Behind the Scenes: Cutting the Tops of a Handmade Mexican Train Domino Game
There’s something magical about bringing a game to life piece by piece—especially when you’re crafting it by hand. Today’s blog post takes you into the heart of that process as we begin creating a full set of wooden dominoes for a custom Mexican Train Domino Game.
🎥 In the video below (sped up 100x), I’m cutting out the decorative tops of the domino tiles. Each tile measures 2" x 1", and for a complete double-12 set (that’s 91 dominoes!), I need two sheets of wood and just over 1.25 hours of continuous engraving and cutting time for each sheet. Believe me, it’s oddly soothing to watch even at warp speed!
For this project, I’m using my trusty xTool S1, set to precision engrave each 3mm piece of basswood. The decorative top features a classic sombrero hat—because what’s a Mexican Train set without a little festive flair? 🎉
Here are the key specs I used on the xTool:
Engraving (decorative side): 100 power / 600 speed
Cutting (decorative side): 100 power / 12 speed
Each domino will be made from two planks:
The top decorative layer with the sombrero engraving
The bottom layer featuring the domino dots.
For the domino dot face, I’ve discovered that two engraving passes give the best result. It creates a nice deep well for the paint to settle in, giving each dot bold, lasting definition once decorated.
Next up? I’ll be working on engraving and cutting the dot sides—then comes staining, painting, gluing, and finishing each piece. There’s a lot more to come, and I can’t wait to show you how these handmade beauties come together one tile at a time.
Stay tuned and follow the journey as we build a game designed not just to play, but to treasure.
