Make Your Own Mahjong Board From 2x4

Make your own Mahjong board, tile racks and wind squares (and bamboo chips) from 2’ x 4’ birch plywood (carpenter quality).


We are avid Mahjong players and the rules of the game for new players can be overwhelming. That's why I made a game board with some build in mnemonics.

I had already made the board in a hardboard version but, by force of habit, I put the compass rose on it as usual, with East to the right of the North/South axis.

The board made the game easier for a new player. Although an ordinary wind rose is not a disaster, I still wanted a sign that indicates the correct wind direction according to the Mahjong competition rules. To make this new version, I chose birch plywood. I also decided to make 4 Mahjong tile racks on which you can put the stones you play with. I made these tile racks after the example of an incomplete set that I found at a flea market.

Mahjong is played with 144 tiles. The rules of the game (there are different game variants) can be found on the internet. We play according to the Competition Rules. In the board I have incorporated the symbols of the most important stones: seasons, flowers, dragons and winds. I replaced the symbols of the flowers (plum, orchid/lily, chrysanthemum and bamboo) with a rose. The symbols for the seasons (fisherman, woodcutter, farmer and scholar) have been replaced by the colors of the seasons: green, red, orange and blue.

The materials used are partly new, such as the wood, a plate (thickness 0.6 cm) of birch plywood of 61 x 122 cm (2’ x 4'); and partly old such as painting hooks from which I made hinges, and plastic Pringle lids from which the washers were made. A piece of rubber that once served as a protective material became the compass needle.These materials are included in the listing but can be replaced with 5 mm washers (inner size 2 mm) and 19 mm washers (inner size 7 mm) and copper plates of 5 mm x 34 mm. I couldn't find these washers and plates where we live, hence this solution. I have indicated for each part what you need, both in terms of material and tools; to make it easy if you only want to make the board or only the tile racks, for example.

For the board:
Plywood 48 x 48 cm
Jigsaw
Jigsaw table (option)
Measuring tape
Sandpaper 120 and 240
Wood glue
Wood burner set
(Squared) paper
Tracing paper
Pencil 2B
2 (Plastic) washers
1 Piece of rubber/plastic, big enough for a compass needle
Hollow hole punch 19 mm
Hollow hole punch 7 mm
Hammer
Drill
Drill bit (the thickness of the screw sleeve)
Piece of thread of about one meter
Adhesive tape
Screw sleeve and screw (connection screw)
Vice (option if screw + sleeve is too long)
Hacksaw (option if screw + sleeve is too long)
1 Drop of green acrylic paint (dragon)
1 Drop of red acrylic paint (dragon)
1 Drop of white acrylic paint (dragon)
1 Drop of green acrylic paint (roses stems)
1 Drop of blue acrylic paint (rose/winter)
1 Drop of light green acrylic paint (rose/spring)
1 Drop red acrylic paint (rose/summer)
1 Drop of orange acrylic paint (rose/autumn)
Paintbrush
Paint tray
Tung oil


For the tile racks:
Plywood 92 x 40 cm
Jigsaw
Jigsaw table (option)
Sandpaper 120 and 240
16 Copper-plated painting hooks
Box of copper nails1.2 mm x 12.7 mm
Glue clamps
Cutting pliers
Tin snips or kitchen scissors
Hammer
Dremel
Drill 3/64''
Anvil
64 (Plastic) washers
Wood glue
Wood burner set
Pencil
Paper
Tracing paper
Ruler
Measuring tape
Hand jigsaw + saws
Hand jigsaw board
Revolving hole punch pliers 5 mm and 2 mm
8 Pieces of 5 cm long paracord no wider than 0.5 cm, color of your choice
Tung oil

Wind squares:
Plywood 4 x 16.5 cm
brushes
Tip of green, red, orange and blue acrylic paint
Sandpaper 120 and 240
Tracing paper and paper (option)
Hand jigsaw + saws
Hand jigsaw board
Wood burner set
tung oil

Chips:
45 bamboo skewers of 10’’
Pliers or saw
Pencil
Permanent marker red
Permanent marker black
Sandpaper 120

Note:
Jigsaw: I ordered a jigsaw table online to make straight cuts easier, but if you have the option, use a laser. The saw table was not in stock so I had to be patient and the work came to a standstill for over three weeks but it was well worth the wait.

I started by taking the measurements of the Mahjong tile rack I found on the flea market. Because this is varnished black there are no visible seams, so it is difficult to measure accurately. I first plotted the measurements on 6 mm thick cardboard and put it together to see if everything was correct. It turned out that some minor adjustments were needed. Then I drew all the parts out on a piece of thin cardboard to see how much wood was needed for a tile rack. The racks and the board could be made from a sheet of plywood of 61 x 122 cm (2'x4'). A piece of 61 x 25 cm remains.

I then started with the board, followed by the tile racks and the wind squares. The size of the board and the sizes of the racks were marked on the wood, as well as the 4 squares with a wind direction.

The following sizes and numbers have been marked for the board, tile racks and wind squares:

Game board:
Plywood 0.6 mm
1 x plate 48 x 48 cm

Tile racks:
Plywood 0.6mm
4 x 3.6 x 41.7 cm lid
4 x 2.7 x 41.7 cm back
4 x 2.6 x 40.5 cm inner part high
4 x 2.0 x 40.5 cm inner part low
12 x 2.1 x 2.4 cm inner part manifolds
8 x side shelf. See for sizes photo

Wind squares:
Plywood 0.6 mm
4 x: 4 x 4 cm

In the center of the board I made a compass rose and chose a simple star. In Mahjong, the wind direction is mirrored and the game is played counterclockwise, in order East, South, West and North (so in the order which winds are customarily listed in Chinese).

The design of the dragons was a bit trickier and actually not to my liking. Fortunately, drawing fish and sea animals is reasonably easy and a dolphin turned out to be quite easy to turn into a dragon. Give a dolphin some sharp spines, change the body and muzzle slightly, make the eye a triangle and you have a dragon.
Designing the rose caused the most headaches, but after a lot of practice and looking at roses, I finally managed to draw an acceptable rose. I chose the rose as a symbol for the flowers, the color represents the season. The color is also tied to the wind. This must be taken into account when coloring in later. Would you rather copy the drawings; I put them all on graph paper.

Flowers:
East = spring = green = 1
South = summer = red = 2
West = Autumn = Orange = 3
North = winter = blue = 4

Dragons:
Red
Green
White
Colorless (it does not participate in the game and only serves as decoration)

After more than three weeks, the ordered saw table has finally arrived and I can continue. First, the table is tested. The jigsaw must be attached to the bottom, after which the whole assembly is secured to a worktop with two clamps. The combination should now provide nice tight slats. This system also promises nice saw edges. The sawed edges at the top are indeed nice without splinters. There is an occasional fray on the underside, but much less than not using a saw table. It is also much more precise sawing; because you can set the distance, any loss due to the saw cut is prevented and it is easier to saw everything in the same size. The board and the slats therefore go over the saw table. I saw the sides of the tile racks with a hand jigsaw, just like the wind squares.

After this it is time to sand, I first use sandpaper No. 120 and then sandpaper No. 240.

Making the board, tile racks, wind squares is done as follows:

Use a thread and adhesive tape to determine the center of the board, stretch diagonally from one corner to the other, and periodically put a thin pencil mark under the wire. Connect the lines with a ruler. Do this with the other two corners as well. You now have a cross and this actually determines the center point. But by also making a cross by drawing it from the middle of the sides, you have a star that can later serve as an aid to determine the position of the wind rose.
Drill a hole in the middle through which the screw sleeve and screw will go to fix the compass needle.

Draw the compass rose and the dragons, this is easiest with tracing paper. To make building the wall easier, we will create a border for the stones. Use the stones to determine the right place. Put some dots on the outside along the stones and do the same on the inside of the stones and at the corners. Remove the stones and connect the dots using a ruler. You now have a square in which the wall will be built. Draw all the lines of the wind rose, wind direction, dragons and square for the wall with a wood burning pen.

Then make a small compass rose on the outer edge in all 4 corners and a square of 4.2 x 4.2 cm in the middle of each edge. During the game, these squares contains the wind squares that indicate which wind a player is. Finally, draw a rose next to each square on either side, this symbolizes the flowers. The color of the rose will soon symbolize the seasons.

Burn the wind roses, squares and roses with the burning pen. Finally, finish the compass rose in the middle by giving half a shadow side in each direction with the wood burning pen (see photo). Slightly sand the board and make sure all pencil marks are gone.

Now all drawings can be colored. Start with the dragons: the dragon to the right of East green, the dragon to the right of South red and the dragon to the right of West white. The dragon to the right of North remains uncolored, it does not participate in the game.
After the dragons it is the turn of the roses. First color the stems dark green. Color the roses as follows; East Green, South Red, West Orange and North Blue. You can leave the wind roses on the corners uncolored, or paint them as well if you like. Let everything dry well and then treat the board once or twice with Tung oil.
Finally, cut an arrow and attach the arrow of the wind rose. Hold the screw sleeve at the top of the board. First slide the arrow on this and then a washer. For the bottom: place a washer over the bolt and screw the bolt, from below, into the screw sleeve. The board is ready.

First glue the inner parts together. The low part will be on the inside, where the lid will rest later. I use quick drying wood glue for this. Clamp the glued parts together with glue clamps and let dry. Where you cannot work with glue clamps, you can use copper nails. If using nails to size specified, pre-drill with a Dremel and 3/64'' drill bit.
Glue the sides to the bottom, I fix these extra with copper nails. Do the same with the back and let dry. Once the sides and back are in place and dry, place the inner piece, making sure the lower part is towards the back. When the lid fits well, glue the intermediate piece to the side and bottom and clamp the whole with glue clamps. Secure the sides on both sides with a copper nail.

When everything is dry, attach the paracord as a decorative edge to the top end of the side. Then the dividers can be placed, which divide the tray under the lid into four compartments for the chips. Place the dividers on every 10 cm.

Finally comes the lid. Draw a small compass rose in the center of the lid. If you want all wind roses to be the same, you can first make a design on paper and transfer it with tracing paper.
Burn the wind rose with a wood burning pen and then sand the lid lightly. Cut 16 circles of 5 mm with a revolving hole punch pliers from a plastic lid of (for instance) Pringles, then make 2 mm holes in the middle these circles, these will become the washers

For the hinges, take 4 of the picture hooks and bend them open. Hit them with a hammer on an anvil until you have the right size (3.4 cm) and trim them if necessary. Drill a hole on each side with the Dremel and a 3/64'' drill bit. Now the lid can be attached.
A hinge is created by attaching two copper plates to both sides, both to the lid and to the rack itself. Place the copper plates on the lid at 0.5 cm and 1 cm seen from the intermediate piece (don't forget to pre-drill!).
Secure the whole with a nail and washers in the following order: lid, washer, plate, washer, nail. Do the same with the other side. The plates now only need to be attached to the rack itself. These are attached to the bottom of the rack at 1 cm and 2 cm from the back. The nails are a little too long for this, cut them to size with a pair of wire cutters. Treat the rack once or twice with Tung oil and tile rack one is ready. Repeat this entire process for the remaining three tile racks.

The wind squares serve as an aid for those who have never played this game before. This way a newcomer has an overview of who is which wind, what can be important when putting away the stones.
Unlike the wind of the round, which changes every round and is tracked by the bullseye in the center of the board, the wind squares are only passed to the next player on the right when East takes his turn, loses and is east wind off.
Draw (or use tracing paper) an E and 1, S and 2, W and 3 or N and 4 on the blocks and make a small circle on each block. Use tracing paper if you want everything in the game to look the same. Then you draw the letters, number and circles with a wood burning pen. After burning, you have to lightly sand the squares, color the circles with the color of the seasons: east = green, south = red, west = orange and north = blue. Let the squares dry well and finish them with one or two layers of Tung oil. All done.

Not made of plywood but of bamboo skewers, with some games the chips are included while with others not, so for those who don't have them, as an extra, a description how you can easily make them yourself.

Saw or cut a 10” bamboo skewer into three pieces of 7 cm, do the same with the 44 other skewers. You now have 135 pieces. Take 90 sticks, draw a strip of 1 cm wide (around) in the middle of the stick with a pencil and divide this amount into a stack of 40 sticks and one of 50 sticks.

Draw a strip of 1 cm wide (around) at the other 45 sticks on either side of the end and divide this into a stack of 17 sticks and one of 28 sticks. Take the stack of 17 sticks and color the ends red with a marker, these sticks are worth 500 points per stick.

Then take the stack of 40 sticks and color it red in the middle, these sticks are worth 100 points per stick. Continue with the stack of 28 sticks and color the ends black with a marker, these sticks are worth 20 points per stick. Close with the pile of 50 sticks and color the middle black, these sticks are worth 2 points per stick.

Done!