What Can I Use for A Jigsaw Puzzle Board?

There are a lot many choices of indoor games to choose from whether you are an adult or a child. Although many of these games are popular, the popularity gained by jigsaw puzzles globally is something incomparable. The flexibility to use them irrespective of the place, time, and nature of the social circle is what the jigsaw puzzles are most loved for. There are multiple puzzle manufacturers who are keen to produce jigsaw puzzles that are best in class. They also focus on the production of various puzzle accessories that are bound to make the experience of playing puzzles a far better and more convenient one.

The multitude of puzzle accessories includes puzzle mats, puzzle boards, puzzle sorters, etc. They all make it possible to play the jigsaw puzzles in the most comfortable way possible. Out of all these accessories, puzzle boards are the most useful and necessary item for a puzzle player.

What are puzzle boards?

Puzzle boards are surfaces or boards made of various materials that can be used to spread the puzzle pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. It provides you with a safe and sound place to work on your puzzle without the interruption or disturbance of anything from pets to children. It provides a solid surface to put the puzzle on, so that, the puzzle pieces stay intact even if you happened to move the board. Puzzle boards are said to be a must-have for a serious puzzle player and it is exactly for this reason that there are many variants of puzzle boards available for sale.

Puzzle boards rightfully solve the problem of space faced by jigsaw puzzle enthusiasts. It is always messy to do your jigsaw puzzle in a random place, just because it demands a fair lot of space to get arranged properly. Most often people choose to do them on the dining table, office table, or any other table at home that may come in handy. But the difficulty and complexity in shifting your puzzles from one place to another make it a not-so-happy experience, and puzzle boards are the best answer to it.

There are several elements that irrespective of the variant, all puzzle boards commonly possess. They will always have a surface that is not slippery. It is very important to have a non-slippery surface to keep the puzzle pieces from drifting apart and to keep the puzzle intact. Also, they always have raised edges, which make them similar to a box, which is also created to keep all the puzzle pieces from falling out.

A good puzzle board storage would be sturdy, easy to carry around, and sleek in design. There is a high possibility for the board to get accumulated dust and dirt in its corners, and a good puzzle board should be, thus, easy to clean. Also, its construction should be with such a material that, placing it on any surface should not scratch or harm the surface in any particular way. An ideal puzzle board should have storage too, to store puzzles other than the one that you are solving at the time.

There are a number of variants for puzzle boards, and some of them are, portable puzzle boards, puzzle boards with covers, puzzle boards with drawers, etc. Each of them serves a specific purpose and the buyers should consider their necessity and need before deciding on which one to buy.

Various types of puzzle boards

There are many popular designs in which puzzle boards are crafted. The design is mostly dependent on the purpose of the player and the nature and quantity of the puzzle games that he/she prefers to play.

Portable puzzle boards are the ones, as their name suggests, portable in nature. They are compact in nature, weigh less, and do not have any sharp ends. They are made for people who travel a lot and attempt their hands on puzzles wherever they go. They are ideal for puzzles with 500 or fewer pieces.

Covers are an important added feature for a puzzle board. It is possible for a puzzle board and the ongoing puzzle to collect dust if left in the open for a while, and puzzle boards with covers are the answer to it. The cover can be of any material, and it will be lightweight in nature.

There are many puzzle manufacturers who even add a waterproof layer to the board covers to make them adaptable to any conditions. Also, there are many designs in which the covers are removable to ensure easy and effective cleaning.

Storage, as we mentioned earlier, is an obvious attraction to a puzzle board. It gives the puzzle players a chance to keep an unsolved puzzle to carry around and to solve whenever time and opportunity occurs. It is for this purpose that puzzle boards with drawers were made. There are boards with a single drawer and multiple drawers. The construction of the drawers should be in such a way that it does not cause an added weight or complication to the existing board.

Is it possible to make a puzzle board at home?

Though there are many puzzle makers like jigsaw depot, which produces and provides high-quality puzzle boards for avid puzzle players, it is also possible to make them at home. It is an easy and fun project to start with family and friends. With as limited resources as wooden pieces, hot glue, measuring equipment, nails, hammer, painting essentials, sandpaper, etc. you can try your hand in the making of a puzzle board.

All you have to do is choose the dimensions and size of the puzzle board that you are planning to make, find a suitable model from the internet, or even draw one on your own, cut the wood appropriately, and glue or nail them according to your design. Once it is done, sand them smooth and add a tint or paint of your choice. Make sure to give the paint a couple of coats to avoid them from fading over time. Making a puzzle board with drawers is a bit more work, but still possible with proper planning and design.