Today in the shop Processing Scrabble Tiles

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reible
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Today in the shop Processing Scrabble Tiles

Post by reible »

This is more of a craft project then a woodworking project. I wanted to take some Scrabble Tiles and use them to spell out the grand kids names. So I found some sellers on Etsy that had sets of letters. I got a complete set and a almost complete set with some letters damaged. I then had to resort to shopping local to find a pair of "N"'s to get all the letters I needed.

I got a bunch of magnets, 1/4" dia, and thin with adhesive backs. The simple idea was to stick a magnet on the back of the letter and be done. Testing this our proved that the magnet was stronger then the adhesive. So being a wild and crazy guy I decided to indent the magnets in the tiles. This was better but I'm not super happy yet. We will get back to that later.

The letters for this phase totaled 65. I may do parents ones later?? So after thinking about the best way to do this I figured that since I had a Shaper Origin I might as well use it. So I figured that if I made a MDF jig to hold the letters I could then use the on the machine circle to design and place a 1/4" circle which I then could helix cut.

As it turns out with as many as 3 different sets of letters and the manufacturing tolerance of tiles this wasn't going to be as easy as I hoped. While most of the tiles were close to a uniform size not all of them were. I did not want to get to involved in jig design so I experimented with a jig that all the tiles could fit in, some being very tight, others just right and then a few more that were quite loose. The quite loose ones were what I was worried about.

The very loose tile would stay in place but the tile could and would move enough to misshape the holes. Bright idea was to use some masking tape to hold them, and that worked great!

So lets take a look at what I have set up.
tile1.jpg
tile1.jpg (205.98 KiB) Viewed 3705 times
The tile shape plus dog bones allow the tile to come in and out and if need be some extra help getting them out if they are tight. The indentation was only part way so for decent fitting tiles could be removed with fingers.
tile2.jpg
tile2.jpg (182.01 KiB) Viewed 3705 times
tile3.jpg
tile3.jpg (229.65 KiB) Viewed 3705 times
tile4.jpg
tile4.jpg (242.02 KiB) Viewed 3705 times
When they were too loose I just put some tape on them first, worked great.
chipwithtape.jpg
chipwithtape.jpg (160.96 KiB) Viewed 3705 times
Now back to the pesky magnets being stronger then the adhesive. I'm experimenting with adding a drop of CA glue to the hole. Will have to see if they work as well as I hope. I hate to think I have to peel off all the adhesive first.........

Anyway more to come on this adventure.

Ed
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mountainbreeze
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Re: Today in the shop Processing Scrabble Tiles

Post by mountainbreeze »

I used epoxy glue on magnets to hold them in place in a recessed hole a few years back. None have come loose yet. I also took some 80 grit sandpaper to the surface of the magnet that was to be glued. Hint: Be sure to orient all of the magnet poles the same.
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reible
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Re: Today in the shop Processing Scrabble Tiles

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After evaluation I decided to go with the glue on the magnets. The holes are a press fit so they might even stay on their own??

Had not thought about orient......... well to late now. These magnets are really thin, it was hard enough to peal them apart and get the backing off then pressed into the holes, 65 times. Once in place they look like this:
tile6.jpg
tile6.jpg (79.85 KiB) Viewed 3655 times
The magnets are listed as .040" thick. They come packed in a tube of 20 as seen here:
tile7.jpg
tile7.jpg (74.93 KiB) Viewed 3655 times
They will come with a metal place card piece like this:
tile8.jpg
tile8.jpg (92.66 KiB) Viewed 3655 times
Anyway the work is done and with days to spare.

Ed
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reible
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Re: Today in the shop Processing Scrabble Tiles

Post by reible »

Not one of the names on my list but it is time of year appropriate.
noel.jpg
noel.jpg (87.92 KiB) Viewed 3578 times
A couple of grand kids in Covid protocol so these are moving to New Years gifts....... or beyond.

Ed
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Re: Today in the shop Processing Scrabble Tiles

Post by SteveMaryland »

The material used for the tile-holding jig appears to be Corian or equivalent.

I have found that that material cuts clean and smooth and its density and stability is perfect for such small holding fixtures. Better than acrylic.

Expensive when purchased as plates but I found a lot of it in kitchen countertops discarded at the salvage yard.
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Re: Today in the shop Processing Scrabble Tiles

Post by Majones1 »

reible wrote: Thu Dec 23, 2021 7:32 pm
Not one of the names on my list but it is time of year appropriate.
Very nice job, Ed, I love it. My family didn’t play Scrabble when I was growing up but it’s a big game with my in-laws’. I’m slow, and would play 4 point words like “NOEL” just because it’s holiday appropriate, so I don’t win much. :D
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reible
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Re: Today in the shop Processing Scrabble Tiles

Post by reible »

SteveMaryland wrote: Thu Dec 23, 2021 8:31 pm The material used for the tile-holding jig appears to be Corian or equivalent.

I have found that that material cuts clean and smooth and its density and stability is perfect for such small holding fixtures. Better than acrylic.

Expensive when purchased as plates but I found a lot of it in kitchen countertops discarded at the salvage yard.
The jig is made from MDF. Color of images is off a bit due to lighting.

Might be making more of these, but not having enough "N"'s will mean more shopping in hopes of finding more or ordering another set off ebay or etsy so not going to happen for a while.

Ed
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reible
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Re: Today in the shop Processing Scrabble Tiles

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After a little prompting I went ahead and did our children's and spouses and yes one for the wife and me. I the two of us have to wait on a new order of magnets, ran out a little early as I lost one and broke one..... or something like that. Still would have been short by 9 but now that is 11.

So I was setting at 65 letters then had to add another to differentiate a father son issue so that then became 66. The new work was added 43 more for a grand total of 109 letters.

Also had to get more of the place card stands. Questionable finish on some of them and only had a dozen to start with. So got two more packs which took care of the 7 more I needed and gave me all nice ones. Not sure what to do with the rest, could sand and repaint???

Ed
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Re: Today in the shop Processing Scrabble Tiles

Post by gochi88 »

reible wrote: Fri Dec 31, 2021 11:38 pm After a little prompting I went ahead and did our children's and spouses and yes one for the wife and me. I the two of us have to wait on a new order of magnets, ran out a little early as I lost one and broke one..... or something like that. Still would have been short by 9 but now that is 11.

So I was setting at 65 letters then had to add another to differentiate a father son issue so that then became 66. The new work was added 43 more for a grand total of 109 letters.

Also had to get more of the place card stands. Questionable finish on some of them and only had a dozen to start with. So got two more packs which took care of the 7 more I needed and gave me all nice ones. Not sure what to do with the rest, could sand and repaint???
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Ed
hello, thank you for your help, I can't say how much helpful this was for me.
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Re: Today in the shop Processing Scrabble Tiles

Post by belugaker »

reible wrote: Fri Dec 31, 2021 11:38 pm After a little prompting I went ahead and did our children's and spouses and yes one for the wife and me. I the two of us have to wait on a new order of magnets, ran out a little early as I lost one and broke one..... or something like that. Still would have been short by 9 but now that is 11.

So I was setting at 65 letters then had to add another to differentiate a father son issue so that then became 66. The new work was added 43 more for a grand total of 109 letters.

Also had to get more of the place card stands. Questionable finish on some of them and only had a dozen to start with. So got two more packs which took care of the 7 more I needed and gave me all nice ones. Not sure what to do with the rest, could sand and repaint???

Ed
Thanks a lot it was very helpful to me.
Last edited by belugaker on Sun Apr 10, 2022 5:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
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