It's been a long while since I posted any projects, so I figured these would be a nice re-entry. I was asked to make some custom chess boards, and I could use my own design ideas...pretty open to me for what I like. I've got three posted in my gallery with several more pictures, but will show some here. I have playing pieces with the boards, but not they are not handmade, I'm not very good at making the pieces yet. The boards are coated in lacquer, the tops have a dozen coats, and hand rubbed to a very slick finish. I'd researched how to do hand rubbing and everyone seems to have different ideas there. I tried micro-mesh sheets wet with the soft pad backer for the initial sanding, then the finer grits wet using just my hand as a backer. I did one board in Birdseye maple with cherry, another with mahogany and maple, and the last with Peruvian walnut and maple. All boards have hidden drawers in the base for storage of the playing pieces. These boards are about 16 to 18 inches square.