Twisting Chess Board

[samson]

I made a chess board a couple of years ago out of oak and maple, two inch alternating squares, framed in a 2 inch oak. It looks fine, but it tends to twist when it's not kept flat. I'm willing to cut off the 2 inch frame and try something else if anyone has a suggestion.

Thanks,

S.

[Lew Hodgett]

Did you glue the squares to a plywood backer when first built?

Lew

[Old Guy]

I made one like that out of 5/8" stock, and so far no trouble.

Did you finish the underside, so that the wood has the same porosity on both sides?

Do you think the twist is caused by humidity or by the weight of the wood when it is stored other than flat?

Maybe the answer is to make a box to keep it in (flat).

Or, maybe the frame needs to be deeper (is the 2" dimension width or depth?) to resisit twisting. Are the frame corner joints just glued or are they splined or other mechaical fastening.

What kind of glue did you use to assemble the board? Dan you tell which joints are flexing to make the board go out of flat?

Sorry, more ideas and questions than answers.

It's no fun to have a nice project that behaves badly!

Old Guy Wishing for a warmer Minnesota

[samson]

Thanks for the help! I did not finish the underside. I finished the rest with polyurethane.

I'm pretty sure humidity. It sat on top of my plastic turntable top for about three weeks and began twisting again. There's little or no heat coming from the turntable, but maybe just a bit from the receiver below.

2 inches wide, 1/2 inch height, but just plain butt joints, no miter or tongue in groove. I wonder if either of these joints would help.

Yellow glue. If I were to guess, I'd say the squares are making the twist.