Paul A. Romsky Jr. - Shuffleboard

This is an 8 foot American Shuffleboard table that I updated to a more contemporary look. My wife found it on Craigslist for free! We didn't like the 1970's laminated dark woodgrain frame that it had, and the leg stands were rotted from years of storage in a damp basement. So, against cautions from shuffleboard fanatics, I tore apart and tosssed the ugly frame, kept the playing board, coin slot mechanism, scoring electronics, scoreboard, and controls. I then designed and built a credenza for it out of poplar. I plan to make doors for the credenza but in the mean time I just stapled some felt fabric to cover the storage areas. The middle storage area is actually a standard 19 inch rack for my stereo equipment - I will make a smoked glass door for that section later. The board surface was in bad shape when I got it (I was told that kids were using it as a tap dance platform!). I didn't want to spend a lot of money to have it resurfaced, so I tried to scrape away the old shellac. The old shellac was so hard and firmly adhered to the wood; so I tried to use a propane torch to bubble it off. As soon as I touched the flame to the surface, the old shellac ignited and burned away a quarter size area of shellac before I put it out. The wood underneath was fine but I was not comfortable about controlling a violent burn across such a wide area. I decided to fill in the cracked and missing shellac areas with 5 minute epoxy and then sand the surface smooth. This worked out very well and it cost only pennies on the dollar to get the board operational again. I also replaced the simulated woodgrain case for the scorebaord and built a matching poplar case for it. I cleaned all the bulb sockets (all the bulbs were good!) and all of the relay contacts. I also lubricated all the stepper relay shafts. It all works perfectly now. It is very popular with my guests of all ages. Since I don't like to charge my guests to play it, I rigged up a button that gives you a 25 cent credit every time it is pushed. The scoring system is set up for: 2 Players 15 Points (50 cents), 4 Players 21 Points ($1.00), and Horse Collar 51 Points ($1.25). Below is a photo and a couple of short demo videos of the shufflebaord table.

Shuffleboard - Original Scoring System and New Credenza Photo
Shuffleboard - Scoreboard Video
Shuffleboard - Demo Video


I have designed a fully digital controller for those of you who do not have the original electronics or for those who want to upgrade to more modern logic control. This design uses a Parallax BS2 PSTAMP Microcontroller and LEDs. Be sure to check the Program (.exe) file for viruses before you run it. I cannot control the internet from hackers as files pass through the web all over the world.

Shuffle Board Controller V1.0 Schematic and Parts List
Shuffle Board Controller V1.0 Layout
Shuffle Board Controller V1.0 Program with Auto Loader

The following is a similar design that uses an Arduino Uno and Serial LEDs.

Shuffle Board Controller Serial LED V1.0 Schematic, Parts List, Layout, and Program Source Code (.zip archive)
Shuffle Board Controller Serial LED V1.1 Schematic, Parts List, Layout, and Program Source Code (.zip archive)

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