Life In 19x19

Bunch of shots of my custom go board in purpleheart and my purple shell stones from Kuroki.

The stones were a fluke. Offered at Kuroki's "off-spec" reduced price sheet twenty years ago, these unique stones were considered to have almost no appeal to domestic go players and therefore little value. I picked them up for about 50% what a set of #32 jitsuyo shells would have been, less that $150.

When these purple stones come up for sale these days, they are quite expensive.

The go board was made by Canadian woodworker Carol Dufor. The color changes in the varying lighting conditions of the photos but it is a lovely, blue-brown purple. Purpleheart is a super dense material; this 40mm board masses a stout 6.4 kilos.

https://imgur.com/gallery/BZKAdIB

Beautiful board and stunning stones.

When I get some money together I plan on making a two piece board out of purpleheart... such a beautiful wood!

What type of wood are the bowls in the 5th picture?

Also, those are such beautiful stones... where would one look to try to find some? And how much would they ballpark at?

<<< Jealous!

WhlteLotus wrote:Beautiful board and stunning stones.

When I get some money together I plan on making a two piece board out of purpleheart... such a beautiful wood!
What type of wood are the bowls in the 5th picture?
Also, those are such beautiful stones... where would one look to try to find some? And how much would they ballpark at?
<<< Jealous!

hope you saw all 30 photos.

The stones were a fluke. Offered at Kuroki's "off-spec" reduced price sheet twenty years ago, these unique stones were considered to have almost no appeal to domestic go players and therefore little value. I picked them up for about 50% what a set of #32 jitsuyo shells would have been, less that $150.

photo caption: Purpleheart go board by Carol Dufor, spalted ash bowls from Ishi Press. more information: Blue fungus invaded this ash tree when it was quite young. The Japanese woodturner thought it was very interesting but the bowls would not sell! Customers thought they were defective or horribly blemished. When i visited the Ishi Press warehouse in Palo Alto in the early 80s, I was buying boards, plastic bowls, and glass stones for others in the Boise Go Club and they offered me the ash bowls for $20.

The several offset and reversed purpleheart sticks ensure the monster board will never warp or cup. Strongly urge you to reconsider just two pieces.