How to Make a Settlers of Catan Board Out of Plywood

Throughout this Instructable I will show you how to make a Settlers of Catan board out of plywood. Using some scrap plywood I found in my workshop I made a very simple settlers of catan game using plywood and other scraps.

Supplies:
• Plywood & Plywood Scraps
• Spray Paint (Red, Tan, Blue, Grey, Light and Dark Green, and Yellow)
• Wood Files
• Jig Saw
• Circular Saw
• Miter Saw
• Sand Paper
• Clamps/Vise Grip
• Drill/Screw Gun
• Safety Glasses
• Sharpie/Carpenter Pencil
• Palm Sander/Table Sander

Find some of the supplies on Amazon.com below:

• Settlers of Catan
• Laminating Machines
• Jig Saws
• Wood Files
• Laminating Pouches
• Plasti Dip Spray
• Types of Clamps I Used

You can do this in several different orders but I chose to work on the board itself first, and then trace the pieces after to insure my border fits perfectly.

• Take a game piece from a Settlers of Catan board and trace it onto some scrap wood. I've attached an image showing the dimensions if you do not have the game. Image credit to: engineering.purdue.edu
• Always line the pieces up on the edge of the plywood to reduce the overall amount of cuts you'll have to make.
• Also try your best to line up the pieces so you can make longer continuous cuts. Also helping reduce the overall total cuts. Trust me there's a lot of cuts.

It's not easy to make dozens of perfect cuts forming over a dozen hexagons. In this step we will use a simple technique to insure all the pieces are as close to the same shape as possible.

• Clamp all of your pieces together.
• Using some wood, clamp all the pieces and the clamp together to the vise grip.
• Using a rough File, file down each side. I did one side, then the opposite.
• Make sure you've got nice straight lines.

In this step we will trace the pieces to find the exact border we need to fit our pieces. We will then cut out our border.

• Line up your pieces in the correct shape of the game.
• Trace your pieces onto your piece of plywood you will be using for the game board.
• Grab your Settlers of Catan board, build it, and center it on top of what you just previously traced.
• Now your border is ready to be cut out.
• Clamp the plywood to your vice grip and begin drilling out each and every corner. I used a 3/8" drill bit for mine.
• Get your Jig Saw out and begin cutting out the inside of the border going from hole to hole.
• Remove the inside piece you've just cut out.
• Clamp the board to your work surface and use a circular saw to cut the remainder of the board out.

We will now finish filing and sanding the inside and outside of the border.
• Use some scrap wood to avoid damaging the board and clamp the board to your vise.
• File one segment at a time occasionally checking if a board piece fits properly.

In this step we are going to prime and paint the border and inside pieces.
• I primed everything with a plasti-dip spray paint first.
• Then spray the pieces their respective colors. 3 Red, 3 Grey, 4 Dark Green, 4 Light Green, 4 Yellow, 1 Tan/Black.
• Spray the border blue.
• I put on 3 coats to make it nice and thick.
• Let it dry for an hour at a time.

I will be adding an Instructable on how to make the Cards and Game Pieces for Settlers of Catan. Stay Tuned.