Cribbage board

For our anniversary, I decided that as a traditional "wood" gift I would make something for Chris.  With the full intention of using my number one resource, Grandma Cece.  I knew it would be difficult/time consuming, but I settled on a jumbo cribbage board.  Many a hours were spent on the template, then realizing that Microsoft Excel wasn't exactly intended as a cribbage board template maker, we (my mom and I) scrapped the template and pieced together another.  Then more hours were spent poking each hole in the template with a nail set so there would be a guide for the holes that would later be drilled with the drill press, then drilling, staining, painting....

My mom cut the board to size, then we laid out the template and on each hole (489 of them) we made an indention with the nail set so there would be a divot where I would then drill the actual hole.  Note, we scrapped the middle scoring section, as the drill press wouldn't reach that far into the middle and I didn't feel like free-handing it.

I drilled all 489 holes myself.  It was a chore, and took about 2 hours if I remember right.  Yes, I'm wearing a mask, work gloves (which proved necessary since I accidentally touched the rotating bit a few times) and my glasses (aka everyday safety glasses, as Chris calls them.)

The *almost* finished board.  I still need to stain the back and then put a coat of poly on it...almost 2 months later.  But I'll finish it soon, I promise.  Then we'll hang it on the wall - Grandma Cece routed a notch out in back so that we can hang it like the piece of art it is :)