How to build a cribbage board from Cherry and Walnut: These guys make great gifts for those who love to play board games and appreciate fine craftsmanship.
You Can Download The Plans Here
Affiliate Links to Some of the Products You Will Need To Complete This Build.
- Playing Cards https://amzn.to/2MtKpaf
- Cribbage Board Pegs https://amzn.to/2VvKdeF
- 5/16″ Radius Round Over Bit https://amzn.to/2B1cVus
- 1/8″ DIA Router Bit https://amzn.to/2VFeqZ3
- 5/32″ Radius Roundover Bit https://amzn.to/2VxkbYl
- 5/16 DIA Bit https://amzn.to/2VtXYum
- CNC Piranha XL https://amzn.to/2nzUHgF
- CNC Laser Module attachment https://amzn.to/2Mtogsx
Looking for the perfect DIY gift idea? This hinged cribbage board with built-in card storage is a beautiful woodworking project that makes an excellent present for the holidays. The best part? The lid opens up to neatly store your cards and pegs, keeping everything in one place.
I’ve created a set of plans available on my website if you’d like to follow along with exact measurements and templates.
Working Smart: Batch Processing
Since all the components are relatively small, I’m building several boards at once. This batch approach saves considerable time and makes the project much more efficient.
Safety tip: Always rip small pieces to width first before cutting them to their short length. This keeps your fingers safely away from the blade.
Building the Box Base
Cutting the Components
I started by ripping the endcaps to width, then used a stop block on my miter gauge to cut them all to identical lengths. I repeated this process for the front and back pieces—rip to width first, then cut to length.
Creating the Dados
The endcaps need dados to accept the bottom panel. To avoid an unsightly through-hole, I set up stop blocks approximately ¼” from the router bit on each side, giving me precise starting and stopping points. The front and back pieces get full-length dados, so I removed the stop blocks for those.
Joinery
For the corner joints, I used a quick plywood jig to cut plunge mortises. Don’t have a Domino joiner? No problem—a dowel jig works perfectly, or you can even use simple screws if you prefer.
The jig includes a spacer block the same width as the dado and the bottom panel. This clever setup keeps the mortise centered regardless of which end you’re working on. I also configured one end to hold pieces vertically for cutting mortises in the endcaps.
Fitting the Bottom
After cutting all the joinery, I milled the bottom panels, gradually increasing thickness with each pass until they fit snugly in the dados. Then I cut them all to length using a stop block.
One challenge: the router bit left rounded grooves at the ends. The solution? I used a roundover bit to ease the edges of each bottom panel, creating a perfect fit with a small gap for wood movement.
Adding the Card Dividers
To create the dividers that hold the deck in place, I ripped boards to double the needed width plus one saw blade thickness.
For the finger holes, I drilled holes down the center, spacing them with a bit of math. Then I ripped down the center to create two matching halves and cut them to length.
I routed a roundover on the tops of the endcaps (using a backer block to prevent tearout) and cut shallow grooves in the bottom panels so the dividers would snap into the correct position.
Sanding and Assembly
Here’s a time-saving tip: sand all the interior parts before assembly. To hold the small pieces steady, I screwed strips of scrap plywood to my bench, creating a clamping station that made sanding much faster.
I set up an assembly line and glued all the bases. By the time I finished the last one, the first had dried enough to install the card dividers.
Creating the Game Board
I cut and milled the lid pieces, then drilled all the peg holes for the game board. My plans include a printable template for the hole layout. For those with CNC machines, I’ve also included an SVG file (though I jokingly refer to it as the “more archaic method” compared to my trusty hand drill).
Since this batch is headed to a local Colorado shop, I added laser engraving to catch the eye of tourists.
Roundovers and Hinging
I rounded over the front and back edges of the lids for two reasons: aesthetics and clearance for the hinge mechanism.
The lid hinges on a dowel pin. I made a simple jig to mark the hole locations and clamped a sacrificial piece on the back to prevent blowout. When drilling into the lid itself, I used a 1/16? spacer to position it properly—this gap allows the lid to open smoothly without binding.
Finishing Touches
I prefinished all components before final assembly to ensure even coverage in hard-to-reach areas. Finally, I drove short sections of dowel to pin the lids and secured them with CA glue.
The result? A handsome, functional cribbage board that’s sure to be treasured for years to come.
I’m the owner of Benham Design Concepts, a mixed media art studio where I design and build custom furniture and other works of art using wood, glass, stone, and various metals.
In this blog, I talk about the art I create, my journey, and the things I learn along the way.