I have built many things in my life.

The early years were spent in technology and business — designing computers and systems, leading teams, building companies, and helping ideas take shape. It was good work, exciting and challenging, during a time when high technology growth was explosive. At home, I had a woodshop. It grounded me and brought me back into the real world. Along that path, I realized that what steadied me was working with my hands…creating sawdust.

Wood does not respond to urgency. It responds to care.

A board does not become an heirloom because someone calls it that. It becomes heirloom because it is made well enough — and honestly enough — to deserve being kept.

My shop work was quickly centered around making custom, classic wooden game boards, cribbage, backgammon, chess, Scrabble, battleship, Monopoly, and many more. Over the past fifteen years, I’ve created hundreds of boards, each one to a client’s specification. Now, it’s time for me to refocus, set a new pace, and give my attention to the ones that I enjoy the most — Scrabble boards.

Each Scrabble board that leaves my shop is cut, assembled, engraved, and finished by hand. I mill the lumber. I lay out the grid. I cut and inlay each square. I fit the drawers, test the rotation, and finish the surface so it will wear in, not wear out.

These boards are meant to be used. Played on. Debated over. Passed down.

I no longer build to order in long custom threads and promised deadlines that create pressure on the process. Instead, I work in small studio releases — a few boards at a time — fully completed before they are offered. That pace allows me to focus on the craft itself and to offer boards that are ready to ship within days rather than weeks.

If a board speaks to you, I hope it finds its way to your table. And if you have questions, I’m happy to answer them.

I still answer my own email. And most days, my own phone … if I don’t, leave me a message and I will get back to you.

And if you have thoughts about what you’d like to see in a future release, I’m always interested in hearing them.

⸻

Dave Smith

Kailua, Hawai‘i

dave@davewoodsmith.com

360-823-3017