Catan Card Bank

Finished Product

Holds all five resource card types, plus the development card deck. I can't stand having messy piles of resources spread over a table anymore.

3D Model

Before I built the jig, I tried out a few different angle combinations in a 3D model to test out how they would work.

Router Jig

The 3.5" x 1.5" x 16+" blank is clamped into a jig to cut the pockets with a plunge router. It's designed for the dimensions of a construction 2x4, but I prefer to rip down wider pieces to remove the edge treatment and start with clean parallel sides. My cheap table saw is doubling as a workbench.

Router Jig

The top piece of the jig is compound mitered, so the finished pocket is tilted 10º to the side and 5º to the back. It was a mess of cuts made on the miter saw and table saw to get those angles.

Bit and Guide Bushing

I have to use an extra long 1/2" straight bit to reach the bottom of the pocket.The guide bushing rides against the edge of the jig to form the side and back of the pocket. I make the cut once at reduced depth and once at final depth to keep the router from bogging down.

Pocket Width

I use a 1-2-3 block as a convenient gauge for moving the blank to the next pocket. Once I lock down the square, I just remove the block and slide down the blank in the jig. When it's flush with the square, I re-clamp the blank and do the next pocket.

First two pockets cut

Trimmed to length and sanded

I trimmed off the end after the sixth pocket was done on the miter saw and sanded all the surfaces to 180 or so. It was a good mix of hand sanding and a detail sander to get all the pocket surfaces. The end grain takes some extra attention to get right.

Black tea for staining

I put six cheap teabags in a jar of water and let them soak at least overnight.

Wet surface with tea solution

The tea contains tannins, which naturally occur in woods like oak and walnut but are less abundant in pine like this piece. I folded up a paper towel and made sure every part was wet down well. The inside corners can be tricky. I left it a few minutes to soak in.

Steel wool and white vinegar

I left one pad of steel wool to soak in vinegar for a few weeks. It mostly disintegrates, leaving a solution of iron acetate, which will react with the tannins to produce a dark color. Don't seal the jar, because the reaction produces hydrogen gas which could build up pressure and break. A soaked paper towel was the application method again.

First application of vinegar wash

Same as before, try to wet the entire surface. The color starts quickly and darkens a bit over time. Adding more tea and iron acetate worked pretty well. I let it dry over night before moving on to finishing

Spray Shellac

This is several coats of Zinser spray shellac. It's super forgiving as a finish, doesn't need to dry too long before you coat again, can be sanded in between coats to remove drips if necessary, and adds a little warmth to the color (the stain can be kind of blue/gray). If you mar the finish, the alcohol in the fresh shellac will redissolve the old layer, which makes touch up easy.

Rub down with steel wool

Paste wax and 0000 steel wool (same as the vinegar stain) will knock down the gloss nicely. Rub with moderate pressure with the grain direction. Use a paper towel to remove the excess wax afterwards.

Final Finish

Each piece has it's own grain pattern.

Black Walnut vs. Pine and Stain

I've made a few with black walnut, leaving the color natural. It's easier to work smoothly and looks wonderful. Construction scrap pine is much more economical though.

Raw walnut grain

This stuff loves the shellac.