Cutting thin slots

[PaulO]

I am hoping to make a shove ha'penny board for a friend, similar to this

The brass bed markers are hinged and sit in thin slots about 1mm wide. My question is how to cut those thin slots. I haven't found a blade that thin for a table saw, and a router bit that thin wouldn't be deep enough. I am thinking of clamping a hacksaw blade between two pieces of hardwood, as I think my tenon saw kerf is also too wide.

Does anybody have any other suggestions?

 

[Shultzy]

Paul, make the base in two halves. Cut the top half into equal strips, then sandwich them between the brass and glue to the bottom half. Its also easier to route out for the black strips.

PS why do the brass strips hinge?

 

[Slim]

You can get a very thin kerf saw blade for cutting fret slots, like this one. This cuts a shade over 0.5mm slots. Other wise what about a hand fretting saw with a mitre box.

 

[mr]

Scratchstock with a long stock?
Cheers Mike

 

[BradNaylor]

Paul, make the base in two halves. Cut the top half into equal strips, then sandwich them between the brass and glue to the bottom half. Its also easier to route out for the black strips.

PS why do the brass strips hinge?

Your man's right.

If you look carefully at the photo you can see that this is exactly how the original has been made - you can just see the join extending from the edge of the finger cutout to the front of the board.

Having said that, why do the brass strips hinge? I'd simply rout 3mm deep slots (the deepest possible with a 1mm cutter) and fix the strips in.

 

[Pip]

I believe the strips are hinged along the far (left) side so that they can be lifted from the near(right) side to prove who's coin is on, or nearest to the line, if my memory serves correctly, that's why the brass strips must be so thin.
yes, the boards are (or were) made in two pieces
pip

 

[devonwoody]

Why have slots, why not treat each section as a batten leaving enough space for the brass strip. Two levels of course.

 

[Lord Nibbo]

I believe the strips are hinged along the far (left) side so that they can be lifted from the near(right) side to prove who's coin is on, or nearest to the line, if my memory serves correctly, that's why the brass strips must be so thin.
yes, the boards are (or were) made in two pieces
pip

Wrong. The strips on this board are only decorative. The slot need only be the thickness of the halfpenny being used and about as deep. To determine if a coin is covering a slot you use a halfpenny on edge and slide it along the slot, if the halfpenny on the board moves it don't count.

 

[PaulO]

You're right I'll make it out of two pieces

why do the brass strips hinge?

The idea of the game is to land your ha'pennys between and not touching the brass bed markers. After the player has shoved his five ha'pennys, the brass strips are lifted and any coins that don't move, score a point for that bed. The aim of the game is to get three scores in each bed before your opponent. The little black sections are for keeping each players score for each bed, using the chalk stored at the top.

 

[Pip]

Most of the boards I've seen were like L.N. describes, the first one I saw like this, (with non-decorative strips) had been made in Portsmouth by a "Dockyard Matey" for his Father-in-law, using dockyard materials and dockyard time,of course.
By the way, do people still use highly polished Ha'pennies, or has decimalisation taken over?
pip

 

[PaulO]

By the way, do people still use highly polished Ha'pennies, or has decimalisation taken over?
pip

I intend to use Ha'pennies, it is for a friend's 40th birthday, and I have got 1967 coins to match the year of his birth.

Traditionally one side of the coin is polished smooth. Normally "tails" is polished off, but if you are feeling rebellious and wish to deface the queen's head then you could polish "heads".