All our sets are made from a mixture of stonepowder and resin, the stonepowder to give the pieces weight, and
the resin, strength.
Here you can see Fran moulding tiles for the board.
Each one is individualy moulded. The tiles are made from stone powder and resin; when dry they are waxed and polished.
The red tiles (being moulded in the picture) are made in the same way. When dry, they are stained to give them their dark red colour.
After all that Fran will assemble the board. She also does the inside of the boxes and all the paper work with Andrew's help.
Here Andrew is moulding the men.
The mixture is poured into the moulds, the major air bubbles which get trapped inside the mould are removed by hand. (this is what is being done in the photo) We call this "de-bubbling". After that they are placed in a vacuum chamber to get rid of any bubbles that happen to be left. The mould is then topped up and left to cure.
When the pieces are ready John will demould them and take them to the front workshop for finishing and packing.
He stains, waxes and polishes them with lots of TLC. (Tender Loving Care)
He also cuts the bases and surrounds for the boards and packs them.
When he isn't packing the sets he can often be found doing something for our small sailing boat, or he'll be out on it with Fran.
