It started with... a coffin

Somewhere in France, during a trip, I saw a group of people in a garden playing a game I didn't know. They were pushing a strange disc embedded in a long wooden trough with both hands. It was a cheerful group. I noticed that everyone was playing together, old and young, women and men. I learned that it was an old game called "La Meule." The Grindstone.

When I returned, I visited my uncle, a cheerful carpenter from Moravia. I told him that I would like him to make me a miniature version of this game from France. And I wanted him to make it out of some nice wood: when it no longer worked, at least it would be nice to look at!

My uncle, an elderly gentleman, thought for a moment and said: "I once bought a few pieces of mahogany for my own coffin. It's been lying here for years." ...

And so it happened that our first table Grindstone was made of mahogany.
Dying can wait!

Why a sheltered workshop?

While watching a group of players in France, I noticed that the most skilled among them was a woman with an apparent mental disability. With saliva in the corners of her mouth, fully focused and tense, she confidently scored one thirteen after another. She beat everyone—the beautiful, the strong, the smart!

It occurred to me that if people with disabilities could play the game so well, they could also make it. And so, to everyone's delight, I started working with the HELPSOUL sheltered workshop in Moravia. They even had to buy a CNC milling machine and learn how to work with the .dxf format!

Communication with them is sometimes difficult, but the results are always worth it.

Paolo Vlasace
"El Afilador"