Wednesday 21 November 2012

Restoring A Tired Old Shove Ha'penny


Even though the game of Shove Ha'penny is not nearly as popular as it once was, boards can still be bought new from various sources. At best these will be made from solid hardwood, usually Oak or Mahogany, possibly even hand made and very attractive. The cheapest available are usually made from particle board, laminated with hardwood. Perfectly serviceable for play, but often uninspiring to look at and more prone to irreversible damage, particularly if accidentally exposed to moisture which will often raise the veneer.

Alternatively, there are numerous older boards to be found if you're prepared to hunt around antique and collectors shops, and so long as you're careful to avoid obvious damage and unacceptable warping, you'll end up with a much more attractive board, and often a far superior playing surface. Inevitably, an old neglected Shove Ha'penny Board may need some TLC before it's ready for play, so here are a few tips for restoring a solid wood board to playable condition.

The principal faults with this old Mahogany Board are one or two splits in the wood, tarnished Brass Lifters which are stiff to use, a surface which is dry and marked, and the Brass end rail is tarnished and loose. In it's favour, the splits are minor and not in the playing zone, the board is still totally flat and un-warped, and all lifters are in situ and not significantly bent or damaged.


The surface of a board of this age is always going to have a few dints and dents, and may also have some staining. In practise all but the deepest gouges are acceptable, but if you're unsure, it may be worth sliding a few coins up the bed to check that all is well before purchase. Staining can often go too deeply into the wood grain to be easily sanded out. The last thing you want is a sanded out trough in the playing surface, so do judge whether you can live with any staining which may have to stay. The stains on this board have been caused by leaving Ha'pennys on the surface (note the Queens Head), probably in a damp environment. I decided to leave them since as stains go, these are thoroughly 'in chararcter' with the game, and don't look too unattractive.

The first job was to strip all the metalwork off the board, including the tricky job of removing all the old rusty tacks from the curved end. Often these will break as you try to lever them out, leaving the only option to hammer them flush with the wood. The dowels on this board are used to lock-in the Brass Lifters. Polish all the Brass with an appropriate paste, but on an old board like this I don't like to go for a high sheen, just clean of staining, rust or corrosion. When replacing the end strip, be careful not to use tacks which are either too long or too thick, as the wood may be liable to split. There is likely to be quite an accumulation of old chalk in the grooves, removing this with a folded piece of sanding paper will help when relocating the Brass Lifters.

I've tried a few different polishes for the hardwood surface and have come down firmly on the side of Black Bison Fine Paste Wax Polish. This polishes up with a dry and exceptionally smooth surface, without any hint of the persistent 'tackiness' you'll get with some other products, Briwax for example. If your board appears to be unfinished wood with a very smooth surface, you may decide not to add anything, and I would always advise a 'less is more' approach to the actual playing surface. Any amount of stickiness or tack will seriously reduce the glide of coins on the surface, and may prove difficult to clean or polish off once applied. I've seen varnished boards, but this doesn't seem a very good surface to me. If you want a high sheen, I'd say you're going to have to learn the time consuming process of French Polishing.

Standard wood glue and clamping should fix any splitting of the wood, but a major split on the playing surface could be impossible to repair effectively and may prove to be a board which is more trouble than it's worth.

You don't need to blacken the scoring areas, chalk marks should show up well enough on bare wood, but it can make for a neater finish to the board. There are two ways of blackening the strips, one more attractive than the other in my opinion. Some use Blackboard Paint for the job, but this is perhaps only appropriate on a cheaper model as the paint can leave quite a thick finish. Much better is to Ebonise the wood in some way, and I've had good results with a bottle of Black Indian Ink, masking tape, and a small piece of cloth, as shown here.

The finished board could perhaps do with another wax polish, but has a beautifully smooth surface, and all the lifters work well now. Total cost including purchase from an antiques centre was less than £25.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you for this info, it will help me restore a slightly tired handmade board, especially the polishing side.

Mark said...

Thanks for that. Some people avoid polish altogether, and I've started using paraffin as an alternative. Just avoid anything with bees wax, it never seems to entirely dry, leaving a slight tackiness. Best of luck.

RW said...

hhhmmm - Went through the process with the Black Bison polish, Polised the resulting surface. Left it several days (couple of weeks actually), polished again but its still sticky.
What have I done wrong?
Should I start over and try French Polishing?
TFAI

Mark said...

If it’s onto bare wood it should penetrate the wood and polish dry, but if it’s a finished surface it may just sit on top and remain a bit tacky. If it won’t polish adequately you’ll have to remove it, white spirit and a rag, or maybe start with kitchen roll if there’s a lot. Then I’d just use very fine emery and/or steel wool to get the surface as smooth as possible. Sometimes a polish helps, sometime not, the very best surfaces I’ve come across are ‘polished’ with decades of use and dirt from fags and beer. Hard to replicate though, good luck.

Anonymous said...

Hi there,
I've just acquired an old mahogany k&c shove board. The wood seems untreated but is in great condition. What's the best type of polish to use on the wood to obtain a smooth surface. The discs currently don't glide as well as I would like them to. Many thanks.

BaldEagle100 said...

Read above with regard to polish Less is more so fine chalk before play is good on mine.

Mark said...

As always, I advise less is more with a Shove Ha’penny. The very best boards are the ones that have never seen polish, just many years of nicotine and beer stained hands. It’s called patina in the antiques trade and unfortunately it’s impossible to replicate. First thing I’d advise you do is get some fine wire wool and give it a rub down. Not too hard, old boards of bare wood have a tendency to absorb moisture and lift the grain, you’re just looking to smooth that off. If it’s still a bit slow, you can either use talcum powder in play, or if you have to polish it I’ve used the Bison wax polish to good effect. It may also be worth trying a silicone based spray polish. These can give a very slippery finish. If your board has been varnished it may need stripping back. Shove Ha’penny boards should never be varnished in my view but some are. Slipperiness is also dependent on the coins you use. I have some very thing old coins that glide well, but generally prefer silvered brass tokens which are a bit heavier and I think the hole in the middle stops them ‘digging-in’ in the way some smoothed coins tend to. Good luck with that. Cheers, Mark

Anonymous said...

That's great. Thank you for your replies. It came with some k&c coins that we've polished up (only 4 unfortunately). My wife said her dad used to use washers so we'll give them a try as well! I'm going to give the wire wool and bison wax a try and see how it goes. I agree with the less is more but I'd like to try and preserve the finish as much as possible. Thank you again.

Anonymous said...

I too played in North Devon pubs before moving to Wiltshire 15 years ago. Haven't seen a board since but just picked an old wooden one up from a car boot..... The playing surface is really sticky so I am also getting ready with the wire will and wax. Will update once I've given it a go! Seems like this thread is alive again....

Mark said...

If it's sticky I'd take a cloth and white spirit to it first. A bit of smoothing with wire wool then see how it is before considering wax.

badger said...

The problem with all waxes (IME) is that folk don't know how to apply them properly. If you are going to wax your board, first hit it LIGHTLY all over with some very fine steel wool just to remove and nibs or grain hairs.
If the surface is sealed, apply very small amounts of hard wax and rub it out in small circles until you have spread it just as far as you can, using an old cotton tee-shirt or similar. Immediately take a fresh piece of cloth and rub to polish - if the cloth sticks, rub harder! Keep rubbing hard in small circles until the cloth glides effortlessly. Rub more than you think you need to, and longer than you think is needed too.
Don't try to wax surfaces which are not sealed. It will take far too many applications of wax, and it will be very difficult not to build up uneven soft spots.
I would seal, if required, with a quick thinned shellac rub out - very little is needed, and rub down with steel wool afterwards. Leave for a day until waxing.
Note to beginners of this great old game; if you have to lean over and squint to see if it's in, IT'S OUT!

Anonymous said...

Any advice on where/how to get halfpennies polished

Mark said...

Stick a lump of blu-tak on the Queen/King and use this to hold the coin whilst rotating for an inordinately dull time on varying grades of wet’n’dry. That’s how I’ve done it, I’ve heard you can do similar on a slate too though I’ve no experience of this.

Linda said...

This is really interesting information. I've just dug out my board, which I often used to play with my mum in the 60's/70's. She was left handed and I'm right, so we could sit at the table without ever getting up while we were playing. I don't even know what wood it is, probably mahogany. It was made by Abbey Corinthian Games, possibly in the early 1960's. We just used to shake French chalk on it now and then and wipe it with a soft cloth, and it's in amazing condition, being left in it's original box for all these years, but it could do with a bit of a clean, and the coins are tarnished. I think what you're saying is basically leave it alone and have fun with my new grandchild with it (after she's born in the summer). I still even have the original metal tin of french chalk with a screw on lid that we used all those years ago. Are there any tips you can give me before I get it back into circulation?

Mark said...

As you say Linda, the less done the better. No harm in giving the coins a polish, a bit of fine grade wire wool if really bad, otherwise just a cloth. Same with the wood, if the grain has raised in storage I’d just smooth it down with wire wool. The more you play them the better they play.

Linda said...

Thank you for replying Mark. I think it's teak after all. I found one very similar on eBay. The grain hasn't raised at all, so I'll be leaving it alone and start practicing.