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Home Suitcase Bloodbowl Pitch - Part 2

Suitcase Bloodbowl Pitch - Part 2

Lawrence Cutlip-Mason
Suitcase Bloodbowl Pitch - Part 2

Suitcase Bloodbowl Pitch - Part 2

This part is for the main body construction only.

This was done before the advent of free photo upload sites, so I had to dig through old DVD's to find what I could. Unfortunately not all the pictures survived over the years. So some pictures will be reused with different annotations.

The main construction of the Body is in three halves, the two main sides which are duplicates of each other and the middle strip. The only plywood used in this is for the elevated pitch area, otherwise this is all solid Knotty Pine that is 11/16" thick. You can use plywood instead, but it would be ugly... unless using Baltic Birch B/BB Grade and then it would just lack character and have ugly edges.

  • Β Info Break:Β Real Baltic Birch is from the Baltics and comes in 5X5 sheets... The fake garbage from china that comes in 8X4 sheets and is cheaper is not Baltic Birch. You cannot buy it at a big box store like homedepot or lowes. It is far superior than the fake stuff.

Β 

Joinery - Rails

The joinery used was a simple Half Lap joint, the bottoms to the sides, the sides to each other. Half Lap joints are stronger than Miter and Butt Joints, They also create a nice decorative line on the closed case (can be seen later).

All the other Joints will be covered with a decorative trim.

Joinery - Reinforcement

Half Lap joints are stronger than Miter and Butt Joints, but are not so strong as to prevent the weight from pulling this apart over time. So I reinforced with Stainless Steel Screws. You can use wood dowels instead, but wood dowels would only help with lateral forces on the sides... not the top when closed and carrying by a handle!

The screws used were 3/8x1" counter sunk so they can be covered later.

You can see all the screws in this photo, there are no screws on the face at all. So when it's closed there are no visible screws on the outside.

Stainless steel was used because I didn't want corrosion from the glue on the covers pieces or condensation over time causing them to discolor the wood over time and weaken the decorative cover piece (you'll see it later).

Internal storage area/reinforcement
(Inside View)

So in this you can see the internal storage area with just simple but joints as no one would see them. These are all glued in place.

  1. There are screws from the underside into the top side rail
  2. Two reinforcement blocks added to the bottom rail screwed into the outside and the rail
  3. Screws on the ends added to side rails into the internal bottom and top rails.

Instead of using blocks on the bottom you could just use pocket screws, but it wouldn't be as strong due to the thin wood. I also didn't have a jig to do it back then and this was all going to be covered.

Side Rail Rabbet

The side rails have an 1/8" deep rabbet leaving a thin piece of wood sticking up to cover the edge of the plywood sheet for the pitch. This covers the ugly plywood edge AND this also keeps the pitch from sliding off the magnets during transport.

You can see the reinforcement screws added to the top side here.

Internal storage area/reinforcement
(Outside View)

Here you can see from the outside how the Rabbet helps encapsulate the pitch edges. The Outside screws get wood filler as this whole area will be covered with decorative elements.

Piano Hinges and joining all three sides.

These standard Piano Hinges were cut to length with a hacksaw. I had to use smaller screws due to the thin nature of the wood. The internal storage area comes a 1/2" shy of the full area to accommodate the hinge.

  1. The hinge was made almost the entire length, this is necessary as when the pitch sits up right almost ALL the weight is on this hinge!
  2. This must be done with the largest screws possible and the most surface area, again... almost all the weight is on this when upright and closed.
  3. I scuffed the bottom of the hinge with 220 grit sandpaper and added Epoxy 5500 glue. After 15 minutes I added the screws. Just a little extra help for it.
  4. Since it's near an edge you MUST predrill the holes.. In fact you should always predrill!

Β 

Decorative Screw Covers (Trim)

The Edge and Screw covers were createed by cutting Soft Maple in strips 5/8" wide by 1/8" thick. It's a simple design and only wood glue holds it in place.

A lot of people will say "it's going across the grain, it's going to just fall off due to wood movement". My Response... poppycock, I've never had this type of design EVER fail in over 30 years. This pitch is 9 years old and it's traveled the eastern seaboard in hot cars, stored in a hot attic and generally been mistreated (I have kids).. and it's still fine as it was day one.

  • Make sure your wood is good and dry, the pieces should be THIN and NOT wide and have a good tight glue line! Lastly, apply a good multi layer finish!

Corner Piece

This is the one I get comments on the most as there is no visible joint and that's because it's one piece. This provides reinforcement and prevents wood movement from popping it off or opening the joint (since there is no joint). This is the only way to do this type of detail.

  1. One solid piece of lumber cut to 1.5" square
  2. Then run it through the table saw and cut to with 1/8" of one face and 1/8" of the other.
  3. Flip it an run again, be careful with this type of cut
  4. Clean it up with a chisel.
  5. Cut to fit the corners
  6. Glue in place and use tape to hold it down.


This is something my great grandfather taught my grandfather, who taught my father who then taught me.... my family has done this for hundreds of years.

No Decorative Trim on the table side

It's important to not have the decorative trim on the outside that will sit on the table when opened. It won't sit flat and it would leave large areas unsupported when playing a game... it will be a disaster.

Pitch Platform

The pitch platform is made from simple Sanded Plywood 1/4" thick. You don't want to use thinner as it would be to wobbly and not think enough to mount magnets in. Doing it again I'd use Baltic Birch, at the time of making this I just had Sanded Plywood left over from doing trim on a house.

You want to cut 2 rectangles for each half, leaving a little bit of room (less than 1/32") on the edges for the rails so it's not to tight.

Pitch Platform Middle

You only go halfway on the middle rail to leave a lip for the middle of the pitch to be placed. The middle is cut into three pieces, this is so you can store it in the storage area.

  • When making cuts always account for the width of the Saw Blade in your measurements... otherwise you will be short and it will be weird.

Pitch Platform Magnets

Using 1/4" by 1/8" Rare Earth Magnets I added 10 to each base platform side. Matching the holes up might seem hard, but it's not.

  1. Cut a paper clip in little 1/4" pieces
  2. Measure the center between the rail rabbet and the edge.
  3. Hammer in the paper clip in the 5 spots
  4. Place the Pitch Platform down and align and hit it in place to mark the wholes on the plywood.
  5. Remove all the metal pieces and use a 1/4" drill bit to drill all the whole.
  6. Make sure you flatten out the hole bottoms on the plywood side as the piece is thin


Important: DO NOT DRILL THROUGH THE PLYWOOD, you need the back of the plywood to help hold the magnets in place. If you drill through it there is NOTHING stopping the magnet from popping out eventually. Through holes and magnets are NOT smart, the glue area to hold them is to small and they WILL fail.

That's it for the main body, more parts to come covering various other elements.

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