Travel cribbage board with Color

Summary

This is my ideal travel cribbage board. It has 3 clear lanes, a nice color aesthetic, reliable peg storage (even when in a bumpy environment) and stores a deck of cards within the board to make for a single convenient package.

 

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Description

My family has always been big cribbage players but have always lamented the lack of a quality travel 3-lane board. After getting a 3d printer I realized I could print one so I searched but didn't find any to my liking since all the ones currently on maker sites use a single color print and are too crammed together. I decided to take what I liked about those and build my own model which was done just in time for Christmas 2024 (and it was a huge hit with the family).

 

Hardware Requirements

This model uses 16 5x3mm magnets. 12 of them hold the board closed and 2 hold the peg insert in place. They can be skipped if you don't have them and/or don't care about the board reliably staying shut.

 

Printing Process

During printing of the main board, there will be 2 pauses.

• The first pause is for the peg cover insert. This will require two magnets inserted in the proper holes top and bottom of the middle section of the board. These magnets should have the same polarity facing inwards so that the middle insert piece can be placed in either direction.
• The second pause is for the magnets around the edge. There are 12, 3 in each corner. Make sure that magnets on opposite sides of the board attract. If printing the tight tolerance version, the fit can be very tight. Apply firm pressure and make sure you are perpendicular to the hole as the magnet won't go in if angled. I use a hard plastic piece to apply force directly onto the magnet to get it all the way down. If you are unable to insert a magnet, you may try shaving the hole with a knife to be a bit larger or forgo the one troublesome magnet all together. I've found that even with only 4 of the 6 manget pairs in place, the board holds together nicely.

Post-Print Processing

There are a lot of peg holes in this model, I recommend looking them over and using a sharp hobby knife to remove intrusions into the hole. On the pegs themselves, using a hobby knife to shave along the seam line can help a lot with the fit of the peg.

Filaments

I've printed this board with Bambu Wood PLA and I've loved the result (texture, color, etc.). I had great results with standard PLA when I was working on the V1 of this project so use that if you'd like (just remember to change material profiles in the slicer).

Attribution

I took inspiration from this model for the hinge mechanism. I tried out a few hinges but settled on that one being pretty good for the purpose.

 

Change log

2025/08/09

Updated a ton of stuff for just a better quality print.

• In the default print profile, the magnet tolerance is very tight to prevent pop out with hardened steel hot end.
• Magnet sockets now are polygons to remove some of the impact of circular hole inaccuracies.
• Added a loose magnets profile for people who don't want to push too hard to insert their magnets.
• Hinge no longer needs extreme breaking instructions, haven't had bad merging in a while!

• Increased size of inner card pocket to accommodate slightly larger decks of cards.

   

This will probably be the last update for a long while unless the profile starts breaking for people. I'm quite happy with how constant this is coming off my print bed and how everything functions. Contemplating a new version entirely but this one seems to be a completed project!

 

2025/01/05

Updated the spacing on the tracks ever so slightly to reduce infill gaps on the first layer.

Updated the .3mf file to have a slightly lower variable layer height which greatly reduces the effort required to snap the hinge open.

 

2024/12/31

I've updated the files to my newer model. It has better spacing all around, thicker lines, fewer color swaps, and was made with a far more parametric file to allow for easier future editing. For example, if anyone needs a magnet size change, I can help in a hurry, just comment!