Started a Chessboard Today

Status
Not open for further replies.

rcflyer23

Kevin
Corporate Member
So I decided to start a Chessboard today. I got some cutoffs from The Hardwood store in Gibsonville during the Shop Crawl and dad had some walnut that he let me have. I started milling it today. So far I have the wood milled and ready to be glued up, Now I just need to be brave enough to glue it up and take the next step. :)

Here are all the boards lined up looking pretty..

2011-10-21_17_08_16.jpg

View image in gallery

In this pictures all the maple is taped together with double sided tape. I jointed one side and ran it through the planer to bring it down to the right thickness. 2" it actually worked very well. I was a little nervous running it on end like that.


Here are both stacks after having been run through the planer.

Here are the boards in the order I want then, I trimed all the boards to length and am now ready to glue it up and make the cross cuts after the glue dries.


I'm hoping to glue it up tonight and then figure out the best way to do the crosscuts since I can't run a crosscut sled on my tablesaw. May just have to take it with me to dads and cross cut it on his saw.
 

rcflyer23

Kevin
Corporate Member
Got a good start on it.

How wide are the strips you're using?

Right now they are 2" x 17.5" I cut them long so I could lose some in the crosscuts. I'm Shooting for roughly 16x16 for the board and then I'm going to build a frame around it. The wife is going to use it on a wall for decoration so it's about 14/16" thick.
 

MarkE

Mark
Corporate Member
How are you planning to surface the top/bottom once it's glued up? Do you have access to a wide belt sander?
 

Dan Bowman

New User
Dan Bowman
You might consider leaving the two outside pieces about 1/8" wider to give you trimming/squaring room when everything is glued up. You've left everything long, so after the first glue up, cut your two outside strips wide as well. That will give you wiggle room on all four sides of the final glue-up.
 

rcflyer23

Kevin
Corporate Member
You might consider leaving the two outside pieces about 1/8" wider to give you trimming/squaring room when everything is glued up. You've left everything long, so after the first glue up, cut your two outside strips wide as well. That will give you wiggle room on all four sides of the final glue-up.

Great idea Dan. Yeah I'm shooting for 16x16 which I'm about there width wise already but I might cut it down a little more depending on where I end up after the next cuts. I should have thought about leaving them a little wider from the beginning. Thankfully I shouldn't have to adjust to much, Hopefully.

How are you planning to surface the top/bottom once it's glued up? Do you have access to a wide belt sander?

I could probably use a friends wide belt sander, I've also got a nice #5 Hand plane that I can use to surface it if I need to. When I glue it up I'll be using cauls to hopefully keep everything lined up properly.
 

Bill Clemmons

Bill
Corporate Member
Chess board? I thought you were going to make a cutting board. :dontknow: Oh well, they sorta look the same. :gar-La;

If you get the glue up done tonight, and it's dry in the morning before you leave to come to the workshop, bring it with you. I've got a crosscut sled that can handle it.

Bill
 

JCraig

New User
Jerry
Chess board? I thought you were going to make a cutting board. :dontknow: Oh well, they sorta look the same. :gar-La;

If you get the glue up done tonight, and it's dry in the morning before you leave to come to the workshop, bring it with you. I've got a crosscut sled that can handle it.

Bill

Hey Bill, You know how this younger generation is. They change their minds like we change socks:rotflm::rotflm:
 

rcflyer23

Kevin
Corporate Member
Chess board? I thought you were going to make a cutting board. :dontknow: Oh well, they sorta look the same. :gar-La;

If you get the glue up done tonight, and it's dry in the morning before you leave to come to the workshop, bring it with you. I've got a crosscut sled that can handle it.

Bill

Thanks Bill. I'll see if I can get it glued up tonight.

Hey Bill, You know how this younger generation is. They change their minds like we change socks:rotflm::rotflm:

Well I wanted to do an end grain cutting board and this stuff wasn't thick enough to get the size I wanted. I'll need to get some 8/4 Maple and Walnut or get fancy and laminate some 4/4 together.
 

rcflyer23

Kevin
Corporate Member
Well unfortunately I wasn't able to make it to the Hand Plans Workshop today, wife and kid are not feeling good so while they sleep and try and get better. I took to the shop and have about got this thing done.

I got it glued up last night and out of the clamps this morning

As much as a I tried I couldn't get all the glue and didn't keep all the slices flat, I figured as much and the reason I left it extra thick.



I went to it with the the trusty hand plane and worked on it for a while and cleaned up both sides.



I'd say the glue is doing its job looking at this shaving


I cleaned up one edge set the miter guage and went to town



Then I tried two different ways of getting the checkerboard to come out. I fliped every other piece, I wasn't real happy with the way the joints were lining up so I then tried Rotating every other piece and this seemed to give me a better joint. I'm real tempted to joint very lightly each of the joints to get what I am looking for. I haven't decided yet.

Anyway... It's almost ready to be glued up. Once I do that then I'll have to make trip to woodcraft for some inlay strips to go around it and also build the mitered frame around it. Actually I guess I could go ahead and build the frame before I get the inlay strips.
 

Bill Clemmons

Bill
Corporate Member
We missed you at the workshop today, Kevin, but I'm glad you were able to get some work done on the chessboard. I made a cutting board last year, and it's amazing how many times you glue and cut, glue and cut, etc. just to get to the final product.

Bill
 

bluedawg76

New User
Sam
i made several cutting boards not too long ago, and as I recall, on at least a couple of them, I had to joint the faces for the final glue up to get a tight joint. the obvious issue is the tearout b/c of the grain orientation. a small roundover bit can fix this, but then you'd have to trim the edges off to remove the rounded over edges.

also, you may try waxing the black bars on your clamps so as not to stick to the glue and transfer to your panel :BangHead:

Lookin' good so far. Can't wait to see the final product!

Sam
 

rcflyer23

Kevin
Corporate Member
We missed you at the workshop today, Kevin, but I'm glad you were able to get some work done on the chessboard. I made a cutting board last year, and it's amazing how many times you glue and cut, glue and cut, etc. just to get to the final product.

Bill

Yeah hate I couldn't make it. Maybe next time. :)

Yeah it is a lot of gluing and cutting. I'm going to probably joint all my edges again and then glue. I really want tight joints. I'll be making a cutting board sometime soon.
 

rcflyer23

Kevin
Corporate Member
i made several cutting boards not too long ago, and as I recall, on at least a couple of them, I had to joint the faces for the final glue up to get a tight joint. the obvious issue is the tearout b/c of the grain orientation. a small roundover bit can fix this, but then you'd have to trim the edges off to remove the rounded over edges.

also, you may try waxing the black bars on your clamps so as not to stick to the glue and transfer to your panel :BangHead:

Lookin' good so far. Can't wait to see the final product!

Sam

Hey that's a good idea on the bars. I hadn't thought about that. Thanks. :) Yeah I think I am going to joint the faces tomorrow. I would be ticked it if I couldn't get the joints I am looking for. I mean I guess it doesn't matter that much as this will be more decoration than function.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Premier Sponsor

Our Sponsors

LATEST FOR SALE LISTINGS

Top