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Material Goban
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Goban

Traditionally, gobans are made of wood. However, this is not really a requirement. One can find old gobans which were highly decorative, and made to resemble e.g. a turtle back or similar.

I once played on a goban made in Algeria, which was made of leather (pigskin, apparently) stretched out over a wooden frame, with engraved camels around the side and inset pieces of mirror. (!)

Nowadays, however, the trend seems to be towards simplicity and austerity.

The main requirement of the material used is that it is durable and does not warp. A secondary requirement is that the surface colour and texture must be so that the grid is clear, and that the sound made when hit with a stone is pleasant.

In practice this means that wood is used. For aesthetic reasons, the grain should be "masame", i.e. running straight, not bent.

Good quality plywood (not construction grade) is fine for home-made boards, as it is relatively cheap and easy to work with. You can get a thin piece of furniture or cabinet grade plywood and sandwich it to cheaper plywood for a thick, good-looking surface. Finish the edge with thin wood stock. Choose a type of plywood that is not too dark.

'Competition' gobans, the ones which are in photos of 'Go World', are typically made of the Japanese 'Kaya' wood. Kaya has the properties as described above, it is quite soft (nice sound), the colour is light (yellowish) and the grain is subtle. However, Kaya trees are reasonably rare and they grow very slowly. Kaya boards are therefore very expensive.

Other wood types which are used include:

  • Agathis
  • Ash Alder
  • Basswood
  • Beech
  • Birch
  • Cedar
  • Cypress
  • Elm
  • Hiba
  • Katsura
  • Oak
  • Redwood
  • Sitka Spruce
  • Soft maple
  • White walnut
  • Yellow Pine

Scartol: I made mine out of yellow pine ($6.99/plank at Home Depot) and added little feet (in my case they are wooden circles from a craft shop, but my pal Matt found some rubber dealies that are even better). The resulting space under the board means that it resonates very well when whacked with a stone (especially my big fat Ing stones). Several folks have said that mine provides the best sound of any board in the club..

Damian For my first board I used pine, and made it into an oversize breakfast tray shape (complete with handles). My wife loves it and I even get her to play a game on it occasionally ;)



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This is a copy of the living page "Material Goban" at Sensei's Library.
(OC) 2003 the Authors, published under the OpenContent License V1.0.