Chess boards...

[Silvan]

I'm getting ready to make a nice chess box for Dad, and I want to make a real board this time.

I can think of lots of ways to do it. Squares of veneer, dark one-piece board with light inlays, plywood with ~1/8" thick squares glued on...

I don't have a bandsaw. My table saw is not much good for resawing. I'll be thicknessing the wood by hand. That makes thin-square ideas unattractive.

So I'm thinking of a bunch of squares say 1" thick, and thinking about how I could build such a thing so that it wouldn't explode or wrench itself out of shape.

It sounds like a bitchy glue-up without mechanical alignment for one thing. I don't have a biscuit joiner or a T&G bit or anything like that, so I'd be thinking of maybe cutting T&G on my table saw (if I can work out a way to get it to come out consistently, that is) or using dowels to assemble the whole thing like a bunch of Tinker Toys...

Also, I'm playing with the idea of doing a split board with dual hinges, so it could open in clamshell fashion. That would solve the problem of what to do with the awkwardly huge lid of this thing, but it would be a lot harder to execute successfully.

Anyway, just some initial thoughts. I know there are a lot of ways to skin this particular cat. I'm just trying to think up a way to do it that isn't

*too* ambitious or too Norm intensive. I've never tried to assemble anything made from that many little pieces before.

[Michael]

Glue two inch planed strips, like a butcher block board, so that you have a board 16 inches wide. Let it dry. Probably should use cauls.

Then two inch strips against the grain and plane. Then align them so they are a checkerboard and glue again.

Good luck.

M.

[Silvan]

Hrm... Shouldda thought of something like that on my own. It's a much easier way of looking at it than anything I was pondering.

[Bill Orr]

I make a chess or checker boad. Saw 9 strips of alternating dark and light wood,

1 5/8 " wide by 15 " long by 3/4 " thick. Glue these strips together by alternating light and dark wood. After glue sets, use your table saw to cut cross ways 9 strips 1 5/8" wide. that will provide 9 squares on each strip. Reverse every other strip and lay side by side into a checkerboard. Some adjustment on the length of the strips may be necessary. Glue the strips together into a checkerboard. Cut the ends even on the table saw. Sand smooth and cut and mitre some border pieces. Glue and clamp the boarder pieces

Good luck Bill

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