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Crokinole General Care and Instructions and Repair Tips
Introduction
Our boards are sold with the tag line of "80% as good at 1/3 the price" for our standard boards and we would say our ELITE boarrds would be "90% as good at 1/2 the price" of heirloom quality boards. This means that while our boards aren't perfect, they should be perfectly functional. Every board is handmade and very rarely will our boards be 100% perfect. Small imperfections are to be expected, and we hope our customers appreciate the value proposition of our boards and forgive us when our boards aren't 100% perfect.
While we hope every board arrives to every customer perfectly, with more than 15,000 boards sold in the past 10+ years, we know all to well that this just isn't going to be the case. Around 1.5% of customers over the past 10 years have had some sort of issue with their board. That doesn't sound like a lot but if you are in that roughly 225 total customers, it isn't very helpful. We want all of you to be happy with your boards and hope this page will help you understand better our boards, how to care and maintain them, and of course how to DIY any small fixes that might be necessary.
Care & Maintenance
We have put together a nice one-page document about care and maintenance that comes with every one of our Standard boards, but it is equally applicable to our ELITE boards. You can download this document in PDF form HERE.
The entire document is also posted below in text form:
Intro -Mayday is a small US company that is passionate about Crokinole. When Seth from Mayday looked for a crokinole board for a family gift all the way back in 2011 he found there were only $250-$400 custom boards available on the internet, sometimes with wait times of over a year! Thus began Mayday’s quest to make a value board that would allow this amazing game to get into more homes than ever before. We have hosted the GenCon Crokinole tournament for the last several years and are so happy to get this game into the homes of many people who just wouldn’t take a chance on this game were a discount option not available. We have had many happy customers go on to buy more expensive heirloom-quality boards from true craftsman, but still use our board for more casual games. We are delighted by this! Our boards aren’t perfect, but they should be perfectly functional and give owners a sense of enjoyment for years to come. We think it is a testament to the quality of the game that so many customers go on to buy a true artisan board after giving our board a go. Please accept that almost all of our boards have some small imperfections. Consider adding a carrying case or rubber/screw set of pegs should you prefer a more unique look. Both are available at maydaygames.com.
Surface Care -The most important feature of crokinole is the interaction of the discs and the hardwood. 90% of that interaction is dependent upon the wax on both the discs and the board. In fact, boards can be made of hardwood, painted plywood, metal or even glass! If the top surface is properly waxed, then the discs will behave the same on every surface. You may meet Crokinole Snobs telling you the surface of their board is “faster” for one reason or another. Don’t believe them, it all comes down to how they are WAXED! Your board will function best with a proper top coat or 2. We recommend carnauba wax (2024 Update: We now recommend our own wax in 3-ounce or 11-ounce versions HERE) but be sure to get a wax that is 100% wax and has no “cleaners” so as not to damage the wood on the board. If you can run your fingernails across the board and feel a “grainy” feel or your nails snag somewhere then you need to apply another coat of wax.
Discs -Your board includes tournament sized discs of the proper size & are intended for play on regulation tournament-sized boards only, like this one. You should take care to wax both the board AND the discs for best results. Consistency of force applied should result in consistent results if both the board and the discs are waxed.
Appearance -Note that our boards are made of MDF and finished on both sides so that any wetness should not absorb into the board. Any water that gets into MDF can cause the wood to bloat and warp, so wipe any spills off immediately and don’t take your board swimming. It might float but it will look quite bad when it comes out of the pool! The top layer of wood on this board is made of a hardwood veneer (meaning the very top layer only is hardwood, the rest of the wood is MDF). This veneer is made from thin sheets of the wood from real hardwood trees. These sheets of hardwood vary in length, most being narrower than a crokinole board’s surface. This means that most boards will be made up of 1-3 different trees’ wood. It is all hardwood but the variations in color from one tree to the next account for the differences in color on the board. This is a natural feature of all veneers and is not a defect of the board. Some small glue marks or chipping along the rim/ditch of the board is also quite common, touching up these small areas with a black or brown “sharpie” permanent marker should make any areas where the wood is chipped all but invisible. For larger chips consider filling with wood putty and gently sanding with a very fine sandpaper before staining or using a “sharpie”.
Pegs -Note that the wooden pegs for the game may fit a bit loosely in the holes on the board. We have had problems with prior production runs with the pegs being much too large for the holes, so we have intentionally designed these to be just a bit loose. The pegs won’t fly off while playing the game, but some pegs may be just a bit “wobbly”. If this isn’t to your preference, we recommend a drop of wood glue to attach the pegs permanently, or to simply wrap a small piece of masking tape around the bottom of the peg for a snugger fit. Alternatively, you might consider a rubber/screw replacement set of pegs for a “bouncy” game of Crokinole. We offer these sets on our website as we mentioned earlier.
Storage -Store your board in a cool, dry area and if possible, store it completely vertically or horizontally. Storing it at an angle could warp your board. Storing your board in a very humid area could allow moisture to penetrate the board and cause warping as well. Exposing your board to extreme temperature shifts frequently can also cause damage to your board. Careful care and handling should be taken when transporting your board and we recommend one of our Mayday Crokinole Carrying Cases both for storing and transportation.
Repair Tips
There are a variety of potential issues that customers may experience relating to a damaged board. If you recieve a damaged board the first thing you should do is take photos of it, inspect the packaging and try to determine if it was damaged in transit or was a manufacture's defect. If your board was damaged in transit please contact us immediately so we can open up an insurance claim with the shipping company and get reimbursed for the poor handling. We will then refund you or replace your board at your option.
(in the above image the box/packaging was damaged and you can even see styrofoam IN the crack, indicating it was dropped/damaged in transit and not a manufacturer's defect)
If your damage is due to a manufacturer's defect, please take photos and email us at support@maydaygames.com so we can address the issue and take care of it with you. These boards are over the "standard" size that most shipping companies will take a package so there are a lot of oversize shipping fees associated with the shipment of a crokinole board. As such, we will often offer you a small refund or in-store credit to compensate you for a very damaged board and ask you to try to fix it yourself.
If the damage is so bad that such a repair is impossible then we will likely have you hold onto the game, repackage it and wait for our further instructions. It often costs $50 USD or more to ship a board out, so rather than have you return the board to us we will often list it as an imperfect board at a discount on our website and then send you the label to send the board on to the customer who buys your damaged board. Note in all cases the exact damage as described by you and your photos will be used to advertise the board so the next customer 100% knows what they are getting.
Here are some general tips on common issues and what to do about them:
Rusted/Gross metal pegs:
All of our ELITE boards for 2024 were produced with "antique" looking screws that are supposed to look distressed/weathered. If this isn't to your taste or you just want something else, you can purchase brand new brass screws if you prefer found HERE.
These slightly distressed screws are not a defect of your board.
Loose Fitting Acrylic 20s Holders:
The acrylic 20s holders are intentionally a little loose so that they don't scratch the rim of your board. They wiggle a bit but if you put a small piece of microfiber or other cloth or even a papertowel/napkin in the gap then it fills it nicely AND acts as a buffer so the very hard acrylic doesn't scratch your board all up every time you use it. The 20s holder for our standard boards (here) are not the same as those that come with the ELITE boards (here) so be careful which set you order if you want an extra set!
Base Unattached from the Rim
The bases of the board sometimes can come unattached from the rim of the board depending on how rough a board is shipped, if it is dropped or if the rim was just not properly attached. It seems very severe and like a huge problem, but it is actually a very simple fix. Most of our boards are attached to the rim with common wood glue and a sharp drop can unattach them. Re-attaching them just requires you to go purchase some wood glue from any hardware store or for about $3.50 on Amazon. Wood glue is pretty amazing stuff, it is specifically engineered to bond/fuse wood to wood.
You just need to liberally apply the glue to the base and then slide the rim over the base. If you have some large clamps to put pressure on the whole board even better, but if you just let the board dry for 24 hours it should be VERY SECURE. We just recommend you take a warm, damp cloth and wipe away all the excess glue that sneaks out of the cracks as you first secure it to ensure the glue doesn't dry onto the base or inner ditch and look bad later.
Deep Scratches/Chips/Dents
Unfortunately sometimes your board will either arrive with or develop some deep scratches/chips or other imperfections. These can be unsightly and in the worst examples they can even effect game play. If you are only concerned about functionality, a little wood putty in the crack followed by some very careful fine-grain sanding can take care of the "dent" and then waxing the board a couple of times will make the surface as smooth as glass.
If you want to try to actually make the scratch/chip "disappear" you will need a little more patience but here are some ideas on how to do that:
(example of a dent in a mahogany elite board)
Watch this video for an easy to understand overview of how to repair any dings or dents on your board:
Whatever you do or try, remember that while your Mayday board may not be perfect, that it should be perfectly functional. Small scratches are not the end of the world and we hope you can still enjoy your board!
Paint On The Board
Very occaisionally some small amounts of paint may end up on the board's surface, usually from the ditch section getting inadvertantly onto the playing surface:
If something like this is noticable on your board you can try these suggestions:
Hopefully with a little patience you can get the paint off without making a small blemish worse.
Glue Dried onto Board
This is pretty common with new boards as wood glue is used to attach the base to the rim, especially on our ELITE boards. We often see some glue droppings on the board that has dried. Luckily removing that glue is pretty easy. The factory has stated that just lightly scrapping with a sharp blade will remove the glue and won’t hurt the board. The factory notes that the glue used in the process are "eco-friendly water-based adhesives" so they should come loose with some warm water, a little patience and a sharp razor/knife.
Here is a video with some ideas too:
If necessary, try acetone or vinegar to soften the glue before scraping. Apply the solvent with a cotton ball and allow it to sit on the adhesive for several minutes. Then, use a razor, scraper, or even a rough towel to rub the glue away.
Lines are not Fully Painted
If your screen-printed lines on the board are not 100% there and look either faded or incomplete it is likely due to the factory not applying the screen print process properly on your board.
Have no fear, there are actually a number of pens and paints that do well here. We prefer acrylic paint pens like THIS one on Amazon. The black, extra fine version they have here is perfect for carefully filling in those lines the factory so carelessly left off of your board.
Missing Paint in the Ditch
The ditch is painted first before appying the rim and top of the board, but sometimes the paint job isn't perfect. If you are missing paint somewhere in your ditch you can easily get a "paint pen" or go to a hardware store and match the paint to the ditch. Not the mahogany board has a pantone color of 187C, yes we realize in the photo below it looks closer to 186C but it really is 187C. The black ditches of most of our other boards are easily matched to just "black" or you can fill in those small areas with a sharpie to make the spot all but invisible.
Finish Damaged around outside of gutter or on the playing surface
Sometimes there is a spot or two where the finish didn't quite get "finished", if it's just on the outside of the gutter it luckily doesn't affect game play so you might just be able to live with it.
We try to have this area (see photo above) well finished as even TRACEY boards leave it as unfinished and visible MDG as pictured below:
If there are unfinished areas on your board it is a simple process to finish them off. If you get a spot like this on your surface do not despair!
The factory says the process is quite simple, you just need to fill in the clear coat and smooth it, then sand it, spray the base coat again, sand it again, and spray the top coat. The final step is to apply a high-end wear-resistant varnish and then wax it. The factory is making a video of the process and we will post it here soon.
Chipped Center Hole
This occurs when the factory doesn't keep the blades cutting the center hole sharp enough. It is easily preventable and we have warned the factories, but it still happens occassionally that there are center hole imperfections from a slightly dull blade making the cut.
For this issue the main thing is to ensure the surface around the hole is still perfectly smooth, often there is some light chipping around the hole that raises it up a bit on the chipped side. We recommend using some very fine grit sand paper to very gently go over any raised areas to just smooth it out. After that be sure and apply wax to ensure a very smooth and consistent surface. With this smoothed over and waxed it should not impact gameplay.
You can try advanced techniques like wood putty, resanding and sealing with lacquer if you're really handy, but the board should be perfectly functional with just a litle TLC.
Other Issues
We are sure there are other specific issues that aren't covered here, if you have specific questions or need support please email us at support@maydaygames.com and Curt or Kathy or Brigit will be happy to help you. We have sold over 15,000 boards over the last 10 years and we are committed to EVERY customer getting a board they are happy with, or getting some compensation or in extreme cases even a full refund. We are by no means perfect at making these boards but we hope we will continue to improve.
We aim to make a board that is 80% as good as those high-end boards but at half the price. We hope you will forgive us that we can't deliver a 100% perfect product, but that you will appreciate the value proposition of our boards.