and iron & steam it out.

So you would propose steaming something that is purposely dried for years to prevent warping. Should probably think about what that would do to the wax coating as well.

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Go is such a beautiful game.

I dont think that go board is dried for years but yeah steaming is no good for boards.... but its okay... 1 dent = 1 rank higher.

Steaming is a perfected technique to remove light surface distortions in fine furniture made of far more delicate and finer woods than spruce with far more sophisticated finishes than wax. It is easily researched in woodworking and refinishing books. The idea is to add water to the dented area, basically just compressed wood cells, and then, by applying heat, turn the water to vapor which will expand and raise the dent.

Still, this is a technique I would not recommend on a nice go board. Let it get some character.

david boise ID

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David Bogie, Boise ID
I play go, I ride a recumbent, of course I use Macintosh.

A little vigorous rubbing with a clean t-shirt on the beeswax smoothes out most of the play wear on my goban. You'd have to study hard just to wear through all of that stuff.

single convex + shin kaya = awful-looking triangular dents

Just don't slam the stones, an ounce of prevention is probably the only option in this case.

Fyi, the woods used for go boards are soft woods. The japanese prefer this for the sound produced and the likelyness of making dents on the board when playing a stone. This is because they consider a board with dents from playing as beautiful (see wabi-sabi).

Because we just love precision around here, "softwood" does not always refer to a wood that is soft or fragile or easily compressed. Nor does "hardwood" always refer to a durable material. They are biological classifications that differentiate a conifer from an angiosperm and dicotyledon.

Some softwoods like yews are quite hard. Some hardwoods, say, basswood, are remarkably soft.

(paraphrased from various online dictionaries, woodworking sites, and my own collection of books about woodworking)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_woods

http://www.am-wood.com/wood/woodlist.html



bogiesan

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David Bogie, Boise ID
I play go, I ride a recumbent, of course I use Macintosh.

Leave the dents where they are. Then, next time you go to Congress, bring along the board. Show it to Takemiya and he will tell you how to improve your game.

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