README.md

Goban-svg

goban.py generates an svg file for a go board or goban. The resulting file is suitable to print your own board. I used it on wood with a laser cutter to create beautiful handmade boards. The bed of my laser cutter was too small for full boards, so I made half boards and taped them together for handy flip boards (--half_board).

Since laser cutters create very thin lines, I made the program to draw multiple lines next to each other to make it appear thicker. In the default options, two lines with 0.25mm spacing are drawn everywhere. Use the --test argument to find out which spacing works for you and adjust it in the --multlines_spacing option.

Examples

I cut multiple boards, using this script. Here are some of them (7x7 calendar, 13x13 folding board, 19x19 folding board). The cuts of the 13x13 were to deep so that it cracked on one of the lines. Be careful.

The folding boards are hinged in the back with 'Tesa Eco Repair' tape from my local hardware store.

Here is an example svg of a 7x7 board.

Usage

You will need svgwrite to use this program:

  pip install svgwrite

To use, simply run from the command line:

  python goban.py

To show the result you can use eog goban.svg.

Arguments

There are a few command line arguments to modify the board. Here's an example:

  python goban.py --size=19 --half_board

Argument	Type	Description
--size, -s	str	Size of the go board to generate [7, 9, 13, 19]
--margin, -m	int	Margin from the board edge to the lines in mm
--multlines	int	Draw multiple lines which can be used for cleaner lasercuts
--multlines_spacing	float	Spacing between the lines when multiple lines are drawn
--rounded_corners	int	Radius of rounded corners in mm. 0 for no rounded corners.
--no_border	set	Don't draw the border around the board
--test	'lines', 'holes'	Create a test file for 'lines' or 'holes'. (Better explained in README)
--half_board	set	Create only half of the board for flip boards, this can be useful for smaller laser cutter beds.
--output, -o	str	Output file path
--stone_holder_d	int	With this option you can generate a grid with round holes instead of a normal board.(Better explained in README)

Special modes

--test ['lines', 'holes']

In this mode, the board is not drawn according to the other arguments. Instead a small test file for holes or lines is created.

With the argument 'lines' different multi line spacings and amounts are tested to fit the lasercutter. The settings are printed in the console for reference and are stored in the global variable test_lines (around line 52).

With the argument 'holes' different sized holes are created for the overlay board. With this you can find good settings for stone_holder_d, which fit to your stones and material thickness. The settings are printed in the console for reference and are stored in the global variable test_holes (around line 55)

--stone_holder_d [int]

With this option you can generate a grid with round holes instead of a normal board. This can be used as an overlay for a board to hold the stones when playing on a moving table during travels or so. I use this to cut acrylic glass as an overlay. The default is 0, so this mode is deactivated. If you use it, holes with the given diameter are created instead of the goban.