Making Game Boards Without Gutters

OVERVIEW

This tutorial will show you how to make full wrapped game boards of any number of folds without gutters. The images and procedure will show a board with the front artwork wrapped around to the back of the board, and a backing glued over the ends. The procedure can easily be used to wrap the backing of the board around to the front and then place the front artwork over the ends.

MATERIALS

• Board : Either 2-ply chipboard or book binder’s board (also called Davey board).
• Hinge Tape : Either book binder’s tape or cloth gaff tape. You’ll definitely want white to keep color bleed-through to a minimum.
• Spray Glue : I use 3M Super 77 for boards. I have used others (including Craft Bond and a few others), but these seem to release their hold over time. Super 77 does a good job making a permanent bond to keep the artwork and backing from pulling away from the board core.
• Stick Glue : For wrapping the corners and edges.
• Laminate : I suggest a thin heat laminate (1.5 mil), though cold laminates may also be used. DO NOT laminate the side of the paper to be glued to the board. (Optional)

TOOLS

• Post-It? Notes: Holds pieces of the artwork together until game board is glued together.
• Weights: When initially gluing the individual pieces of the board, I use freeweights to hold the unglued pieces in place, and to put immediate pressure on the glued pieces until I can get the board into the press. I use two 5lb weights and one 25lb weight.
• Cutting Mat: Great for using as a backing to cut when using an xacto knife. Be sure to get one that is larger than the largest piece you wish to cut.
• Xacto Knife and Blades: To cut and trim the materials. Chip board is brutal on blades, so have an extra blade or two ready.
• Straight Edge: Either a metal ruler or a ruler with a metal edge. The metal will keep the xacto knife from cutting pieces from the edge of the ruler (and no longer cutting a straight line).
• Sandpaper: 60 or 80 grit sandpaper for smoothing and rounding edges.

NOTE: The following are used to put the glued board under pressure while allowing the glue to form a strong bond. You may use any method or materials you want to do the job. I have included the set-up that produces the best results for me.

• Clamps: Quick clamps are about the best things ever invented! Two of them used together can apply more than 250 pounds of pressure for pressing and clamping, I use the Quick-Grip? mini bar clamps.
• Press Boards I use pieces of 3/4” hardwood plywood to press glued pieces firmly together to ensure a good bond. Hardwood (red oak is cheapest) plywood has a much smoother surface than regular plywood. Two 24” x 24” boards will work or just about any game board (except for oversized ones). I also use a smaller piece (can be plain plywood or even a hardcover book) to temporarily put pressure on individual board pieces while I’m gluing everything together.
• Rigidity Bars: 3” x 3” x 24” oak bars or something similar to prevent 24” wide plywood from bowing at the weakest area.
• Compression Material:I use the thin underlayment foam intended for use with laminate flooring. It compresses nicely into the lower areas when under pressure and ensures an even overall bond. You can buy it by the foot at most flooring stores. You’ll want 3-4 pieces on hand.

PREPARING THE BOARDS
First thing you will need to do is to cut your board into pieces. Since we’re not using any gutters, it’s easy to calculate the size of boards you will need. Simply divide the width by the number of pieces you want across the board and the height by the number of pieces you want up and down.

For example, to make a quad-fold board that is 13” x 13”, you will need four pieces of board that are 6.5” x 6.5”.

NOTE: All pieces should be exactly the same size (unless you're doing an odd shaped board) so that the board will fold neatly.

2-ply board is very tough to cut (you will ruin one blade or, at the very least, snap the tip off of it). You will need to make several cuts to cut through the board (and I mean a LOT of cuts!). You will probably have to rough cut the chipboard down to a more workable size (one that will fit on your cutting mat). Cutting the pieces will leave very noticeably raised edges which will need to be smoothed and rounded before gluing begins. I use 80-grit sandpaper to do the job. After removing the raised edges, I round them slightly to ensure a good bond with the paper that is wrapped around the board.


PREPARING THE ARTWORK
Since this tutorial will show you how to wrap the front artwork onto the back, you’ll need to assemble the artwork into one piece. If you were wrapping a plain backing around to the front, then simply cut the backing the size you need. The artwork should be from .75” to 1” longer on each side to allow sufficient art to wrap around and leave some exposed on the back of the board. That means the overall size of the artwork will be from 1.5” to 2” larger than the finished board. Remember to cut off the corners of the artwork about .1875” from the finished size of the board. This removes excess material from the corner fold.


Once the artwork is trimmed, turn the pieces face up and fit everything together, trimming further where needed to ensure a good fit. Then you will need to secure the pieces together temporarily while working on the board. To do this I use Post-It? notes since they do not tear the edges of the artwork when they are removed (every tape I’ve used has ruined bits of the art when being removed). The Post-It? notes are strong enough to hold everything together while you are working on the board!

Turn the artwork face down and you’re ready to go to the next step.



HINGE PLACEMENT
Before gluing, you will need to decide where the hinge tape must go. Make a note on the board pieces themselves so you don’t forget about it. I like to glue down the pieces containing a hinge after doing others, but you may do them in any order.


INITIAL GLUING
First dry fit the board pieces onto the back of the artwork and check that the seams of the artwork line up with the seams of the boards. Also check to be sure that the corners of the board are about .1875” away from the cut edges of the artwork. Note that I have numbered the boards in the order they fit best so that I can put them back in order if they are moved around.

Once everything is ready to go, place the 5lb weights so that they hold down 3 of the 4 board pieces. You will need to be able to lift out the remaining piece to apply the glue and then put it back without moving the other pieces.

Lift out piece to be glued and apply glue. Be sure to follow the glue manufacturer’s instructions. For most spray glues, apply a light coat (I do three brisk passes) to ONE SIDE ONLY of the pieces to be glued (apply only to one side of the board, not to the artwork), then make a firm bond within 15 seconds.

Once glued, return the piece glue side down and press firmly. I put a board (or book) and a 25lb weight on that piece to apply some immediate pressure while I work on the other pieces.

Move the 5lb weights so that they hold down all but one of the remaining pieces and repeat until you come to pieces that contain the hinge.



MAKING THE HINGE
Lift out the two pieces that make the hinge and cut a piece of hinge tape about an inch shorter than the length of the board pieces. Apply to ONE of the hinge boards (the first to be glued into place) so that half of the tape is on the board and half of it sticks out over the edge of the board. Be sure to put the tape so that the BACK of the tape will be against the artwork when glued.

Apply glue to the board (and to the back of the hinge tape) and press into place against the artwork. Smooth out the exposed half of the tape and glue the second piece of the hinge into place.

Continue gluing pieces to the artwork until all pieces are in place.


PRESSING
Once the pieces are glued to the artwork, you will want to press the whole thing firmly to ensure a good bond. The instructions on the spray glue suggest allowing an hour for the glue to set, I usually wait at least that long (usually overnight unless I’m in a hurry).

The construction of a wrapped game board creates ridges that are higher than the rest of the board (where the corners fold over and where the hinge tape is applied). These raised areas will keep pressure off of the low areas when pressed with a flat board. The result is a poor bond that will let go relatively quickly.

I use a foam compression material that will compact at the high points of the piece to give a good even pressure at every point (high or low) of the board. I cut my pieces the same size of the press boards to be used (definitely larger than the finished size of the game board).

NOTE: The use of compression material requires a high degree of pressure to ensure an adequate amount of compression before the glue forms a permanent bond. For this reason I use press boards, rigidity bars, and quick clamps (at least 6). If you get adequate results with other arrangements, then please feel free to post here!
To clamp the piece, place a piece of compression material on one of the press boards. Then place the board (artwork facing down) onto the compression material. Place the other press board on top of the artwork and clamp securely.

NOTE: The compression material will form into place very slowly. After clamping firmly, wait about 30 minutes and tighten the clamps. You will find that there is some (very slight) give from the compression.
When clamping over a large span of plywood (like 24” or so), the plywood will tend to bow slightly causing more pressure at the edges and none in the middle. To counter this, I use rigid bars (3” x 3” oak or something similar) across the center of the press boards to prevent bowing.



After the glue has had time to dry, remove it from the press. Note that the foam will retain a negative impression of the board. The foam will resume its original uniform thickness after a while (usually takes a few days!), but will be unusable for pressing again until it does. For that reason, I have a few extra pieces on hand so I don’t have to wait to continue work.

CORNER AND EDGE WRAPPING
Put scrap paper under the paper that hangs over one edge of the board and apply glue to the entire flap. I have had great success using a glue stick. I used to use spray glue, but found it was too much of a pain masking off areas that I didn’t want coated with glue. I also find that the glue stick glue has a little more “slip time” where I can tighten the edge wrapping.

Once glued, fold the edge over the board and onto the back. Pull tight enough to make a good smooth edge, but not tight enough to tear (the glue will soften the paper while you’re working with it).
Press down the tiny flaps that stick out over the edges. Then glue and fold about .25” of the corner over onto itself. Do this for each of the corners of the edge that you have folded.

One side done! Repeat for the opposite side of the board. The glue each of the two remaining sides.

If you’re using a glue stick, there’s no need to press and clamp the board, just give it a little while to dry before applying the backing. If you use spray glue, you will want to press and clamp the piece (with compression material on the front AND back) to set the glue, though you don’t have to wait terribly long before applying the backing.


PRECUT THE BACK SEAMS
You will want to precut the paper wrapped onto the back where the back seams will need to be cut. Once the backing has been applied, it may be difficult to find the seam between the board pieces. It’s much easier to precut the paper where the seams are before the backing is applied. This will give you visual indicators when it comes time to cut the backing.


PREPARING THE BACKING
Cut the backing material so that it is .25” shorter on all sides than the finished board. For example, the backing for a 13” x 13” board would be 12.5” x 12.5”. You can do the backing in multiple pieces if you don’t have a large enough piece to do the entire back in one piece.

There are a wide variety of materials you can use for a backing. Even fairly thick material may be used since you’re not folding it over on itself to make a corner. Book binder’s cloth is designed to stand up to repeated hinging, making it ideal for a backing. If you use book binder’s cloth, you won’t need to reinforce the hinges with tape. Art paper or printed artwork is also suitable for the backing, though you’ll want to use book binder’s tape to reinforce the hinges.

If you’re taping the hinges, then cut pieces of hinge tape about an inch less than the length of the hinge and apply to each hinge. Be sure that the tape does not overlap the edge wrap.


Dry fit the backing to check for size and fit, and to get an idea of the gap on all edges. When putting the glued backing on the board you will need to keep this gap in mind for proper alignment. Small pieces of tape or Post-It? notes may be used as guides.

Apply spray glue to the back of the backing material and set material onto the board. Smooth down by hand being sure to press firmly where the backing covers the raised areas.

Press as before with two pieces of compression material, one for the front and one for the back of the board.

LAMINATING
This step is optional but recommended. Most inks used in for home printing are water soluble and easily marred. Note that most laser printers use an oil fuser that leaves a fairly nice finish that is durable. I will usually still laminate for long term durability (especially if it’s for a game for my collection).

It’s important to note that laminating does NOT provide a stable support for your hinges. You still need to tape hinges that are covered by paper, even if the paper is then laminated.

If you’re using a cold laminate, then apply according to the directions.

Heat laminates are usually applied using a very expensive heat press (which cost a few thousand dollars!). Since I don’t own one or have access to one, I apply all my laminate with a household iron. The laminate I use has a heat set of 275º F, which is just shy of the wool setting for most household irons. If the iron is too hot, you may notice small grayish patches on the laminate, which will wipe off with a moist towel.

Cut your laminate about 1” longer on all sides. For example, the laminate for a 13” x 13” board would be about 15” x 15”. Center the laminate on the board and apply to the face. Then wrap around the edges and trim so that it abuts the backing.

Book binder’s cloth does not need to be laminated. Art paper can be left unlaminated as well, though you may laminate for durability and water proofing. Note that very dark art papers (black, dark maroon, etc.) may appear mottled when a heat laminate is applied with an iron.


CUTTING THE SEAMS
Once the board is finished, you’re ready to cut the seams to allow the board to fold properly. Seams without hinges should be cut through entirely. Seams with hinges only need to have the NON HINGE side cut through to allow the hinge to function.



You will need to cut at the edge of the boards at each hinge to allow the hinges to function properly. It is for this reason that the laminate does not stabilize the hinge area by itself. Scoring through the edge leaves a weakness at the end of the hinge that may split apart with use.

FINISHING
Once everything is cut and scored, fold the board and press the cut sides firmly to crease the hinges. If the other steps are followed carefully, there will be no need to press the board in this state to ensure a good bond between the layers.


FINISHED BOARD