The Traditional Bristle Board
The traditional dartboard we see today has not always been around; in fact it has been developed over the years. Quality dart boards are made today from bristle, or to be precise ‘sisal’, a material traditional used in rope making. The sisal is compressed together in approximately 4” round blocks then 40 or so of the small blocks are forced into a mould to make the dartboard. The edging of the blocks produce the veins we now see in the board. A wooden backing is stuck onto the sisal and the face of the board is printed with the traditional colours we see today of black, red and green.
| MAKING A TRADITIONAL BRISTLE DARTBOARD.
|
1. Sisal ready to be moulded
|
2. Sisal being compressed into the dartboard
|
3. Board unpainted
|
4. Painted Cross section of the dart board
|
5. Wiring sytems & Staple free bulls eye added
|
6. Finished boards with wiring system added
|
Wiring system, sometimes referred to as the ‘web’, separate each sector of the board. The professional boards and by far the best have an inlaid wiring system and are sometimes known as ‘Blade’ boards. These boards have the web attached in an unique way. They don’t have wires as such but blades cut straight into the board. The blades are thinner than wire and don’t require staples to secure them in place. This effectively reduces the dart bounce outs and that is why all professionals prefer to play on this type of board.
 Winmau Blade II Board
|
 Winmau Blade II Board close up
|
Other wire systems include the diamond wire cut and round wire. You will find most pubs and clubs use a diamond wire cut, or angled wire as it sometimes known, as their standard practice and league boards. If you are lucky enough a good pub or club will use a blade board for league matches.
The diamond wire boards are relatively inexpensive and the diamond cut wire helps darts deflect into the board should a dart hit them.
The round wire boards are less common now but they are a good practice board, an entry level bristle board in my terms.
 Diamond Wire Board
|
 Example of Wire stapling close up
|
Apart from a brief description of traditional boards of today, there are many different boards you can still obtain from specialist dart shops.
Here are a few
 Small Double & Treble
|
 Yorkshire Board
|
 Five's Board
|
 Small Double & Treble Five's Board
|
 Casino Board
|
 Manchester Log-end Board
|
Board setup and rules also vary, the Manchester log-end board is hung at 5'3" not 5'8" and the throwing distance is 7'6" not 7' 9 ¼”. The Manchester board is only 20" diameter the doubles are 1/8" and the inner bull is less than ¼” diameter. The Log-end board requires regular soaking in cold water in order to be maintained.
There are still Manchester board darts leagues though out Manchester that are played today. For more
information see Rules and Games (do not soak bristle boards)
Soft tip dart boards
In addition to the standard sisal board you can now obtain a soft tip dart board. These boards are made from plastic and you use plastic pointed end darts with them. The beauty of this board is the automatic scoring system. These boards are very popular in the USA and Canada but you rarely see them in the U.K.
Soft tip darts are easy to come by as nearly all the big manufacturers make them. (Do not use steel tip darts on this board)
Soft tip dart boards
 Unicorn Softip Electronic Dart Board
|
 Unicorn Softip Electronic Dart board close up
|
To view my views on the different bristle dart boards click here.
Dartboard set up for conventional 18" dartboard.
Download the set up in either PDF file format or Microsoft Word.
Height:
5' 8" (1.73m) from the floor to the centre of the bulls eye.
Throwing / Toe line or Oche:
7' 9 ¼” (2.37m) from the board to the throw line or 9' 7 3/8” (2.93m) when measured diagonally from the bulls eye to the throwing line). This second measure is used when playing on an uneven surface.
Throwing Lane:
Preferably 2' (0.6m) clearance bothsides of the board (remember darts are sharp!).
Mounting:
The board should be mounted flush to the wall not leaning forward with D20 directley at the top.
Soft tip dart boards
Soft tip boards in some cases are set the same as per steel tip boards, but some leagues have a longer throwing distance.
I.e. 8’ (2.43m) not 7' 9 ¼” (2.37m).
If you are setting up a board for league games, first check you local league rules.
Ladies throwing distance!
 A commonly asked question is what distance should ladies throw from. Well
basically BDO World Championship ladies throwing distance is the same as the
men's, 7' 9 ¼” (2.37m). But many leagues around the UK have different throwing
distances for ladies. The most common distances other than 7'9 ¼”, is
7'6" & 7' 0". Other distances for men include 8' 0" & 8'6" but this is
now uncommon.
With thanks to
Winmau Sport and
Unicorn
for dart board imagery
Top of the page
|
| 
