Wooden Rebound Game

When I was 11 years old, I was bored. So I looked on the internet for things I could make and decided to make a rebound game. I am sure that some of you have seen a game like this made of cheap plastic where you have to flick or push a 'puck' (for want of a better word) down the board. It then bounces off 2 elastic bands and into the scoring zones. The aim is to get the highest score you can without pushing the 'puck' too hard, because if you do it scores nothing.

I saw one of these on the internet, and thought, I could make one of those. So I did. And this instructable shows you how I did it (with a little help from my friends).

There are a few differences between my game and the plastic one.
1. Mine is made from wood.
2. Mine looks a lot better.
3. Mine is a lot bigger.
4. Oh forget it... My point is that mine is better in every way apart from the cost, and the portableness (is that a word?) On with the instructable.

Instructables tip / Common sense: Read through the whole instructable before you make it so there are no bits that take you by surprise.

I'm not going to beg for your votes like other people do, but it would be appreciated if you just click the vote button on my instructable.

By the way, the reason that there are no photos of the making is that I made it in school, and I made it just over two years ago.

Step 1: Materials

My game is like a human. It has a main 'body', a 'spine' and other parts that have nothing to do with the human body. Anyway... this is what you'll need for this project.

The 'body': 121cm/47 5/8" by 46cm/18 1/8" by 1.8cm/??? MDF or for non-veneer method pine or another such wood.
The edging: width 2.5cm/1": height: 4.5cm/1 3/4" length 2 sets: 48cm/19" and 121cm/47 5/8" preferably a hardwood
Veneer: 121cm/47 5/8" by 46cm/18 1/8" pine or similar. small strips of other veneer, preferably different colours
Triangles: 22.5cm/nearly 9" by 25.5cm/10" by 2cm/3/4" rectangle cut corner to corner. Preferably same wood as edging
Spine: 93cm/36.5" by 2cm/3/4" by roughly 1cm/1/2"
2 thick elastic bands
About 10cm/4" dowel thick enough not to break when quite a lot of pressure is applied
2 circular rods of plastic of diameter 2cm different colours
12 ball-bearings
 A strong wood glue

Step 2: Cut the Wood

First, you want to cut all of the pieces of wood to the right size. That means the main 'body' of the game and the edging (we'll be doing the central 'spine' and triangles later).

You are going to need to cut four pieces of the edging wood, two sets. One set (as it says in the 'materials' step is 48cm/19" and the other, 125cm/49.5". The 'body' of the game needs to be 121cm/47 5/8" by 46cm/18 1/8". The plywood underneath needs to be exactly the same size as the body in the finished product, however, I would recommend leaving a small amount of 'safety' material. This will mean that if you get the cutting a bit wrong, it won't matter. Now, cut out a rectangle 14cm/5.5" (lengthways) by 23cm/9" (widthways) from one of the corners. This will give you the-pit-that-the-'pucks'-fall-down-if-you-push-them-too-hard AKA *imagine an epic voice* The Pit Of Doom. O.K I just made that up. I'm getting really sidetracked today. Anyway, remember not to cut the rectangle out of the plywood.

Further on and further up!

Step 3: 'Body' Attached to Plywood

Right, so now you have to take your plywood and line it up perfectly with the body. If you left 'safety' room on the plywood, then try to get the 'body' in the middle of the plywood. You want a strong wood glue, but if you are doing the extra secure method below, then it doesn't really matter (but you will need a strong glue later in the project).

Optional (recommended)

Hammer nails in through the plywood and into the 'body' at regular intervals. Use however many you think you will need to make sure it never comes apart.

Step 4: Veneer

Right. The hard bit (well I think it is). Adding the veneer. If you used solid wood, then you can skip this bit. I used two pieces of veneer that run the whole length of the game. Glue them on and trim off any excess. It is better to do this that have a solid block of expensive wood because obviously that would be expensive. I used MDF for the body and covered it with a veneer.

Optional (recommended for advanced woodworkers):
Well you could do it anyway but it's quite hard to get right. Where you deem the scoring zones should be (I did mine one 20.5cm/8 1/4" from The Pit Of Doom edge of the board, one 33cm/13" and one 52.5cm/20 3/4" from it), cut out a thin strip, roughly 7mm wide off the veneer on the board. Use a stanley knife (craft knife or xacto)(remember to cut so that if you slipped it wouldn't hit you) and run it along a couple of times lighter to make sure you have the line that you want before cutting the strip off the 'body' (remember to only cut halfway across the 'body' so you only get the scoring zone on one side!). Now, get another piece of veneer of a different colour and (making sure it has the right dimensions) glue it in its place. Repeat with different colours of veneer to get the effect of light to dark for the different scoring zones. Or you could just do the same colour veneer for each. Up to you.

Step 5: Edging

Now you will need the two sets of edging that we cut in step 2. You will need a strong wood glue, because nails would spoil the look. Fairly obviously, you have to glue the short edging to the short side and vice-versa.

Step 6: Triangles

Now for the triangles. Ideally these would be made of the same wood as the edging, or the veneer (or 'body' if you didn't use veneer). These should be 22 1/2cm/nearly 9" by 25.5cm/10" and they should fit nicely in the corners of the board at the same level as the edging (on the opposite side to *epic voice* The Pit Of Doom). Glue them in place. If they are slightly higher than the edging, then you might want to sand it down or something to that effect.

Step 7: The Pegs and Bands

Now to put in the pegs that the bands are put on. The rubber bands are what the 'pucks' are bounced off to get to the scoring zones. You can see what I mean on the picture below. So first we need to drill holes for the pegs to go in. You will need to get a drill bit that is as close to the size of your pegs as you can get it. I used pegs that I got from school, but really any strong straight piece of wood would work, like a piece of dowel. Drill the holes parallel to the triangles, but a few centimetres away so you have room to put the band on. You will need one hole at each end of the triangles, but again, do each one a bit away from the edge. The middle ones should have a few centimetres between them as well. Once you have drilled your holes, then you will need to glue the pegs in. If some spills over the top, just wipe it off before it dries.

Step 8: The Spine (or Backbone)

The Spine. The thing that stops you from just pushing the 'puck' across the board straight into the scoring zone without bouncing it off the bands. You should start off with the only piece of wood you haven't used yet, the 93cm/36.5" long piece. You could add it on like that, but to improve the aesthetic quality of the game, you could round it off with sandpaper (which would take a long time) or a sanding disc or some other machine that has the same effect.

Step 9: Polish

That's as in wood polish, not people from Poland. You will now need to polish the game a lot. Put a coat of wood polish on everywhere apart from the pegs and the bottom of the game (well the plywood bit). I put about 5 coats on in total. Perhaps the most time-consuming part of the project.

Step 10: The 'Pucks'

Now for the 'pucks'. I made mine by getting a rod of plastic, and cut it up into slices about 6mm thick. I then drilled a hole in the middle of the slice that was just smaller than my ball bearing, about 1cm. I put the ball bearing on the top and hit it with a hammer until it went in. That's how you make it so it never comes out.

Step 11: Conclusion

Right. So, the end of the project. This is one of the hardest and most time consuming projects that I've ever done. There are a few things that I would like to say.

Suggestions:
Put some material in *epic voice* The Pit Of Doom to cover up the plywood.
If you used veneer, maybe put some along the edge of *epic voice* The Pit Of Doom to cover up whatever wood you used for the body. 

Any suggestions below are welcome, any comments. If you are thinking of making this, or anything inspired by this, keep me updated on your progress and what changes/improvements you've made. It would be good to know that someone has benifitted from this instructable. Until next time...

Et be talk loik a poiret day whenoi publesh thes enstruct'ble
Translation: It was talk like a pirate day when I published this instructable.