Tony Warne asked:
Nobody knows when the first dartboard was made, but early boards were made from log ends of elm. Some were made from plastacine and had to be smoothed after each leg played with a hot iron.
Today’s boards are made of sisal fibre which are the strands from a cactus of the Sisalana family. These boards were called “Bristle boards “, which has nothing to do with pigs bristle, that was a nickname given to them in the early days.
The first bristle boards were made by an English company called Nodor, which by the way come from the words “No Odor” because the plastacine board gave off a terrible smell, when smoothed using the hot iron.
Nodor boards are still made by the same company, and hold the original patent. One thing for sure nobody has more experience of making dartboards. They are by far the largest of the competition dartboard manufacturers.
The actual manufacture is done in the following manner.
The leaves of the sisal plant are harvested and stripped of there exterior skin. Then the leaves are squeezed free of their natural liquids and the fibres combed.
These metre long strands of fibre are then put into the sun to dry naturally. These processes are carried out close to the fields were the leaves are gathered. The sisal plantations are usually in Africa, but there are others in parts of china and South America.
The first thing that is done to the sisal when being made into a dartboard is as follows:
The sisal strands are put into a graded combing machine, which has several stages. It is then pulled through a second machine, which rolls the sisal like a never-ending cigarette.
This roll which is about 5 inches in diameter is then sliced across into what is known as biscuits. These biscuits are about 1 inch thick and are very even.
The next operation is to press the board. This is done on a flat bed press, which is oval in shape. Inside this press is placed the bands of steel the surround the board.
Then inside the bands the sisal biscuits are placed, the number of biscuits controls the hardness or softness of the finished product.
The next stage is to cover the biscuits in glue and place on the wooden backboard. When this is done the press is activated and compresses the sisal until it is perfectly round.
The glue used has a very fast cueing rate and it can be removed from the press immediately so the next one can be made.
The board is then put through a wide belt sander to level and remove any loose strands of sisal. This treatment also make the surface very smooth so that the next operation, which is to screen print the colours, gives the board a nice clean image.
The final operation is to wire the board into its different sections, and fit the number ring.
Up to only a few years ago the wire used has always been 1.6 mm spring steel for the whole wire system. Now many manufactures use thin blades for all or part of the wire system, which prevents many of the bouncing darts that was common on the original wiring method.
One of the first to use this method was Alana Darts which registered the blade interlocking system with a patent lawyer on the 31st May 1991. The provisional number issued by the Australian Patent, Trade Marks and Designs Offices was P2370.
Unfortunately the patent was dropped due to the huge costs involved.
The Original method of using round wires only did have one very good advantage. That was the bristles in the board allowed the dart easy *********** by moving out of the way of the point, while still being firm enough to grip the dart well.
This gave the board a very long life as little damage was caused to the bristles.
The all-bladed board also had its own advantages; few bouncing darts, higher scores, and higher averages. Also they looked better than the cluttered up round wire system.Its draw back however is that the bristles cannot move as they are locked in position by the blades. This means that when a dart strikes the point can push in several bristle fibres on entry. The result is what is called in the business compacting.
This is where the sisal is doubled up into the board and hard spots develop, in turn making the surface appear fluffy. The result is a shorter life, although the good has to be weighed up against the bad.
In saying this I must point out that a lot of the damage done to bladed boards could be avoided, if the players would keep their dart points in top condition, even if it means changing them on a regular basis. Unfortunately this is not done enough, and the manufacturer of the board receives the blame for short lived products.
Another problem the modern board has the use of tungsten darts, Which has improved the accuracy of the player due to the dart being slimmer in other words allowing for tighter grouping.
If you are looking for a good brisle dartboard, or darts accessories, visit us at www.dartshop.com.au
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Posts Tagged ‘Diameter’
How Bristle Dartboards Developed
Thursday, November 5th, 2009Entertaining Friends in Basement
Friday, January 26th, 2007Mitch Johnson asked:
Most of the boys have a loud nature. They like to wrestle and tumble and make noises. They cannot sit quietly for so long. So it is always necessary to keep some mattress on the basement ground to prevent the boys from hurting themselves. Find out in this article what are the other necessary things in your youngsters fun game.
Less noisy but still lots of fun is a “Jar Ring Toss.” A board about twenty-eight inches square is prepared by driving at an angle twenty-three nails three inches long part way into it or by screwing into it little right-angle hooks like those used to hold curtain rods. Each hook is given a value of twenty-five, twenty, fifteen, ten or five points. Figures can be cut from a calendar and pasted on.
The board can be hung against the wall or set on a table. Its center should be about shoulder high. The players stand ten feet from the board. Each is given twelve rubber jar rings, which he tries to throw onto the nails or hooks having the highest numbers. The players throw three times in a play and rotate four times. It is well to mark the rings with crayon or paint so that each person may identify his own in counting the final score. “Miss the Bell” is a game that’s fun and easy to arrange for. A bell is suspended in a hoop about eight inches in diameter and a small ball is given to the players. They take turns tossing the ball through the hoop without causing the bell to ring. One point is scored each time the ball goes through and three points are scored if the bell does not ring.
“Basement Button Snap” is our glorified version of tiddlywinks. Draw two chalk lanes about a foot wide along the floor and supply each player with two buttons. One he places on the staring line. With the other he snaps the first one down his lane to the goal as soon as the signal is given. Snapping consists of pressing the edge of one button with the other in such a way that the under one flies ahead. If a button leaves its lane it must be put back at the starting line and snapped on its way again. Obstacles over which the buttons are snapped add interest to the game. The player who first drives his button to the goal wins the game.
“Barrel Toss” is a good game for a change. The players stand about twenty feet away from a barrel and throw stones or wooden blocks into it. Each may have five throws and a point may be awarded for each stone or block that goes in. The throwing line may be put farther back when the players are experts.
Boys always like to wrestle and tumble and practice rolls and falls. These lads will have endless fun if you put an old mattress on the basement floor. The boys will need no rules or encouragement to start their fun. They’ll soon create their own contests and maybe get Dad to join the fun.
For children old enough to play with sharp-pointed darts, here’s a homemade game that is fun. Make three darts by cutting the heads from matches. Slit one end so that a piece of folded paper about two and one-half inches square can be slipped into the slit. Into the other end of the match force the eye-end of a large sewing needle. A circular target whose outside circle is not more than fifteen inches in diameter is drawn on a wall board or a piece of heavy cardboard and hung shoulder high on the wall.
The players stand about eight feet away from the target and each tries to throw the three darts so as to pierce the target as near the bulls-eye as possible. For each dart that sticks firmly in a space the player receives the number of points marked in that space. Nothing is counted for darts touching a line.
Turn your youngsters loose downstairs where the walls won’t mar and the floors won’t scuff. The kids will have fun and you will enjoy the quiet order of your living rooms.
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Math- what is is the probability you landed all three darts in the same hemipshere?
Sunday, October 31st, 2004CheerChick160 asked:
you have three darts and are standing 2 meters from a rapidly spinning sphere made of cork. the diamtere of the sphere made of cork. the diameter of the sphere is 1 meter. you throw all 3 darts individually. each one lands on the sphere. what is the probability that you landed all three darts in the same hemipshere?
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