I was in a strange, crowded second-hand shop in the small town where I live in Japan (I teach English at some junior highs and elementary schools). I saw this board on sale for Y8500 (about US$100) and figured I'd buy it. It was next to a stuffed tanuki dressed up in golf clothes. Very strange store.

The board is beat-up and dirty, so I'm looking for advice on how to clean it. It's obviously been used a lot - there are marks from stones all over the top. I don't know if they come through in the photos. There's only one real damaged area and that's a chip on the top edge where a bit of the wood came off. It's about three inches long and is just on the edge of the side. I'm guessing the board is pretty old and sat in someone's attic after they got it when their grandpa died or something.

I'm pretty sure it's not the good kind of wood, kaya, which means it's pine - I think. I don't know enough about boards to tell for sure. There's white residue on the underside near the pyramid - anyone know what that would be? Glue? I couldn't find any seams in the wood, so I think whoever made it did a really nice job joining the pieces.

I need help because I don't know much about boards. The first board I bought was a roll-up magnetic. The second was a cheap half-fold from Amazon with crappy plastic stones. When I first got to Japan, I got a real 1.5" table board with very nice bowls and stones. So if anyone can tell me anything about this board from the photos and how to clean it up without damaging it, that'd be great! I don't know if I should use soap and water, a special kind of polish, etc.

Thanks for the help!

Just a few more pictures. You can see the damage to the side on one of these.

If it was mine, I would only slightly sand the damaged parts on the sides to make them smooth and wax/oil it thoroughly to smoothen everything. Think of it as worn out, not damaged and then it's just a nice used Goban!

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Geek of all trades, master of none: the motto for my blog mostlymaths.net

"Joining the pieces" - what do you mean? To me it looks like the board itself is made of a single block of wood (apart from the legs)

Based on the information and the photos I think that would be an excellent buy. Unfortunately I can't give advice about restoration, if it was mine I'd take it to someone who is an expert in that area.

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I'm under the impression that many Go boards are cut, then rejoined in order to prevent warping. I'm probably wrong, buti swear I read about that somewhere.




What kind of wax or oil would you use? I don't think surf wax would be appropriate. Some kind of wood finish?

It's not in totally horrible shape and ishouldnthave said "damaged" I the titlesinceits all minor. But it is really dirty. Do you know if it's okay to just use a towel, warm water, and hand soap to try and get the accumulated grime off it without damaging the finish?

Yes, many are, but not that one. AFAIK the main method for prevention of warping is drying the wood for several years - during which period many blocks of wood will crack or warp and will be discarded. I believe - but I may be wrong here - that using multiple pieces of wood makes the suitable wood easier to come by, and thus the boards are not so expensive. The fewer pieces, the more prestigious and expensive the board (my 6cm kaya tabletop board is made from 4 pieces)

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Right, they are not cut and rejoined but made from smaller, cheaper pieces of wood.
Usually the surface is regarded as most important to get the grain correct on, so the endgrain turns out looking like this.


/Mats

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mohsart - games & books
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Wood wax or wood oil in small quantities. Start in the bottom or side to check how does it work. As for cleaning... If it is well lacquered, water and soap won't hurt. If it is not well covered, don't use a lot of water and be more careful.

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Geek of all trades, master of none: the motto for my blog mostlymaths.net

My guess is that this is a "shin kaya" board, in other words spruce. Kuroki Goishi Ten has a repair and refinishing service for go boards, see this link: http://www.kurokigoishi.co.jp/onlinesho ... index.html. This may be more expensive than you would want but you'll know it is being done right. You might also check out any go board shops near where you live and see whether they have any advice or could do the service. This service would require shipping to and from Japan if you didn't live there, but you do live there so why not check it out?

Absolutely! Do not try to restore this board yourself until you have ........
1) Attempted to have it identified (rule out that it is a valuable antique)
2) If not an antique and professional restoration too expensive, first study up on "restoration of antique furniture" (many books on the topic available).

Yes I know, really an off chance to find a valuable antique gobam for "nothing" in Japan (could happen here; war loot but not even known what it is). But that board was cut from a very large tree and I cannot imagine such a large tree being used to make a cheap board.

About warping --- the point here was that the tree was of such large diameter (2 1/2 to 3 times the board width) that a slab could be cut with the rings running almost straight up and down the entire board. Warping while drying is caused by the differential shinkage radial to the grain and tangential to the grain so with the rings close to perpendicular over the entire board the slab wouldn't warp.

Buy it. Count your blessings. Do not do anything to it except clean it carefully. A lightly dampened, very soft cloth removes the surface dirt and dust. You cannot hurt antique wood with a lightly dampened soft cloth. If you leave a trail of moisture, the cloth is too wet. Then go at it very gently with a superb wax made specifically for cleaning fine wooden furniture. Simple pure beeswax is a good start just don't use furniture polish or anything with a long list of chemicals in it. You will go to a woodworking store to obtain this stuff. Use the softest wood polishing cloths you can find. What you do not want to do is grind the surface dirt into the wood. Do not us any significant pressure, even on the dirtiest grime. Deep soil may just be there forever. It is character, patina, the evidence of its previous life. Leave it. Learn to appreciate it.

DO NOT USE ANY ABRASIVES, not on any surface, not at all.

Assuming this ia not a mass-produced Korean knockoff, the block of wood was finished by skilled craftsmen using edged tools—planes—and that's what you will use to restore the side surfaces if you really must. Leave the bottom alone and do not touch the playing surface. Removing any wood from the sides will reduce the width and length. Marginally, true, but the board will be smaller when you're done. I don't think planing the sides is a good idea but, the questions: do you know how to use a Japanese-style plane (it cuts on the pulls= rather than pushes)? Do you have a couple of them, one for roughing and the other for final dressing? Do you have the skills and sharpening stones to hone and maintain the edges of the irons while you are removing slices of wood so thin you can see through them?
If the answer to any of those questions is in the negative, forget trying to "restore" this board for you shall only destroy it.
Clean it.
Preserve the wood as best you can.
Enjoy it!
Play go on it!

BTW, you do not want to use abrasives because, no matter how well you clean off the wood after sanding, particles of carborundum remain. They will scratch your precious shell stones. It cannot be avoided even though the damage might be so subtle you will not detect the marks. In skilled hands, a plane will leave a mirror-smooth finish.

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

Oil will darken your spruce, and must be avoided.

Go is not so popular in the area where I live. People are much more likely to play shoji or nothing at all, so I think I might get lucky. Odds are still very low and my guess is that this board isn't worth much, but for $100 I can't go wrong.




Thank you for the advice! I will avoid doing anything to it myself besides a very light damp cloth as you suggested.



I'll check into their prices to see. That would be nice to do if I could afford it.