Wooden Dartboards

Traditionally, dart boards used to be made of wood like elm or poplar. The main problem with these solid wood dart boards was that they tended to dry out and crack so they had to be soaked overnight to keep them in top condition. It is thought that the modern “clock” layout of dart boards is derived from the natural growth rings and the radial cracks that would have appeared on the old wooden dartboards. Wooden dart boards were in use in England up to the 1970s when Dutch elm disease wiped out most of the elm supply. Since this time, bristle dartboards have become the dart boards of choice.