# What finish for washer board game?



## ToddN84 (Aug 1, 2011)

Making some washer boards to sell and cant decide what finish to use. They will be made from cypress and walnut.

If you are unfamiliar with the game it consist of 2 "boards" 4'x16". It is set about 4" off the ground and It has (3) 3 1/2" holes that you throw 3" washers in for points from a distance of 10'. At the front of the board I have hand painted a tiger eye. I am looking for suggestions on what finish could I put on here that would protect the painted tiger eye but at the same time not be to hard that the washers bounce to much. Thanks in advance


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## RandyReed (Jul 30, 2014)

ToddN84 said:


> Making some washer boards to sell and cant decide what finish to use. They will be made from cypress and walnut.
> 
> If you are unfamiliar with the game it consist of 2 "boards" 4'x16". It is set about 4" off the ground and It has (3) 3 1/2" holes that you throw 3" washers in for points from a distance of 10'. At the front of the board I have hand painted a tiger eye. I am looking for suggestions on what finish could I put on here that would protect the painted tiger eye but at the same time not be to hard that the washers bounce to much. Thanks in advance


Most of the ones Ive seen have "out door" carpet on them, but I know what you mean and are trying to do.

Do you think the washers will dent the wood over time? If so, you will probably need a stronger finish to try and prevent that., but you may get some extra "bounce", and I don't think there is any way around that. I can tell you that I built a set of cornhole boards in which I weakened a wipe stain to almost a golden clear color and applied 3 coats of minwax polyacrylic so that the white I used would not yellow off ( I painted the outside Carolina blue and applied a 3/4 inch white pinstripe inside the blue and the inside looks like a basketball court where I used the weak wipe stain----Im a Tarheel fan by the way) ANYWAY, over time, using cornhole bags you can see where there are tiny dents in the wood when you view the boards from an angle, but it doesn't hurt the play of the game at all. I used a sheet of hardwood flooring so I could mimic the floor of a basketball court. 










So if you are worried about dents, I would suggest a catalyzed system. It will give you a harder finish BUT will give it more "bounce" and also be way slicker too.....A polyurethane finish will be stronger and slicker too, but I don't suggest that as it will yellow any white areas.

I would just go with the acrylic topcoat in your case and you should be fine. I suggest Minwax waterbased polyacrylic and its non-yellowing. It even comes in spray cans. That's what I have on my boards and its going 3 years strong with ALOT of play time on them.

Now if your intending on leaving this game outside all the time to endure the weather, that's a totally different system.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

Unless the boards are left out in the weather I would be prone to use lacquer. When the finish gets marked up another coat of lacquer will melt into the finish and clear up the white impact marks.


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## RandyReed (Jul 30, 2014)

Steve Neul said:


> Unless the boards are left out in the weather I would be prone to use lacquer. When the finish gets marked up another coat of lacquer will melt into the finish and clear up the white impact marks.


I don't think the washers will impact the polyacrylic enough to produce white marks in the finish, it may dent slightly but the finish will flex with the dents if any are produced, which Im sure some small dents will occur. That polyacrylic is pretty tough.

If he uses lacquer, the lacquer will slightly yellow off the white areas instantly or over time. I wouldn't use a high gloss topcoat either as in the end you will see every nick and scratch as people play the game. I also suggest using nothing higher than a semi gloss. I used a semi gloss on my boards and I still get plenty of compliments. You have to really look close to see those tiny dents, and I mean close, LOL.


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

RandyReed said:


> I don't think the washers will impact the polyacrylic enough to produce white marks in the finish, it may dent slightly but the finish will flex with the dents if any are produced, which Im sure some small dents will occur. That polyacrylic is pretty tough.
> 
> If he uses lacquer, the lacquer will slightly yellow off the white areas instantly or over time. I wouldn't use a high gloss topcoat either as in the end you will see every nick and scratch as people play the game. I also suggest using nothing higher than a semi gloss. I used a semi gloss on my boards and I still get plenty of compliments. You have to really look close to see those tiny dents, and I mean close, LOL.


I'm not familar enough with the game to really know what kind of washers are used. It sounds like there will be some impact marks. Anyway only the nitrocellulose lacquer will yellow. If a butyrate or pre-catalyzed lacquer is used it wouldn't yellow.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

Any film finish could be used.








 







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## ToddN84 (Aug 1, 2011)

Thank you everyone for the suggestions. Yes the washers will over time dent the hell out of the wood and thats not what I am trying to prevent. I will add some pictures tomorrow of my old set that I just slapped together with 2x4s and 3/8 ply and you can see the damage that happens. The main thing I am trying to protect is the tiger eye that will be painted on the front as best as possible where the board is still soft enough that when the washers hit they "stick" instead of bounce all over the place.

Cabinetman- What do you mean by a film finish? I have never dabbled with too many different types of finish. All of my projects are either just painted or stained and polyurethane. Finishing a project is the part I hate and Im never patient enough to experiment with different finishes.


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## cabinetman (Jul 5, 2007)

ToddN84 said:


> Cabinetman- What do you mean by a film finish? I have never dabbled with too many different types of finish. All of my projects are either just painted or stained and polyurethane. Finishing a project is the part I hate and Im never patient enough to experiment with different finishes.


A 'film' finish is one that leaves a 'film' when it dries, like lacquer, shellac, oil base varnishes and polyurethanes, waterbase polyurethanes, etc. Penetrating oils, like boiled linseed oil, and Tung oil can be considered a non film finish, even though with enough applications can form a film of sorts.


















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## RandyReed (Jul 30, 2014)

ToddN84 said:


> Thank you everyone for the suggestions. Yes the washers will over time dent the hell out of the wood and thats not what I am trying to prevent. I will add some pictures tomorrow of my old set that I just slapped together with 2x4s and 3/8 ply and you can see the damage that happens. The main thing I am trying to protect is the tiger eye that will be painted on the front as best as possible where the board is still soft enough that when the washers hit they "stick" instead of bounce all over the place.


Your not going to be able to apply a finish so that when you throw a washer its going to "stick" when it lands on the wood. Not possible. That's why I said most of those board games Ive seen have outdoor carpet on them.

The only thing you can do is apply a finish that is not so slick that it slides everywhere. The harder the topcoat, the more the washers will slide. I would use the polycrylic and run with it. If your "tiger eye" has any white paint in it at all, or any other colors that you don't want to end up having a yellow cast to it, the polycrylic will prevent that from happening and keep your colors crystal clear. If your boards are ready for the topcoat, I would suggest applying 2 coats of the polycrylic. Apply one coat then *scuff sand (don't be aggressive)* with 240 grit paper then apply a second coat and you will be ok. You don't want to sand too much because that will make the boards slicker, and you obviously do not want that. A good quick scuff sand is all you need.

A friend of mine used polyurethane on his boards and you couldn't get a bag to stay on his boards as they would slide right off the back of the boards past the hole. I scuff sanded his boards and applied a light coat of the polycrylic and it made a world of difference.


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## ToddN84 (Aug 1, 2011)

As reference, here is my old set. It is about 7 years old and the top is just a piece of 3/8 ply I got off a job site with 2 or 3 coats of spray paint. 

Sent from my SM-G900P using woodworkingtalk.com mobile app


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## RandyReed (Jul 30, 2014)

ToddN84 said:


> As reference, here is my old set. It is about 7 years old and the top is just a piece of 3/8 ply I got off a job site with 2 or 3 coats of spray paint.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G900P using woodworkingtalk.com mobile app


Is that just 2 or 3 coats of spray paint and NO type of topcoat?? 

A topcoat is what will help protect the painted surface.


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## ToddN84 (Aug 1, 2011)

Yea, thats just paint. 

Sent from my SM-G900P using woodworkingtalk.com mobile app


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

As much damage as the board receives if you are going to make designs on the new board like in post 2 it might be better to make some stencils to maintain the boards. For the paint to make it less slick you could use some stone effect spray paint. It would give a rough texture to the finish.


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