Oga's Cantina Travel Cribbage Board

On my first trip to Galaxy's Edge at Disney World, I completely fell in love with Star Wars again. I have always enjoyed it, but the immersive experience of visiting Black Spire Outpost was out of this world (pun intended). Luckily, I get to return in a couple years and I wanted to be prepared to enjoy it even more by preparing a few extra items.

While I did get to experience Oga's Cantina, the visit would have been enhanced had I brought a Sabacc deck or some other game. My husband bought me a set of Sabacc shaped playing cards, so I thought a travel Cribbage set would be perfect.

Pegs:

variety of nails and/or rivets

Dremel with sanding bits and metal cutting bits

Files (I didn't end up using mine since the Dremel worked so well, but if you don't have a Dremel or feel safer with only one power tool in your hands, files are another option.)

Drill or lathe

safety glasses

tube storage case (I bought these)

Case:

Sabacc playing cards

leather

laser cutter (optional)

sheets of paper

tape

pencil

scissors

glue

2 leather snaps

epoxy resin with mica (or other coloring agent)

waxed thread

lighter

painter's tape

Board:

laser cutter (optional)

vector design software (optional)

1/8" acrylic or wood

glue

binder clips

Note about glue: I used various glues throughout this project. I'm going to mention the specific glues I used in the step, however, late in the project, while working on something else, I ran across Barge contact cement. I definitely could have used Barge on all these steps and been more successful than with the glues I used. It dries quickly and is very strong on lots of materials. If I did this project again, I would use Barge anytime glue is mentioned.

If you have a lathe, this step is likely much less challenging. However, I don't have a lathe, so I worked with what I have and was actually very happy with the results. These pegs were made from some nails I had lying around the house. In the next step, I'll show some pegs I made with materials I went and bought specifically for the project.

First, make sure the nails will fit into the holes on your board. I had cut a rough draft version of my board in plywood, but you can also use calipers to check the fit

Now set up a drill on a solid surface. Since I'm right-handed, I put my drill on the left.

Load your Dremel with a metal cutting bit.

Put the nail into the drill so that the head sticks out about a half-inch.

Run the drill with your non-dominant hand and the Dremel with your dominant hand.

Cut the head from the nail.

Once you've cut the head off, use a sanding bit on the Dremel to round out the sharp edges.

Use the cutting bit again to cut designs into the top of the peg.

Take the nail out of the drill and put it in with the tip out.

Sand down the tip to a less sharp point.

After finishing one set of pegs with the nails I had lying around, I opted to make a more polished set with some rivets and nails I bought. The process was exactly the same, but did result in a set of pegs I was happier with.

There are basically two ways to create a cribbage board. By marking and hand drilling each hole, or using a laser cutter. I used a Glowforge to cut out my board. For those who have a laser cutter, I've provided a blank svg file for you to customize. The hardest part of creating a cribbage board is the hole placement, and I've done that for you. This blank file will allow you to put whatever you'd like onto your board. Where does your alliance lie?

If you'd like the full design, you can find that here.

If you don't have a laser, I'm providing a template that could be used for hand drilling and wood burning. This video has a great quick explanation of how to hand drill a cribbage board with a paper template.

Tip: Download an Aurebesh font.

You want your board to be about a 1/4" deep, so for mine, I cut two 1/8" pieces and glued them together.

After cutting out the two layers of the board, use clear Gorilla glue to glue the layers together. Be sure not to get glue in the holes and use some of the pegs to ensure the layers line up. I used a string to clear out holes I suspected had glue in them.

Use Barge contact cement to glue the board to the leather backing.

Slide your peg tube into the center of the leather. If it's too tight, wet the leather to allow it to stretch a bit before resorting to cutting the hole larger. You don't want the tube to be too loose and fall out.

Add a snap to the wrap.

Your board is complete!

The case for this project was by far the most difficult part. I went through various iterations in paper before creating a leather cut file. Then, I went through at least 7 versions in leather. Like with the board, I'm providing both a printable paper template and a laser cut file, but I've removed the imagery so you can customize it to show your personal alliance.

Add a snap to the circular holes.

Add a bit of quick dry tacky glue and stitch the ends as shown. Use a lighter to melt the knots when finished. I cut several card blanks (provided in case template) in plywood to create a block the size of the card stack. It was helpful in stitching and shaping the leather but not exactly needed.

Add some quick dry tacky glue to the seams and press. Allow to dry.

After I finished this, I realized I should have stayed at the bottom and worked my way up, so reverse the direction of the stitches in the photos.
Double stitch the first hole.
Go through both sides of the leather, alternating up and down until you reach the end.
When you get to the end, reverse direction and full in the gaps from the first pass.
True of the ends.

Use a lighter to melt the knot.

To make the case more solid and protect the cards, cut two of the provided hexagons out of leather. This leather should be the thinnest leather you can get, and veg tanned would be preferred, but I doubt it matters too much.

Find a scrap material with a hole in the middle big enough for your leather pieces.

Apply tape to the back.

Stick your leather hexagons to the tape, fuzzy side up.

Use binder clips to clip the taped frames to a flat surface. This will help to make sure the tape/leather is flat when it dries.

Mix up about 2 tbsp of resin with mica to color it.

Pour a small amount of the resin on the leather and spread it around like buttering toast. The resin will soak into the leather, so go back and fourth between the two pieces and continue to add resin until you run out or until it stops soaking in.

Allow to dry.

Sand off any bumpy bits. You don't have to get it totally smooth, just sand off any of the fuzzy bits of leather that may be sticking up a lot.

Add another coat of resin, but this time, put as much as you can without it pouring off the sides. It should be totally smooth with nice rounded corners when dry.

Now you can go hang at your favorite hive of scum and villainy and play a round of cribbage while making your next deal for smuggling some rebels across the galaxy.