New Crokinole Boards

[hentzau]

There’s an outfit in the US that are going to manufacture boards now. Not as high-end as mine, but the pre-order price is such that I’m thinking about getting one for myself. That would make three boards for me. I’m addicted.

http://maydaygames.com/index.php/gaming ... order.html" target="_blank

$99 with free shipping. $89 if you order two. This is a pre-order deal, and limited in number. There are some flaws in the prototype board pictured, but they are going to be corrected in the final product, according to the manufacturer.

Just wondering if my wife would kill me if I dropped another $100 on a crokinole board...

[hepcat]

They ever take my suggestion and add a cupholder for my drink?

[hentzau]

They ever take my suggestion and add a cupholder for my drink?

A paint bucket sized cup holder would unbalance the board...

[hepcat]

They ever take my suggestion and add a cupholder for my drink?

A paint bucket sized cup holder would unbalance the board...

...but i'm glad you noticed that I'm trying to cut down on my drinking.

[Chaz]

That is extremely, extremely tempting. I need a good big dexterity game for everyone to fail at while they're drunk.

I'm also thinking Tumblin' Dice would be an option here.

[Rumpy]

My Grandfather and I always used to play this game. He'd play it with everyone and it had become known as his game.

[hentzau]

I just got my third crokinole board about a month ago. Bought it off of Ebay, and it is a very nice board indeed, fills the gap between my cheap board and my really expensive board. When it showed up, I told my wife that I was done. Three boards are more than enough.

And then today, I saw this:





If this guy ever offers these up for sale, what the hell am I going to tell my wife???

[Zarathud]

Tell her it's a table for downstairs.

It's like the Emissary game table. Positives - costs less. Negatives - Too small for eplay.

[El Guapo]

So what's so great about this whole 'crokinole' thing?

[hentzau]

So what's so great about this whole 'crokinole' thing?

I'm really not sure I can explain. For me, from the first game I played I was hooked. It was a perfect casual game, requires some skill and manual dexterity, could be played while drinking (unless you're Hepcat), and almost any age person can play it. I've played with my 6 year old son, and I've played with an 85 year old drunken woman. There's a certain elegance to the game, amid the simplicity. There's strategy, or you can just play to blast the hell out of the pucks and send them flying.

Plus the boards are pretty (well, the custom ones are) and each one plays a little differently.

Let me relate a story that happened last fall. I was doing a show at a lodge at a state park for four weeks straight, two days a week. After the show was over, the lodge would put me and the three other guys (and aforementioned 85 year old perpetually drunken woman) up for the night after the first show. When prepping for the show, they mentioned that they would just hang out in the cabin, drink, and play games all night long. I asked them what kind of games, and they said stuff like Uno and Tripoley and Yahtzee, pretty generic crap. I said I would bring along some of my games as well. When I showed up at the cabin with my crokinole board, they were all like "WTF is that?" After our first night setting up, introduced them to the game, and we stayed up until 2 AM that first night, playing. Matter of fact, we would stay up until 2 or 3 every night playing. They were instantly hooked, even the 85 year old (and she really sucked). Anytime something wasn't going on with the show, someone would be either playing or siting at the board practicing.

Like I said. Hard to explain unless you have played a game. All it took for me was one game, and I'm now down about $650 on boards.

[coopasonic]

So what's so great about this whole 'crokinole' thing?

This whole thread belongs over here.

[Lorini]

It's a great sit down and play for a few minutes game. It's very accessible and easy to explain. The boards are beautiful. I have a set that is on a pub table in my gaming room. The mayday boards will be made in China. I had my board hand made in PA. It cost about $200, about twice as much as the mayday ones. But I like the idea of it being handmade and done in the US.

[freelunch]

having been converted to the joy of dexterity games by PitchCar, Sorry! Sliders and Catacombs I've just ordered a Crokinole Board (to be my birthday gift from the family next month) Nobody makes them in Australia so it won't come cheap, but I believe it'll be worth it :)

[hentzau]

having been converted to the joy of dexterity games by PitchCar, Sorry! Sliders and Catacombs I've just ordered a Crokinole Board (to be my birthday gift from the family next month) Nobody makes them in Australia so it won't come cheap, but I believe it'll be worth it

Excellent! Another convert! Who did you buy your board from?

[freelunch]

I ordered it from "Games From Everywhere" who source their boards from USA*, according to a user comment they're made by someone named Murray, but I don't know who he is or if he's known by a company name.

google turned up Muzzies Crokinole in Canada, these look like the same boards offered by the Australian retailer, so it might be where mine will come from.**

*GFE's site says the boards are Canadian-made, but in his emails the retailer has said a couple of times that they come from America.

**and Muzzies 'about us' page confirms that they supply GFE with boards

[miltonite]

If this guy ever offers these up for sale, what the hell am I going to tell my wife???

You are going to tell her it is ok because you are selling one to Miltonite.

[Grundbegriff]

So what's so great about this whole 'crokinole' thing?

This video seems to capture the spirit of the thing.

[hentzau]

I told my wife I was done. I swore, no more boards dear. I have three, that's enough.



And the guy who made it is selling them. I'm doomed...

[freelunch]

I got my board yesterday and spent a couple of hours playing over the course of the day. thus far it is as much fun as I imagined :)

[El Guapo]

That looks like an excellent investment for one of my friends to make.

[Zarathud]

Love that it's the Death Star, but the pucks leave something to be desired from that angle.

[SarsieO]

This is a great site! I love crokinole's rich history!

The earliest known crokinole board to date was built by Eckhardt Wettlaufer of Sebastopol, Ontario, Canada as a fifth birthday gift for his son, Adam, who was born on December 31, 1871. The board now resides at The Joseph Schneider Haus Museum in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada as part of their Harvest Collection. Several other home-made boards of southwestern Ontario origin, and dating from the 1870s, have been discovered since the 1990s. It seems to have been patented on April 20, 1880, in New York City by Joshua K. Ingalls. [5]



Crokinole is often believed to be of Mennonite or Amish origins, but there is no factual data to support such a claim. The reason for this misconception may be due to its popularity in Mennonite and Amish groups. The game was viewed as a rather innocuous pastime - unlike the perception that diversions such as card playing or dancing were considered "works of the Devil" as held by many 19th-century Protestant groups. The oldest roots of crokinole, from the 1860s, suggest the British and South Asian games are the most likely antecedents of what became crokinole.[6]



In 1899, Crokinole was revolutionized by what is still known today as the "Eagan Opening". Thomas Eagan developed a complicated, 3-turn hybrid opening sequence in Tottenham, Ontario that confused, and ultimately defeated, the Perth County players. The Eagan Opening has never been published, but appears to have been passed down generation by generation to Thomas Eagan's descendants by word of mouth. What is known is that, on the initial shot, the "20" is missed on purpose, with the disc being left on the edge of the 20-hole. Then, depending on the opponent's response, the second or third shot is left behind the player's front-left peg that requires absolute precision for the opponent to remove. Even if the opponent was capable of "breaking through" the Eagan Opening, which the Eagan family themselves were experts at, it often caused such mental exhaustion that it resulted in defeat over the course of the game.



In the late 1940s, a crokinole playing family from Northeastern Newfoundland named the Fitzgeralds visited Tottenham on a cross-country tour. They introduced the Eagan family to the "Coachman's Screen", which purposely lulls the play into the 5-point area on the opponent's cross-side. The Eagan and Fitzgerald families soon learned that the Eagan Opening and Coachman's Screen, when used together, made them virtually unbeatable. Within the local church, after the Catholic mass on Sunday morning, they taught each other the angles and the succession matrix of each technique.[5] [6]



In 2006, a documentary film called Crokinole was released. The world premiere occurred at the Princess Cinema in Waterloo, Ontario, in early 2006. The movie follows some of the competitors of the 2004 World Crokinole Championship as they prepare for the event.

[wonderpug]

How delightfully random. Best first post ever?

[hepcat]

How delightfully random. Best first post ever?

Quite informative and enjoyable. Two tentacles up!

[SarsieO]

I think what's best is its history!

The earliest known crokinole board to date was built by Eckhardt Wettlaufer of Sebastopol, Ontario, Canada as a fifth birthday gift for his son, Adam, who was born on December 31, 1871. The board now resides at The Joseph Schneider Haus Museum in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada as part of their Harvest Collection. Several other home-made boards of southwestern Ontario origin, and dating from the 1870s, have been discovered since the 1990s. It seems to have been patented on April 20, 1880, in New York City by Joshua K. Ingalls. [5]



Crokinole is often believed to be of Mennonite or Amish origins, but there is no factual data to support such a claim. The reason for this misconception may be due to its popularity in Mennonite and Amish groups. The game was viewed as a rather innocuous pastime - unlike the perception that diversions such as card playing or dancing were considered "works of the Devil" as held by many 19th-century Protestant groups. The oldest roots of crokinole, from the 1860s, suggest the British and South Asian games are the most likely antecedents of what became crokinole.[6]



In 1899, Crokinole was revolutionized by what is still known today as the "Eagan Opening". Thomas Eagan developed a complicated, 3-turn hybrid opening sequence in Tottenham, Ontario that confused, and ultimately defeated, the Perth County players. The Eagan Opening has never been published, but appears to have been passed down generation by generation to Thomas Eagan's descendants by word of mouth. What is known is that, on the initial shot, the "20" is missed on purpose, with the disc being left on the edge of the 20-hole. Then, depending on the opponent's response, the second or third shot is left behind the player's front-left peg that requires absolute precision for the opponent to remove. Even if the opponent was capable of "breaking through" the Eagan Opening, which the Eagan family themselves were experts at, it often caused such mental exhaustion that it resulted in defeat over the course of the game.



In the late 1940s, a crokinole playing family from Northeastern Newfoundland named the Fitzgeralds visited Tottenham on a cross-country tour. They introduced the Eagan family to the "Coachman's Screen", which purposely lulls the play into the 5-point area on the opponent's cross-side. The Eagan and Fitzgerald families soon learned that the Eagan Opening and Coachman's Screen, when used together, made them virtually unbeatable. Within the local church, after the Catholic mass on Sunday morning, they taught each other the angles and the succession matrix of each technique.[5] [6]



In 2006, a documentary film called Crokinole was released. The world premiere occurred at the Princess Cinema in Waterloo, Ontario, in early 2006. The movie follows some of the competitors of the 2004 World Crokinole Championship as they prepare for the event.

http://www.archive.org/details/Crokinole" target="_blank

Accomplished fiddler and step dancer, Julie Fitzgerald, was allegedly the first family member to confirm the infamous “Eagan-Fitzgerald Cabal“, a term coined by famous crokinole player and analyst Eric Miltenburg of Toronto. In the World Crokinole Championship’s very backyard in Tavistock, in early July 2010, Fitzgerald explained in great detail to Bill Gladding of the Tavistock Gazette the importance of her family’s contribution to crokinole’s history. Fitzgerald stated that many of Thomas Eagan’s descendents still play dominant crokinole, but are now scattered across the continent, with some in the Greater Toronto Area, the Ottawa Valley, remote areas of Northern Ontario, British Columbia, and San Francisco. The family do not participate in the World Crokinole Championships, because they consider the level of competition inferior to their own and concentrate on developing their family’s skills. Fitzgerald boasted about the family’s political connections and stated they are developing crokinole software with an unnamed technology company in Sunnyvale, California. Unfortunately, the story was never published in the Tavistock Gazette. Bill Gladding and Julie Fitzgerald have since denied any conversation taking place. However, Julie’s sister Kerry and brother Tom have confirmed they were in Tavistock with Julie and that she spoke to Gladding on two separate occasions on July 2 and 3, 2010.

It's also going mainstream! 2010 WCC champ Justin Slater, was the first to secure a major sponsor in his exclusive arrangement with O'Neill Canada. Justin is also rumoured to be "the face" of Nova Scotia crokinole manufacturer Muzzies Canada, once he attends university there in the Fall of 2010.

[silverjon]

sputterrrrrrrrrrrrhahaha

bestest bot EVAR

[El Guapo]

I don't get it. I don't see any spam links. Is this a SpamBot designed just to spread the gospel of Crokinole?

[The Meal]

I don't get it. I don't see any spam links. Is this a SpamBot designed just to spread the gospel of Crokinole?

Generally the spamlinks get edited in after-the-fact (maybe months later). The spamlinks aren't there for us (active OO participants) to click on, but for search-engine optimizations (do a web search on SEO if you're really interested in the phenomenon -- it's rather complex).

Fortunately TPTB are pretty good about rooting out the spammers.

[wonderpug]

Can we keep him? I'm dying to know what crokinole-targetted spam looks like.

Increase your finger flicking strength overnight!

The ladies will say 'what fine hard wood you have!' when they see your new crokinole board!

Meet hot crokinole-playing singles in <CITY FROM IP LOCATION FINDER> who want to put their discs in your hole!

[El Guapo]

I agree. Plus his grammar is fine, and it looks reasonably informative (though I haven't fact-checked his posts). Really, he contributes more than some actual posters.

[silverjon]

The greatest thing about crokinole is its history!

[Marwan]

Although crokinole history and crokinole rules may be interesting, I think external factors can make all the difference in the game! Humidity can wreak havoc on a crokinole board and its disks. Former World Crokinole Champion (WCC) Brian Cook has privately blamed his second place finish in 2010 to Justin Slater on the WCC board’s inability to handle the humidity in Tavistock. Others have suggested it had nothing to do with the boards, but on Slater’s secret training with descendants of the Eagan-Fitzgerald Cabal as being the difference. Regardless of the reason, I have written a piece on humidity’s impact on the game of crokinole.

A wood's weight and moisture content

Let’s get technical. Wood is hygroscopic - meaning, when exposed to air, a crokinole board will lose or gain moisture until it is in equilibrium with the humidity and temperature of the air. Moisture content (MC) from 5 to 25 percent may be determined using various moisture meters developed for this purpose. The most accurate method in all cases, and for any moisture content, is to follow the laboratory procedure of weighing the piece with moisture, removing the moisture by fully drying it in an oven (105 degrees C) and reweighing. The equation for determining moisture content is MC% = weight of wood with water - oven-dry weight / divided by oven-dry weight X 100.

Equilibrium moisture content
The moisture content of a crokinole board below the fibre saturation point is a function of both relative humidity and temperature in the surrounding air. When a board is neither gaining nor losing moisture, an equilibrium moisture content (EMC) has been reached. Wood technologists have graphs tha t precisely tie EMC and relative humidity together, but as a rule of thumb, a relative humidity of 25 percent gives an EMC of 5 percent, and a relative humidity of 75 percent gives an EMC of 14 percent. A 50 percent swing in relative humidity produces an EMC change of 10 percent. How that affects the crokinole board depends on which wood species is being used. However, let's say the width variation is just 1/32 inch for a 26-inch playing surface board. That amounts to significant expansion or contraction and can severely impact a game. Protective coatings cannot prevent wood from gaining or losing moisture; they merely slow the process.
　
All crokinole boards and disks are designed to withstand a certain amount of moisture. In most cases, good craftsmanship will allow the material to expand. Mass produced and composite boards and chips go through the same changes as their custom-made sisters, but high quality boards often include special channels that allow the material to grow. These measures are designed to prevent problems caused by too much moisture, but the appearance and integrity of the boards can still be affected by high humidity.

Crowning

Crowning is the bowing of a crokinole board into a convex shape. The center of the board appears to be higher than the edges and makes the deck uneven and unattractive. There are a number of causes for crowning, but it is often the result of botched attempts during the design phase. Standing liquids, such as water, but especially alcoholic beverages allowed to sit on the board for long periods triggers the most drastic crowning.

This problem can occur spontaneously in larger crokinole boards. Naturally occurring crowning is much less severe than the kind caused by human error and can only be seen upon close inspection. This kind of crowning is often the result of a humid environment, but should go away once the board is allowed to dry out. In the meantime, boards with beveled edges will hide some of the distortion.

Cupping

Cupping is a condition in which crokinole boards become concave. The deck begins to resemble a shallow cup as the sides rise above the center. There are a number of reasons severe cupping can occur, but moisture is always to blame for the change in the wood. Carbonated drink spills that were allowed to soak into the wood are sometimes the problem, but sudden high humidity is often the culprit. This condition is the result of the bottom of the board containing more moisture than the top. Open pores in the deck and improper drying are usually the cause of these variations in dampness.

The treated surface of the wood resists expanding, but the seams and underside of the board swell. As the board grows, it will begin to push up on the surface. This pressure can exacerbate the cupping by forcing the edges to rise even more and cracks the wood.

Buckling

Buckling is a serious issue in the crokinole disks which the edges of the chips detaches from the core. This problem should never be caused by normal changes in humidity. If a disk does react in this way to more moisture in the air, it was probably manufactured incorrectly. Buckling is seen most often in chips that have been soaked in alcohol, particularly Scottish ales.

Controlling Moisture and Fixing Boards

Most crokinole players will have no problem with their boards. Most modern boards have been treated and designed to withstand even the most drastic atmospheric changes. If these products are installed properly, the boards should have enough room to grow without any problems. However, owners of crokinole boards should keep their home well ventilated in the summer so that moistures can flow freely. Homes in particularly balmy climates may need the help of a dehumidifier. Cracks happen most in the winter, and although they are often only temporary, it may be wise to introduce some moisture into the air inside via a humidifier. This can help the family avoid colds and soar throats, too.

Never leave standing water or other liquid on a crokinole board. After a spill, sop up the liquid as quickly as possible. If necessary, use fans to thoroughly dry the board. Of course, it is never a good idea to mop boards or clean them with water-based products. If a board has been damaged, look for leaks and other more significant sources of moisture. Humidity does not often cause permanent cosmetic defects, so check for other common problems first. A damaged board may need sanding, refinishing, or other repairs. Since the board must be dried before any work can be done, try letting it air out for a while before calling a handyman. Many humidity problems are only temporary, so watch the area for a few days. If the wood does need work, make sure to allow the moisture to escape before refinishing it. Trapping extra water inside is likely to cause crowning.

[xwraith]

Now there is even a Crokinole app for your iPhone!

[hentzau]

Now there is even a Crokinole app for your iPhone!

I've had that for quite a while. It's fun.

[wonderpug]

I got that app a while ago just so I'd know what the heck hentzau was talking about.

[El Guapo]

I love our new crokinole spammers. Hentzau, does his board analysis seem sound?

[hentzau]

I love our new crokinole spammers. Hentzau, does his board analysis seem sound?

It is providing me quite a bit of amusement that a mention of Crokinole, of all things, would be drawing that spambots. And they are over on BGG as well, here's just one copy of this exact post. A quick search found about 3 other copies of this post.

And to answer your question, I haven't seen any effects of humidity, from my cheapest MDF and veneer board all the way up to my most expensive black walnut board.

[hentzau]

My wife does Norwegian folk dancing. (Yes, it is as glamorous as it sounds. She puts up with my eccentric hobbies, I put up with hers.) So every year, one of the big events in the Scandinavian community here in Chicago is the Scandinavian Day picnic. A full day of Scandinavian crafts, food, music, historical re-enactors, SAAB's, antique Nimbus motorcycles, old people singing Norwegian and Swedish songs...you name it, if it's Scandinavian, it's there.

Now, this may sound like a ton of fun, but, having gone to this same picnic for 25 years now, seeing the same dances and motorcycles and crafts and "Uff Da!" t-shirts and having the same weird food (Lefse? Rommegrot? Polser wrapped in lefse? Herring breakfast?) and hearing the same style of music year after year after year, well, it does get a bit tedious.

To fight the tedium this year, I decided to bring my crokinole board with me. At the very least, I could play a few games with my kids when they aren't off at the playground. Luckily, one of the men in my wife's dance group had decided not to dance this year, so he settled in opposite of me and we started playing. And within a few minutes, we had someone over, asking what we were playing, and I gave them a quick run-down of the game, along with repeating and spelling crokinole about 3 times.

And this set the tone for the rest of the day. About every 15 minutes or so, I would have someone come wandering over to see what we were playing, and get an explanation. My wife said that every time she looked over at me, I was explaining the game to a new person. I swear, if I would have had a few boards with me, I could have sold them on the spot.

So the day winds down. I start carrying stuff back to the car. I come back, and see a crowd around my crokinole board. Seems I have attracted a group of Swedish Historical Sports re-enactors. And they are hooked. My wife was trying to explain the game to them, so two were playing while she explained. I then took over, and showed them how you could play four players, and suddenly they were off and running. It was really funny how much they took to the game, hearing them trash talk each other in Swedish. So I grabbed a bit of video of them playing, if you've ever wondered what a group of Swedes dressed in historical clothing looked like playing crokinole.

If I find out that crokinole suddenly becomes a hit in Sweden, I'm using this post to give myself credit for the craze.

[El Guapo]

This "hentzau" crokinole spambot is the best yet! Swedish Historical Re-enactors? Where do the spammers come up with this stuff?

[Carpet_pissr]

Agreed. That is some random shit right there.

Nice try, bot.