Easy Version - Knuckle Bones (Part V)

In my research of The Royal Game of Ur, I found out that often this game was played with knuckle bones from goats. I find it hard to believe that such a simple game most often used the tetrahedron dice when they aren't easily made.

All this game really takes is an opportunity for all four dice to show either a one or a zero. This could be done with traditional six sided dice. A roll with an odd number is one, and an even number is zero.

I would much rather have something a bit more traditional than plastic dice, though. One video I saw of a guy who was making game sets from cardboard had little rectangular shapes, which I immediately recognized as his version of the dice.

I could do better than cardboard, though.

My version of knuckle bones. Yes, I made an extra.

This was dead simple to do. The hardest part is accurately planing my stick. I used some mystery wood, which could be goncalo alves, but I think probably not. It is very heavy.

Once I had the stick planed as accurately as I could at somewhere near 1/2", I marked out six points on a centerline with my dividers.

This stick is long enough to make five, just in case I screw one up.

I drew layout lines at each of these points, and then marked the centers of each piece on a centerline for my inlay. I did this on both sides.

Here I am drilling holes.

I had some big 5mm bamboo skewers, which should make Greg happy. After drilling in each piece from both sides, I glued in a bamboo peg in each of the holes.

Mine go all the way through. Much easier, and it isn't likely they will pop out.

Waiting for the glue to dry.

After these set for a bit, I got impatient and cut them off with my flush cut saw. Yes, I know hide glue takes 24 hours to cure, but these pegs aren't going anywhere.

Probably.

Flush cutting.

Here's what it looks like.

I also chamfered each corner with two swipes on my block plane. Doing that now will make them much more uniform.

Next just cross-cut as accurately as possible. I still cleaned up each end with a shooting board.

Done!

I'll wait until tomorrow to polish the faces and apply finish.

Two positives regarding this style are they are much easier to construct, and being easier to make, they are likely much more accurate.

The only negative I can see right now is that they are a lot bigger, which might be a challenge for players with small hands.

I'll report back after having played the game several times with each set of dice.

Just in case you are wondering, I haven't given up on the tetrahedrons. In fact, I finished cutting out one of those today, too.

Progress!

UPDATE:

I found this video, which shows the game played with replicas of actual knuckle bones.