MÖLKKY, A THROWING GAME (NO POWER TOOLS)

In this article we’ll be making a backyard throwing game called Mölkky, which originates from Finland.

What is special about this method, is that there are absolutely no power tools required. This is to show you that you don’t need a whole workshop to make things out of wood. Even if you have power tools at your disposal, I encourage you to try working with hand tools. It is so much more enjoyable (even therapeutic) without the noise, the dust, and the chance of cutting off one (or more) of your fingers. If you haven’t worked with hand tools yet, may I suggest watching a couple of videos from Paul Sellers? I owe much of my skills to him.

Supplies

These are all the tools you’ll need to make Mölkky (see the image). Surprisingly few tools, right? And two are even optional: the radio and the wooden tool with a metal plate in it, called a chair devil. So you’ll need a clamp, 2 hand planes (1 scrub plane, 1 smoothing plane), 2 hand saws (1 cross cut, 1 rip cut) and some sandpaper. A scrub plane looks like a regular hand plane, but the iron is curved, which allows you to take much thicker shavings (a bit like how a gouge works).

Two items are missing from the photo. Mölkky works with 12 numbered pins. I burned each number into each pin with a pyrography pen. If you don’t have a pyrography pen, a soldering iron could also work. Or you could of course just paint the numbers on the pins. The other missing item is a solid workbench with a vice. If you don’t have one, you might get away with a portable workbench with clamping options (e.g. a Black & Decker Workmate), but I definitely recommend making your own work bench.

But wait a minute, you’ll say. What about a lathe? Surely, you can’t make round stuff without it, right? We’ll see...

Step-by-step guide

Step 1: Preparing the wood