Chessboard -- WIP

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clowman

*********
Clay Lowman
Corporate Member
Be forwarned! I work slowly, as that the weekends are when I really only get time to be in the shop, but here is a WIP for a chessboard I am making. I love to make chessboards. I have made about 5 of them, but this one is for me. I saw the plan in a back issue of woodsmith. I have lots of pictures in my gallery. This project has a few things I have never attempted, namely veneering, and inlay. I hope it turns out ok. Here is some shots, see my gallery for more pictures. So far, the biggest challenge was making the squares.. umm.. square, if you know what I mean.

Here is the board top glued up.
P9022743.JPG


Closeup of the squares on the top.
P9022748.JPG


Sample of the frame around the board.
http://www.ncwoodworker.net/pp/showphoto.php?photo=5865&cat=617&ppuser=200
 
T

toolferone

Looking great so far Clay. And you are right, it is no easy task making all those squares square, any error gets multiplied out.
 

Monty

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Monty
Cool! I see the jig you used to cut the squares. How did you hold them to do the chamfers?
 

clowman

*********
Clay Lowman
Corporate Member
I put an anti-skid mat down on top of a scrap piece of wood, put my router on the lowest speed, and used a chamfer bit with bearing and routed one side at a time. The squares hung over the scrap just enough so the bearing wouldn't hit the mat. Then I routed one side of the end grain, turned it, did the other end grain side, then routed the sides with the grain. Piece o cake.
 

ChrisMathes

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Chris Mathes
Wow, Clay. I really like the depth the chamfered edges add to the squares. Those are the design type features that make it so rewarding to make your own. Oh, and the quilted maple(?) frame...absolutely spectacular! Nice work!

Cheers,
Chris
 

DaveO

New User
DaveO
Clay that is awesome. Your precision is remarkable. That isn't an easy feat..like Monty said any slight error adds up :eusa_clap :eusa_clap Please explain how your square jigs works...so I can steal your ideas :-D :-D

Dave:)
 

clowman

*********
Clay Lowman
Corporate Member
The magazine had a jig to make the squares square, but it didn't work so well for me. I thought for a long time, mostly trying to over engineer something. Then I simply took a scrap piece of wood and made 2 parallel dados with the table saw long ways, that would dictate the width of the square. Then made a perpendicular dado a little long. I drill pressed out the square with a forsner bit. Then I took it to the miter saw, and kept creeping up on the cross cut that would match the width of the parallel lines exactally, then made durn sure it was clamped down enough so it wouldn't move. After getting this, it was all a matter of ripping strips of wood that fit in the dado perfectally, then cross cut all 74 of the little squares (5 extra walnut and 5 extra maple) I think it worked out pretty well.


 
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DaveO

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DaveO
Does the stock being cut sit on the CMS table??? Or how to you hold it parallel??
Dave:)
 
J

jeff...

Wow very nice and exact. Walnut and Maple just go hand in hand don't they?
 

clowman

*********
Clay Lowman
Corporate Member
The stock sits in the square form on the CMS. If it is ripped perfectly to width, it is snug in the square. I held the square pretty tight and cut it pretty slow. After I got about halfway through the squares, I wished I would have put a little lever clamp on the scrap wood to hold the square tight. My fingers got tired.
 

sapwood

New User
Roger
Love it Clay!

Steady hands needed to make the chamfers. You may be ready for scrollsaw work Cathy style :mrgreen:

Roger
 

Ray Martin

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Ray
Clay,

The board looks beautiful. I'm looking forward to seeing it with finish on it... by te way... what kind of finish will you put on this? That kind of work is real precision, real craftsmanship.

Ray
 

clowman

*********
Clay Lowman
Corporate Member
I haven't thought about the finish yet. The wood is of course, maple and walnut. The veneer is Maple burl. I was going to solicite suggestions for finish when I was finished. I may as well ask now though.
 

DaveO

New User
DaveO
BLO, MS and varnish 1:1:1 ratio, wipe it on, wipe it off. Basically a Danish oil. The BLO will pop the grain of the burl and bring out the richness in the walnut. The varnish will seal everything for good game play, and the MS makes it easy to wipe on, which will be helpful with all those chamfers.
My .$02,
Dave:)
 

cpowell

Chuck
Senior User
Nice work, Clay. I looked at the first pic and thought, wow, that looks nice, precision cuts. Then I saw the second pic with the bevel detail... that's pretty doggone nice looking to me!

Finished pics, please!

Chuck
 
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