# Mancala Board



## splinters12 (Sep 2, 2010)

I was thinking about building some Mancala Game Boards for Christmas presents this year. Does any one know where to get a Ball Cutter that is 1 5/8" in diameter? If you dont know what Mancala is, you can see the boards on Amazon. Pretty simple, but you need a bowl like plunge cutter that will create a dish/bowl in the wood. Cant seem to find anything over 1 1/4". Appreciate any suggestions.


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## bobj3 (Jan 17, 2006)

Hi 

I got may set from
Ensemble de 6 mèches ronde, prise 1/2" | Elite Tools

But it's only up to 1 1/2" diam.. I guess you play with it just a little bit to go out to 1 5/8" diam that runs off the base/side of the router base with a template in place..but the normal guides can't use in this case.. 

Here's one for only 13.oo bucks that will work with the template way.
http://cgi.ebay.com/1pc-1-2-SH-1-Di...486531080?pt=Routers_Bits&hash=item20b5a65808

OR
Core Box Bits
#8727 1-5/8" 1" 1/2" 26.oo bucks

http://www.mlcswoodworking.com/shopsite_sc/store/html/smarthtml/pages/bt_core.html

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splinters12 said:


> I was thinking about building some Mancala Game Boards for Christmas presents this year. Does any one know where to get a Ball Cutter that is 1 5/8" in diameter? If you dont know what Mancala is, you can see the boards on Amazon. Pretty simple, but you need a bowl like plunge cutter that will create a dish/bowl in the wood. Cant seem to find anything over 1 1/4". Appreciate any suggestions.


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## bobbotron (Jan 7, 2010)

Hey splinters, just wanted to say, thanks for the idea! I used to play Mancala on the PC when I was a kid, and when you mentioned it, I decided to try my hand at making one. This afternoon I made one out of curly maple, using a 1 1/4" bowl bit. Played a few games with my girl friend afterwards, we used black beans as pieces. Worked great!

The maple reeeally wanted to burn. I had to plunge quickly, draw it back up, and plunge a second time to finish the hole. If I left it there for any period of time, it'd burn.


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## randysg (Mar 22, 2012)

I have also been wanting to make some mancala boards. I plan on using polished rocks so I need to make the 12 holes 2" - 2.5". I still haven't come up with a way to do this so it would look good and semetrical.


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## WoodNutPat (Feb 22, 2012)

Hey Jeffrey,
Try Rockler woodworking supply. i picked up bits like that from them. they also have game templates that might work.


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## Drew Eckhardt (Aug 2, 2008)

splinters12 said:


> I was thinking about building some Mancala Game Boards for Christmas presents this year. Does any one know where to get a Ball Cutter that is 1 5/8" in diameter?


Looks like a round nose or bowl carving bit would work too.

Freud sells round nose bits up to 2" in diameter.

Freud Tools - Round Nose Bits


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## Drew Eckhardt (Aug 2, 2008)

randysg said:


> I have also been wanting to make some mancala boards. I plan on using polished rocks so I need to make the 12 holes 2" - 2.5". I still haven't come up with a way to do this so it would look good and semetrical.


Hemispherical holes will limit your wood choices (2" holes would dictate 6/4 lumber) and shouldn't be necessary.

A bearing guided dish carving bit in a template (use a circle jig, Forstner bit, or hole saw in your favorite sheet goods) should do the trick.


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