Bunnock (Game of Bones)

Build your own set. For the love of play.

An afternoon of cutting and sanding 4x4 lumber into 52 little blocks, then painting four colors. Easy difficulty, about 3 to 4 hours plus drying time.

Materials

• 3 standard 4x4 posts, 8 ft long (actual size 3.5 in / 89 mm square). Untreated spruce, pine, or fir is perfect. This yields roughly 60 blocks at 4 in each, plenty for a full 52 piece set with spares.
• Wood glue (optional, only if you want to laminate 2x4s instead, see notes)
• 120 and 220 grit sandpaper, or a random orbital sander
• Exterior paint or stain in four colors: white (soldiers), black (guards), and two bright colors for the two teams of throwers, for example teal and red
• A clear exterior polyurethane or spar varnish to seal everything
• A canvas or cloth bag to carry the set

Cut list

• 52 blocks total cut from 4x4 stock, each block 4 in long (10 cm). The 4 in height is the dimension that matters: a real horse ankle bone stands about 10 cm / 4 in tall, confirmed by the World's Largest Bunnock being that bone scaled up 98 times to 9.75 m / 32 ft. A real bone is irregular and only about 5 cm / 2 in wide, so a 4x4 (actual 3.5 in / 89 mm square) block is a chunkier, squared-off stand-in, not a replica. It plays great and is the standard DIY approach. Want a slimmer, more bone-like block? Rip your stock to about 5 cm (2 in) square, or use 2x2.
• Of the 52: paint 40 white (soldiers), 4 black (guards), 4 one team color (for example teal), 4 the other team color (for example red).
• Cut a few extra 4 in blocks as spares, since 8 ft posts give you more than enough.

Steps

1. Mark each 4x4 post every 4 inches along its length. An 8 ft post gives you about 24 blocks, so three posts cover the full set with spares.
2. Cross cut every mark with a miter saw, circular saw, or handsaw. Keep the cuts square so the blocks stand flat and stack evenly on the ground.
3. Ease all the sharp edges and corners with a sanding block or sander. Bunnock bones get thrown and tumble, so rounded edges throw truer and will not splinter. Finish with 220 grit until smooth.
4. Sort your blocks into four piles: 40, 4, 4, and 4.
5. Paint the 40 soldiers white, the 4 guards black, and each set of 4 throwers its own bright team color. Two coats. Let dry fully between coats.
6. Seal every block with two coats of exterior poly or spar varnish so the set survives dew, grass, and years of summers.
7. Toss them all in a cloth bag. Done. Take it to the park.

Notes

The one dimension that matters is height: aim for a block about 10 cm / 4 in tall so it stands and falls like a real bone. A real horse anklebone is irregular and only about 5 cm / 2 in wide, so any block in that ballpark plays right. A 4x4 post (actual 3.5 in / 89 mm square) cut to 4 in is the easy, sturdy DIY choice (chunkier than a real bone, which plays just fine); rip to about 5 cm (2 in) square if you want a slimmer, more bone-like block. If you only have 2x4s, glue two together face to face and cut to 4 in. Court dimensions are the regulation part to get right when you set up: rows 10 m (32 ft 10 in) apart, the two guards 40 cm (16 in) out from each end of the row, the throw line extending 1 m (3 ft 3 in) past each guard, and the foul line 1 m (3 ft 3 in) in front of the throw line. Heavier blocks knock down soldiers better, so denser wood plays nicer. Sand well: this is a barefoot summer game and nobody wants slivers.

Made with love by Moehr Games. Build it, play it, pass it on.