Golf hole themed cribbage board drilling and routing templates

I made a golf themed cribbage board for a friend using these router templates I designed. There's only one like it in the world (which my friend has) so here's your chance to create a (nearly) unique gift for the golfer in your life (or at least the person who would be in your life if they weren't on the fairway. Or in the rough. Or maybe just at the 19th hole).

Some trial and error went in to the design and crafting of this cribbage board, so I thought I might as well share the templates I created to make things easier for others.

Some useful background follows, but printing instructions and steps to create the board are further down.

BACKGROUND TO THE DESIGN

I had a brief to design and make a cribbage board with a golf theme. Since the board was going to be made from hardwood, I left the finishing to my friend, so there's no staining or paint on the board I made, but I colored my initial design so that he could see what it would look like, and so that I could confirm with him that he approved of the design:

The first problem with the initial design is the lack of spacing between the peg holes - cribbage boards traditionally have gaps to aid counting / scoring. That meant a trip back to the drawing board (Onshape). I also decided to split the design into two distinct templates: one for drilling and the initial rough cut-out (which I did on the band saw) and a second one for routing out the ‘bunker’, ‘lake’ and ‘burn’ (stream).

The drilling template:

and the routing template:

The routing template was thicker to allow the bearing of the flush trim bit to ride against the template for the whole depth of plunge.

I also wanted to use a bowl bit to get a nice curved edge to the features, but also wanted a larger flush trim bit to remove most of the waste, so I created three additional templates that offset the outside edges of the features, that the trim router could ride against.

Router bit offset guides:

You may or may not find these useful, but my first attempt without them using just the bowl gouge was a bit of a mess, and I ended up hand carving that ‘project’.

PRINTING

The prints are very simple and can be printed either face up, with no need for supports. I used 10% infill and that was fine. The templates are designed for a larger bed: I printed them diagonally on a 295x295 bed. You can of course reduce them, but the drill holes are sized for a 1/8" drill bit (a 1/8" hole appears to be the standard size for the cribbage pegs you can buy online).

THE WORKPIECE

Of course this is entirely up to you, but I recommend a reasonably priced hardwood like oak or maple. The finished board is about 330 mm (13 inches) by 180mm (7 inches) and the one I made was from 4/4 stock (1 inch (25.4 mm) thick).

STEPS

• After printing the drill template, secure it to your chosen workpiece (double sided tape works well for this) and use your preferred method to rough out the shape (I used a bandsaw, but a jigsaw would work too). Try and keep close to the edge of the template to minimize the work the router has to do in the next stage.

• Use a handheld router or router table with a flush trim bit to trim the edge of the workpiece flush with drill template.

• Remove the drill template and set it aside for later. Now secure the routing template to the workpiece. You have two options here: use the three additional router bit offset guides and a ¼" flush trim bit to rout out most of the depth of the features (bunker, lake and burn). Then remove the guides and do the outside edges with a bowl bit (with a top bearing). Or, go straight ahead with the bowl bit and rout out the full shape. Either way you should take this slow and make many light passes.

• Once you've finished routing out the features, remove the router template you'll probably want to do some sanding before you drill the peg holes.

• Secure the drill template to the top of the workpiece. Make sure you get it the right way round! The burn (stream) should pass between the gap where there will be no cribbage peg holes. Take your time drilling the holes with a 1/8" drill bit. I recommend using a brad point bit, which will reduce tear out (so will going slowly). I also recommend using a depth stop for consistency and, if you have one, a drill press. There are 397 holes to drill, so it's best to be patient and take breaks. You don't want to rush it at this stage and ruin the finish.

• Once the holes are drilled, you are ready to sand and finish the workpiece as you wish.

ROUTING

All power tools, including routers, have the potential to cause injury, and you use these templates entirely at your own risk. You should be familiar with safe use of any tools you use, follow safe practices, and should wear appropriate personal protection equipment when operating power tools.

I DONT WANT TO DO ALL THAT, I JUST WANT TO PRINT A GOLF CRIBBAGE BOARD!

Oh all right then. I've included a version that can just be be printed and used. If you pause the print to change color part way through, you can even print the lake, bunker and fairway different colors (this version of the model has the lake at a lower level than the bunker).

It's not the same version as the final templates - you can see that the peg holes don't line up as nicely as the final version. But it's printable and playable, so if you aren't into woodwork, or you just want to play cribbage on a unique board, have at it.