Magnetic Scrabble Board for the Backyard

We extended our backyard a bit as of late. Extra room for projects, new ideas, and new Instructables ;)

Our family likes to play Scrabble. It's a decent game - teaches words, math, and competition.

I thought a magnetic, vertical one would get kids off the phones and into the backyard more often for some decent family time.

My kiddo asked me - dad, are you going to make a mess of a project on this one? I said - don't worry, kid. My first attempts are 85% disasters. 6th iteration usually comes out fine :D

Budget: The overall project did cost ~250€. I could have ended closer to 150€ if not for some mistakes along the way.

Time: ~50 hours of work

Size: Scrabble board itself is ~155cm x 155 cm in size. Extra room for tracking of points and the letter holding box.

Supplies

This project is not too complicated materials and tools-wise.

I've used (materials):

4 x water-resistant LFSF plywood (dark brown,12mm thickness). Standard off-the-shelf panels from a local DIY store, 125cm x 83 cm in size; (30€, only needed 2 / 4)
Two fence poles, pressure-treated wood, 300 cm in length; (25€)
Paint markers. I was surprised to learn these things exist, yet, worked like a charm. White & black ones were used; (10€ for 4 pcs.)
Magnets. 104 to be exact (equal to the number of Scrabble letters in my language); (60€)
Cookie jar to hold the chalk for writing down points; (3,5€)
Acrylic paint of various colors; (15€)
A bunch of Torx screws; (10€)
Earth drill to make holes for fence poles;
Metal corners for strengthening the construction; (3€)
Various pieces of construction lumber. I used what I had leftover from other projects, etc. Thus, solutions were based on that; (20€)
Some 20 kgs of ready-made concrete; (4€)
Personal protection equipment (plywood dust is nasty); (7€)
225 furniture bolts; (20€)
Drill bits; (10€)
Planed planks. (25€)
Linseed oil. (7€)
Wooden rods (12€)

Tools:

Table saw;
Scroll saw;
Screwdriver, electric;
Spirit leveler;
Meter;
Router.

Step 1: The Stand

Grabbed two 10 cm width wooden pressure-treated fence poles from a local DIY store.

Drilled 60 cm deep holes.

Inserted the poles into the holes, and aligned it vertically using a spirit leveler.

Fixed the poles in place using some rock pieces, then poured in the concrete.

Added corner brackets onto the poles. They help hold horizontal beams.

Fixed 4x LFSF plywood panels. Aligned horizontally, vertically, and also the middle corner with extra care.

It was time to start making the grid.

Step 2: Grid and Initial Colouring

It was time to make the grid.

A bit smarter person would have just drawn the grid onto the panel. But who needs a boat when you can crawl the swamp going through the bottom while dragging a table saw?

Thus, being an absolute do-now-think-later guy, I decided to route the grid into the board. Used a V-shaped router bit for that at around 3mm depth. And, yes, I've messed a bunch of those lines while routing ;)

Used a long plank to align vertical/horizontal lines and act as a support for the router pad.

Painted the new lines using acrylic paint. Scraped off the overpainted edges.

Painted special tiles (2 x letter, 2 x word, etc.) . Took me ~4 coats per color.

3D printed one tile to act as a guide for drilling holes. Letter holders will be placed into these holes.

If one decides to route after all, do yourself a favor and buy a CNC routing service to do a grid. Making it by hand is a chore ... CNC-people offer thin aluminum-on-plastic composite, which should work wonders.

Step 3: MISTAKE No. 1 - the Letter Fixture (using Rivets)

I had this brilliant idea to use rivers as fixtures for the letters.

It should have worked magically ...

Then Mrs. saw it and (correctly) noted, that these buggers are pointy and sharp. Knowing our kids, they would find very innovative ways to hurt themselves and others using those multiple times a day.

3D printing the tiles also took way longer than expected. Thus, other solutions were needed.

Guess who used strong polyurethane glue to glue in all 225 rivets in place. Took me a day of cursing, drilling, and cursing to get them all out.

Step 4: The Poem!

I wanted some special personalized touch. Thus, added a poem by a famous Lithuanian poet. Everyone has to learn this by heart at school. It's a nice poem too (Land of Children, by Justinas Marcinkevičius):

Playing pranks, being playful, being sad, going on a spree,

without considering - for whom and why.

If this land belongs to anyone,

It belongs primarily for children, of course.

We are the ones waiting for them,

Were waiting and will be waiting all the time.

Only with them we are adults,

and we are like children when alone.

Step 5: Writing Special Tile Markings

After removing the rivets, I've decided to go with magnets and furniture bolts.

One needs 225 bolts to cover the whole board. I've bought M6 size 4 cm length bolts, though shorter ones would have been enough (plywood thickness is 12mm). Used a tiny bit smaller drill bit (M5) for the M6 bolts. Screwed in the bolts nicely. Smaller holes and plywood acted as nuts for the bolts.

Used paint markers to add letters to the special tiles.

Acrylic paint came from a local DIY store.

Someday I will receive a dedicated and personal parking spot on their parking lot for all the money I spend there on a daily basis :D . Or a named bench outside ;)

Starting tile holds a Baltic ethnic/mythical symbol that means "horses".

Step 6: Small Roof

The whole Scrabble board faces directly north, so sunshine and UV should not be that big of a problem.

Still, decided to build a tiny roof from leftover plywood scraps.

Again, available materials and scraps influenced many of the decisions on this one.

Step 7: Letters, Making Of

Decided to go with the magnets to fix the letters to the Scrabble board. These magnets are called "screwable furniture magnets" here. You can find usable ones on Amazon looking for "Countersunk Hole Disc Rare Earth Fastener Magnets"

Used a scrollsaw to make 115 letters from a planed plank (only used 104, the rest were left in reserve).

Marked a letter panel outline for the vertical drill to drill the holes.

Treated each letter panel with linseed oil.

Used a black paint-marker to write down letters and their scores. The different hand writing helped to keep the DIY at home feel.

Step 8: Box for Holding the Letters

I wanted a space/box to hold the letters when not played and protect them from elements. While writing this Instructable I've realised I need to drill the holes at the bottom of the box for some accidental rainwater to drain out .... :/

Box is a box. It's around 70 cms in length, 30 cms in height, 20 cms in depth. Fixed it to the main panel using simple screws.

Besides the letters, the box also holds food container containing chalk and a rag to clean the writings when done playing.

All outside facing open plywood edges should be painted over. These will take in water and ruin the plywood panel over time!

Step 9: Letter Stands

When playing, I realized two things...

9.5x8.5 cm tiles are too big to hold in your hands.
Putting them on the ground gets them dirty fast.

Thus, decided to play with this idea of letter stands.

Drilled a hole in a 5x10 cm piece of wood and attached scraps of plywood.

The wooden rods are the handles for the garden tools according to the local DIY store ;) 2€ / piece - I would not dare to argue...

Mounted this ungodly contraption onto a wooden rod and voila...

Do not know if I'll keep it. They are a bit annoying - require very level ground and fall over in stronger winds. Well, a challenge for my next Instructable, I guess...

Step 10: Magnetic Scrabble Board in Action and Final Thoughs

Here you can see the board actually being played.

It was a fun and rewarding project (although nerve-wracking at times ;) )

Would highly recommend it as a gathering spot for the family & friends in the backyard.

Still needs a tiny bit of clean-up on various overpaints, etc., etc.

Lessons learned:

No hurry is better than hurry, curse and then remake.
Organizing your tools is a must. Now where did I put that 34th meter, them screwing bits and why did I just kicked over the paint can?
You will want a place to sit down while playing this, as a round can go for 1-2 hours. Luckily, we have a set of swings nearby. They never been so popular before ;)
Magnets are awesome material and the best sollution I've found so far.
Re-use materials is you can. Give new life to old stuff.
It's OK to succeed at attempt no 6 as long as you don't quit.

Happy Scrabbling everyone!