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description: First experiment
---

# Building the board

## Intro

In my presentation I set a couple of questions for myself where I could build and design on. These were the questions: What would be a good surface for a boardgame? And a good base for any scenery? Where could characters be put on and roll a dice on? What can I pour into a big squared mould?

## Making and finding the material

I was looking for something that would get hard, firm and was durable. So I was thinking of clay. I also found this a good base because I could exactly form it how I'd like to. I looked up how to make my own bio clay and found a good article on [WikiHow](https://www.wikihow.com/Make-Clay-from-Indigenous-Soil) which helped me a lot. On other websites I read that I needed clay soil in order to make clay because making clay out of normal soil is not possible. The clay soil contains a higher concentration of contaminants than the normal soil. \
I was looking for a place that sells clay soil until I stumbled up onto [this website](http://www2.hetlnvloket.nl/mijndossier/grondsoortenkaart/kaarten2008/gronds08-25o.PDF).

![Het LNV-loket map, all the green spots contain clay soil, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M6Al5lWxf30qO4ASABJ%2F-M6AlwcOOiq7ADMpiH4N%2FSchermafbeelding%202020-04-30%20om%2017.49.46.png?alt=media\&token=78d14c38-5593-451c-acb7-063d8a5c40b3)

Het LNV-loket has an amazing map of Holland that visualizes all the places that contain clay soil. I then found a place near my neighbourhood (10 min biking) and found the clay I was going to work with.

![Gaasperzoom, a spot near my house that contains clay soil, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M6Al5lWxf30qO4ASABJ%2F-M6AmF_K0U2l2veBxFe9%2FSchermafbeelding%202020-04-30%20om%2017.48.25.png?alt=media\&token=f25b8876-efb5-4185-befd-1dfc61958989)

I started digging and collected a lot of soil and put them into some garbage bags. And yes, I felt very weird digging up soil with a lot of filled garbage bags around me. But I knew I would need a lot because I read somewhere that only 25% of the soil could get formed into clay.

### Turning the soil into clay (magic)

When I got home with all the soil I started my process.

![My inner cave woman coming out](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M6AnD_rK1WGgJ3vwDvO%2F-M6ApIaqN7zORpsbYNvN%2FSchermafbeelding%202020-04-30%20om%2018.04.15.png?alt=media\&token=12cd82a1-dbd9-4955-969a-a3e0318f95f1)

I filled up the bucket with soil and added some water untill I saw the water coming above the soil. I then sifted the water-soil into another bucket. What is left on the sieve can be thrown back into the nature.

What is poured into the blue, sieved bucket needs to stand for a while (I did it overnight). The water will come on the top of the bucket and has to be thrown away as well.

![Top water that needs to go, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M6ApeZdlIga63cXcxyL%2F-M6ArEoR1FBrumIRbRM1%2FSchermafbeelding%202020-04-30%20om%2018.12.48.png?alt=media\&token=87295059-f693-457a-9184-7b7fae649f65)

What is left is the clay. This needs to be dried in the sun, in a towel or an old shirt so that all the last bits of water leave the clay.

### End result clay

![End result of the clay, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M6ApeZdlIga63cXcxyL%2F-M6AutA2F-C2oIS-RX_S%2Fezgif.com-gif-maker.gif?alt=media\&token=0ff51851-1864-48f9-bf25-eaf8c39a6132)

Unfortunately I didn't had enough to fill up my mould so I had to repeat the process.

## Building the mould

My plan is to design a big squared boardgame where I can fit a lot of things on.\
My first idea was to get some used wood from the bulky waste and make that into about a 50x50cm mould. Because the mould just had to be squared I didn't had to do too complicated things with casts, 3D printing etc. \
But then I saw that Loes had a 50x50cm acrlylic sheet. This was exactly what I needed! So I borrowed this from her and sticked some cardboard pieces around it. (I build this when I didnt know I was going to use clay, otherwise i wouldn't have really needed this actually)

![Mould boardgame 50x50cm, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M6AeBLDxi354HQEGOj_%2F-M6AgnFxmu1pG-NuQrQA%2FSchermafbeelding%202020-04-30%20om%2017.27.11.png?alt=media\&token=5a136bd8-c0a0-4f8c-b411-9cdd3a35fc25)

## End result board

I poured the clay into the mould and let it dry outside for the whole day and after that 2 days in my shed so that it would get hard. I am pretty happy with the end result. I think it's a good base for a board and it already kind of looks like a landscape, like I wanted to. It's not perfectly flat but I don't mind it.

![Board of soil clay, Dusanka, 2020](https://2472482582-files.gitbook.io/~/files/v0/b/gitbook-legacy-files/o/assets%2F-LzaCPWnWmmX17D0w0O3%2F-M6ApeZdlIga63cXcxyL%2F-M6Ax2FpFwPep2JUypdV%2FSchermafbeelding%202020-04-30%20om%2018.38.17.png?alt=media\&token=586e6c27-b3e0-4e50-b837-ab3390e206a3)

