The game of Go is played on a large, mostly-rectangular board of these (outside) dimensions:
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Dimension SI Imperial Japanese
(mm) (inch)
Board width 424.2 16 23/32 1.4 shaku 尺
Board length 454.5 17 29/32 1.5 shaku 尺
Board thickness 151.5 5 31/32 0.5 shaku 尺
Now, the traditional Goban is made of a single solid hunk of wood, cut to the proper size. The best boards are made from some particular kinds of wood and dry for several years after being cut. Oh, and this is very expensive - on the order of $1000+ for a solid wood Goban.
But! Another very important factor in a nice Go board is the loud "chunk/snap" sound emitted when a player places a stone on the board. It lends some psychological heft to the act of making a move. So I thought, what if I designed a board in every way dimensionally exact, except it was hollow and had a sound hole at the bottom to really amplify the noise? That way it would be far less expensive to construct and still just as much fun to play. So who better to ask about "a large-volume hollow box with sound hole designed for amplifying noises" than flat-top acoustic guitar builders?
Just to show I'm not all talk, here's a work-in-progress Sketchup design showing the basic idea. It's just a mitered box made from six pieces of wood, and I plan to glue it along the edges so as not to show any joining hardware. Now let the questions begin:
* Wood thickness. My design is using 1/8" wood for now. How is that for sound transmission and sturdiness? I assume it depends on the type of wood - I plan to use "something cheap from Home Depot" and stain / varnish it in the end. Should I go thinner? Can I go thicker?
* Sound hole size - how big do I make the hole? How does diameter affect the sound?
* Internal Bracing and Baffles - that's a large area top to support just on the corners. I imagine some braces or posts might be a good way to support it, but which is best? Where do I place them? What about "baffles" inside to direct the sound, would that be necessary? Is there a way to help the sound be "consistent" whether the stone is placed near an edge or the center?
* Internal Corner blocks - would these adversely affect the sound? They might make construction easier.
That's all I have for now. I'd appreciate any insight you guys could share.