Pétanque scoreboard (also for other games, with some changes)

Introduction

I play pétanque at my local pub (The Wheatsheaf, Tattingstone, Suffolk, UK) and our old scoreboards got very shabby, eventually breaking. I decided that we should have something better - but, like all these bright ideas, the design just grew and grew!

The basic design is actually quite simple with a couple of name plates, a range of numbers, sockets and pegs to fit the sockets. These pieces are mounted to a rectangle of good-quality plywood (I used marine ply) that has been marked out, drilled, sanded and then painted. The name plates and numbers are screwed on, and the sockets are glued into their holes.

The "HOME", "AWAY" and numbers were printed by working out when the base was going to finish and the number was just about to print, pausing the printer and swapping the filament. As can be seen, I used white for the base and black for the characters.

The number plates are generated from the OpenSCAD file number_plate.scad. This contains a selection of plate shapes, if the one supplied doesn't suit you. It also gives you the opportunity to change other factors, such as the plate size and the font style/size. home-away.scad gives you a similar opportunity to alter the text plates (e.g. to change the language). Remember to judge the text plate size carefully, otherwise the design may get out of balance ("HOME" and "AWAY" were easy!)

I made 2 styles of pegs - a fully printed version and one that used a length of 15mm diameter aluminium rod that is glued into the body. The printed peg shaft has its own cap, while the one with the metal shaft has a printed cap that fits in the body's recess. All pieces are glued together when the fit is correct. The aluminium peg is smooth in use, while the printed one takes a bit of care to get the correct fit.

LATE UPDATE: I originally printed some pegs using ABS - after a number of years the plastic is ageing and getting brittle - I have just been busy converting all of the plastic pegs to use aluminium rod!

Printing things to fit together

I recommend that you print one socket, one peg body and either the insert (if using an aluminium rod) or the complete plastic peg.

Check that all of these pieces fit together properly before committing to printing the whole ensemble - either modify the OpenSCAD file or scale the pieces slightly. The aim is to get an easy fit, without being too sloppy or too tight. Remember that the plastic may roughen or swell due to use or weathering.

OpenSCAD files

The text and number plates can be modified in OpenSCAD without loading extra libraries, but you will need some for the pegs and sockets. These are:

knurledFinishLib.scad (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:32122) - you will have to remove the "_v2" bit from the file name (or add it to the OpenSCAD file). (peg bodies)

chamfer.scad (pegs and sockets).

Mounting

Our scoreboards are mounted on wooden posts - mount details can be found here (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6079541). This mount suited our needs, but there are many other ways of achieving the same result!