Giant Jenga Game .... Finish Issue

[Ken Koroscil]

Thanks so much for the input everyone, it's appreciated. I am obviously not a woodworker and this was my only attempt since wood shop in high school but I sure had a good time doing it. I will give an update when I get this done. ��

[Allan Speers]

Finish aside, looking at those pieces, all I can think of is h"How are they not going to split over time? Most appear to be cut with the pith inside and right near an edge. That's a very bad idea, in my personal experience.

I guess since Cedar is a rather stable species to start with, you might be OK, but the finish I'd be considering is some kind of plastic or epoxy infusion, like pen turners sometimes use.

[Ken Koroscil]

Finish aside, looking at those pieces, all I can think of is h"How are they not going to split over time? Most appear to be cut with the pith inside and right near an edge. That's a very bad idea, in my personal experience.

I guess since Cedar is a rather stable species to start with, you might be OK, but the finish I'd be considering is some kind of plastic or epoxy infusion, like pen turners sometimes use.

I sure hope it holds up, that's why I decided on cedar. If it doesn't I will use something different the next time.

[Jay Aubuchon]

Your post motivated me to look up the details for Jenga. According to Wikipedia, "Blocks have small, random variations ... as to create imperfections in the stacking process and providing additional challenge to the game." I didn't know that. Did you?

[Ken Koroscil]

Your post motivated me to look up the details for Jenga. According to Wikipedia, "Blocks have small, random variations ... as to create imperfections in the stacking process and providing additional challenge to the game." I didn't know that. Did you?

I don't know why that says that, I had a Jenga game as a kid and they were all the same and I recently bought one and every piece is identical. This might just be another inaccurate fact that Wikipedia is know for? I didn't plane these pieces so I guarantee all 54 pieces are not identical anyways.

[Jay Aubuchon]

Wikipedia references an NPR podcast for this statement. I will check it out and report back. I suspect the amount of variation is quite small, not readily perceptible.

[Jay Aubuchon]

In the third segment of this podcast, the inventor of the game explains that there are very tiny random variations in the sizes. If the pieces are too uniform, the game doesn't work.

[Ken Koroscil]

In the third segment of this podcast, the inventor of the game explains that there are very tiny random variations in the sizes. If the pieces are too uniform, the game doesn't work.

Oh ok so that's why this one works perfectly, since I did not plane anything there are natural random variations. Thanks for that.

[Ken Koroscil]

After playing this a few times I found it was a pain in the butt to meticulously restack it every time as well as a pain to move and store it. I already had a friend asked if I would bring it to his BBQ this weekend to play. I had extra piece of plywood g1s laying around so decided to make a cover that I can ratchet strap for moving it places, storage and it also serves as a setup jig. You just put the pieces in, turn it upside down ontop the platform and voila, perfect set up everytime. I wish I was able to get cedar plywood so it would match the rest of the game but oh well, just Varathaned it as is.

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[Ken Koroscil]

We tested it out today. It made it to just about 6' before it toppled and the blocks slide perfectly. Thanks for the tips guys!

Here is the Vid!

http://vid303.photobucket.com/albums...psfituel4n.mp4