I've seen plenty of threads on various places about making gobans, most of the time people are making table boards, but has anyone actually made a floor goban?

I've always wanted a floor goban to go in an empty-ish room in my apartment but can't really afford a traditional kaya, shin-kaya, or pretty any other wood that's still being made; though I did see a couple of blogs about a YMI bamboo floor goban that was in my price range but apparently doesn't exist anymore

I have access to a etching-device-machine-thing that belongs to a shop that a friend runs, so getting the grid on the board isn't really an issue.

Any tips would be appreciated.

You mention you want to use it more as a piece of art (having it sit in empty-ish room) than to play on it.
making a "real" floor goban that is not only playable, but also looks nice enough is not easy and takes a lot of time even if you do have the tools available.
for example how are you going to make the legs ?
http://shodanimports.com/index.php?main_page=page_3 here how hand made gobans are made

If I were you i would try looking for a second hand board (on for example ebay).

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I'm not really interested in a goban that is meant only as a work of art, but a floor goban for a room that will eventually become my personal study/library/man-cave; hence the idea of a bamboo floor goban.

I have seen some nice deals on eBay, but since I like to build things with my own two hands, I thought that it would be fun to make my own.

There was a thread on L19 (or was it godiscussions?) where somebody did what you are looking for. I only remember that he was pretty unlucky with the wood because there was a "branch-spot" (don't know the word, what I mean is a spot that leads to a branch so the spot on the wood is kinda dark and not that solid) right in the middle of it.

I made a table goban and attached legs to it, so you can't really call it a real "goban" but well..
Anyway, just look for a way to get a nice peace of wood that is large enough and trim it to the right size. For the legs, you could try carving them yourself or look for somebody who can carve them for you. Attaching them in the end should not be a big problem.

One more thing, don't forget the sound! I know little about wood, but I think you better want your goban to be of dried wood for a better sound. Maybe some types of wood are suited better here than others.


Forgot to add: Yes, making your own goban IS fun.

The real problem in making a traditional goban with legs, aside from carving the legs properly, is getting suitable wood. Traditional goban with legs is made from a single piece of wood. Getting such a piece of wood, five or 6 inches thick, with beautiful grain on the playing surface and without serious flaws and/or cracks, is not so easy. In Japan slabs of wood intended for goban are dried for years before being made into the board. For ease in acquiring the wood and in manufacture of the goban may be the best thing is to laminade several planks together. This may lack the esthetic appeal of the traditional boards. The bamboo boards you mentioned are laminated from many strips of bamboo.

This seems like an interesting project. If you find any good resources or have any tips post them here I'd love to hear more (also perhaps step by step updates as the project goes along).



I think what your talking about is called a "knot".

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does anyone know about this goban and if it's still available anywhere?

on a totally different note, what kind of wood should I be looking for?

I saw a couple of table boards made out of white pine, but I don't know...

Also, about how thick should I be looking at making the board?

I imagine you've already seen it, but senseis has a path about MakingYourOwnEquipment

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So it turns out that finding a board/block of wood that it 18x18, not even counting the thickness, is impossible.

It certainly not likely to be a common consumer item. Have you tried going directly to a mill?

I have contacted two in my area but the cost to get a board of that size eliminates the "cost saving" factor of building my own goban instead of buying one.

Alas. That I can understand.

Since I am determined to do this I am probably going to press several sheets of laminated pine together into a thickness of 4-6 inches.

Do you think I should attempt the cut-out?

Where should the legs be placed?

You could also use an expensive (thick as possible) wood veneer and something cheaper in the core (even chipboard/mdf might work). You can get some pretty nice veneer, for example, imagine a Walnut burr board (might look ok or not) http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/WALNUT-BURR-WOOD-VENEER-2-CONSECUTIVE-LEAVES-/180576955498?pt=UK_Crafts_Other_Crafts_EH&hash=item2a0b39ac6a or a more traditional Yellow Cedar http://www.woodfinder.com/woods/yellow_cedar.php

Also, a guy I know makes furniture from plywood, http://impwood.com/Wood-Framed-Mirrors/ which seems to turn out all right.

edit: p.s. I am not a carpenter, but this is just what I'm planning to try sometime.

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another question that I have is that I can't figure out how large to make the actual board, the directions on "Sensei's Library" are a little confusing.

Have you seen this page?

http://senseis.xmp.net/?path=MakingYour ... Dimensions

If so which bits are confusing you?

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I'm going to sound so stupid when I say this but, the dimensions given for the board, are they for the actual surface material or the grid itself? And if not the grid, what is the proportion size of the grid relative to the playing surface?

The measurements given for board width and length are the dimensions for the board itself not the grid. Given those dimensions, the total width of the grid should be 415 mm ((1 mm thick lines x 19) + (22 mm line spacing x 18)), which gives a 4.6 mm margin on each side. The total length of the grid should be 445.6 ((1 mm thick lines x 19) + (23.7 mm line spacing x 18)) which gives a 4.45 mm margin on each side.

Someone can correct my higher mathematics if I'm mistaken.

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Very helpful.

I'm working on a blueprint for the board so that I know, mathematically how to place everything.

The grid is centered on the board face right?

Also, looking at the bottom of a floor board, what are the dimensions of the cut-out and the angles of the edges?

Where are the legs supposed to placed?