Chessboard

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EricRN

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May 16, 2019
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My son asked for a chess board. This is what I made. I think I finally cracked the code on using contrasting wood species with padauk. The squares are padauk and goiabao. Sides are Gabon ebony. The goiabao was something I bought in a whim from the clearance table at my local woodcraft. It's incredibly dense with a very closed pore, but it worked out well because it did not stain from the sanding dust of the padauk and ebony. (I've had terrible luck with maple staining bad.) I made sure to have dust collection set up and a vacuum attached while sanding.

I've had issues with the oil in padauk preventing finishes from curing so I did two coats of dewaxed shellac followed by a light sanding with 400 grit. After that fully cured, I finished with UV resistant spar urethane. No trouble at all with curing and drying. The UV resistance should keep the the padauk that nice golden orange for awhile. (I've got a small box I made where I used that same finish and 7 years in, its color is still good.) even when it fades it should darken to a red that's pretty close to the pieces.

Speaking of the pieces, it's a resin cats and dogs chess set from Berkeley chess. They have a bunch of really cool sets. The pieces have a nice weight and a premium feel. I think they are resin with crushed stone, similar to trustone but I'm not positive on that.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I think my son will like it.

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Very nice. The seams between squares are nice & tight with no gaps. The red and white colors are very well contrasted and match the playing pieces nicely.

Thanks for sharing!
 
Awesome wouldn't describe it. My complements on the craft. My grandson gets scraps from his job and he mentioned making a chess board. I thought to turn the pieces and he furnish the chess board. BTW, thanks for the reference of Berkley Chess. Will check on it.
 
Woodchipper said:
Awesome wouldn't describe it. My complements on the craft. My grandson gets scraps from his job and he mentioned making a chess board. I thought to turn the pieces and he furnish the chess board. BTW, thanks for the reference of Berkley Chess. Will check on it.
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I thought about trying to turn the individual pieces, but it took me long enough just to complete the board. I wouldn't even imagine how long it would take me to turn the individual pieces! Plus, my kid has heart set on cats and dogs so ...
 
Excellent work; I imagine it requires a great deal of patience and a lot of time for the finishing touches, but the result speaks for itself—it's professional-grade.
Berkeley Chess has some beautiful pieces and a wide selection (good luck making a board for every set design).
🙃 ♟️
 
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