Making a Dart-Board at Home

https://youtu.be/D3XjVWPiDwM

INTRODUCTION

Darts is a form of throwing sport in which small missiles are thrown at a circular target (called dartboard) fixed to a wall. The term "darts" usually now refers to a standardized game involving a specific board design and set of rules. As well as being a professional competitive sport, darts is a traditional pub game, commonly played in the United Kingdom, across the Commonwealth, the Netherlands, Germany,Belgium, Republic of Ireland, the Scandinavian countries, the United States, and elsewhere.

The dartboard may have its origins in the cross-section of a tree. An old name for a dartboard is "butt". The word comes from the French word but, meaning "target".

HISTORY

Darts were historically used in warfare in ancient history, skirmishers used darts of varying sizes, similar to miniature javelins. It was the practice of this skill that developed into a game of skill. Before the First World War, pubs in the United Kingdom had dartboards made from solid blocks of wood, usually elm.

Quality dartboards are made of sisal fibres, less expensive boards are sometimes made of cork or coiled paper. However, several types of sisal fibre are used in dartboards today.

DARTS

Initially the missiles were simply cut down arrows or crossbow bolts. The first purpose made darts were manufactured in one piece from wood; wrapped with a strip of lead for weight and fitted with flights made from split turkey feathers.

Modern darts have four parts: The points, the barrels, the shafts and the fletching The steel points come in 2 common lengths, 32mm and 41mm and are sometimes knurled or coated to improve grip. Others are designed to retract slightly on impact to lessen the chance of bouncing out.

PLAYING DIMENSIONS

A regulation board is 17 3⁄4 inches (451 mm) in diameter and is divided into 20 radial sections. Each section is separated with metal wire or a thin band of sheet metal.

The WDF uses the following standards for play:

Height - The dart board is hung so that the center of the bulls eye is 5 ft 8in (1.73 m) from the floor. This is considered eye-level for a six-foot man.

Distance - The oche should be 7 ft 9¼in (2.37 m) from the face of the board.

SCORING

The standard dartboard is divided into 20 numbered sections, scoring from 1 to 20 points, by wires running from the small central circle to the outer circular wire. Circular wires within the outer wire subdivide each section into single, double and triple areas.

However, in the official game, any dart landing inside the outer wire scores as follows:

• Hitting one of the large portions of each of the numbered sections, traditionally alternately colored black and white, scores the points value of that section.
• Hitting the thin inner portions of these sections, roughly halfway between the outer wire and the central circle colored red or green, scores triple the points value of that section.
• Hitting the thin outer portions of these sections, again colored red or green, scores double the points value of that section..
• The central circle is divided into a green outer ring worth 25 points ("outer bull") and a red inner circle (usually known as "bullseye"), worth 50 points.
• Hitting outside the outer wire scores nothing.
• Any dart that does not remain in the board until it is collected by the player, also scores nothing.
• A dart only scores if its point is embedded in or is touching the playing surface.

The highest score possible with three darts is 180, commonly known as a "ton 80" (100 points is called a ton), obtained when all three darts land in the triple 20.

The main component for making a Dartboard is its Board materials. There are several material for this but I used a Low cost method of a wood cork board here. Below are some Tools & Materials that will be needed for this making process.

TOOLS

• Hammer
• Nose Plier
• Cutting Plier
• Nipper
• Scissor
• Files
• Cutter
• Pen & Pencil
• Ruler
• Drill Machine
• Jig Saw

MATERIALS

• Wood Cork Sheet
• Colors (red, green, black & white)
• Brushes
• Wood Glue
• Super Glue
• Black Glossy Tape
• Metal Wire (1.5mm)

COMPONENTS

• Darts
• Hanger

This are all you need to make a Dart board at home. So, let's jump into the making.

As I have already discussed that initially Dart boards were played in a section of tree trunk of circular shape. Now a days many materials are used to make the board depending upon the cost and the making process. Some are like, Sisal fibres, coiled papers, cork and all.

In my case I used a Wood Cork sheet to make the board. This is relatively cheaper & easier to make than that of other materials.

So, cut the board in a circular shape according to the size if you want. My board is around 16 inch in diameter, because its just for a fun use for me and my nieces.

Illumination should be arranged to brightly illuminate the dartboard and minimize shadows of thrown darts. The main supply for the illumination should be protected against accidental piercing, or placed away from the board.

Here is the coloring part. Dart boards have 20 divisions in the circle. Most of the dart boards are colored in Black and White in alternative sections.

Then Red and Green is used in the intermediate and outer parts of the sections. Lastly Green is used inside the center Bull Ring and Red is used in the Bullseye.

Note : Here I have used Acrylic paint. I don't know it works well or not, its a try. Also you can use spray paints for the job.

Here I have used a glossy black Tape for sealing the sides of the board. You can also use piece of aluminium sheets for giving a boundary sealing, it looks more professional.

Here I have used a Iron Hook for hanging the board to the wall. It is a very cheap and easily available in any hardware store.

So, just drill a hole and screw in the hook.

There are total of 6 rings in a Dart board, starting from the Bullseye to the last big circle.

Here, I have used a piece of aluminium for making the Bullseye, so that is become more thinner than other rings, as it is the smallest circle in the board.

Then I have used thin metal wires for making the other 5 circles.

Now all 6 rings are ready. Here I have used Super glue to attach and fix the rings to the board.

Note : In professional boards rings and other metal components are been welded together and attached to the board.

As we know Darts boards have 20 divisions in its circle. And each section is divided by a thin metal rod.

So, here I have made 20 divisional rods with the help of a nose Plier, in the shapes as shown in images. It should have contain couple of bounchings so that it can easily gets fitted over the circles.

Here, I have drilled according holes and inserted the metal rods into each section dividing positions. Then I used some super glue to fix the rod to the board. Alternatively some hooks are also used to fix the rods.

The standard dartboard is divided into 20 numbered sections, scoring from 1 to 20 points. Each section of the board holds the specific points and thus now is the time for making those point numbers.

Here also I have used the similar metal wires for making the numbers. This is not a very hard job, just follow the images and try to make your own numbers. A nose plier is very much needed here for bending and giving shape to the wires.

Now as all 20 numbers are ready, so just fix them in their according sections using some super glue.

When you will use Superglue, you'll notice that some glossy marks got fixed in the places where you used superglue. And it really impacts the look of the board. So the way to remove these marks are pointed below,

• Mix according colors with water
• Apply another coating of color over those glossy marks
• Use a Heat-gun to quickly dry up the color

So, this is the final finished Product a "Homemade Professional type Dart board". Now, using a nail hang the board to the wall and enjoy playing a indoor game.

Just get some Darts and Play

Hope you've liked the instructable and learnt something as well.

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