Another Chessboard

[jttheclockman]

I mentioned in Kens thread where he shows his beautiful chessboard he finished making for his son, that many years ago I made a chessboard and inlayed it into a table. I mentioned this was probably one of my first furniture so called woodworking projects. here is a little background. I was an electrician for over 43 years and back in the late 70's and early 80's I started collecting these huge wire reels that we would get from supply houses that had our large cable wires wrapped on. After making the pulls these reels usually got thrown out or some guys would take and make outdoor furniture such as tables and chairs. Many times these were used by the guys on the job as our lunch and break tables. The reels supplied to the job depended on the size and amount of cable being pulled. So they came in various sizes. I decided to take a few over the years and then visited a craft show and someone was selling these type tables and chairs. Back then burning or singeing of wood projects was big. They would do these type table and also shelves and many other themed projects. It was a look and maybe some of you remember those days. Well I decided to add my touch and this was the results. I made a couple more and gave them away. This one I kept for myself and have it in my game room as a token of my past intro into woodworking I guess. Had to clear all the stuff stored on top to take a photo but it is a bit beat up but not bad. I made a chess board and inlayed it into the top. I reversed the boards on the sides so that the concave side is shown. I then added some rope detail and burned the or singed the whole thing as it was done back in those days. Put a few coats of poly on it.

In stead of jumping in Ken's thread, I posted this. Now his work is 1000 times better than what I did but his photos brought back memories. I may steal a few of his ideas on a later project (don't tell him ) Anyway here is an oldie but goodie. I bet this table is close to 50 years old.

 

[sdindc]

Pretty cool and great story. It is always intersting to hear how people got into woodworking. I imagine it is cool to look back at something that you created 50 odd years ago.

 

[jttheclockman]

I agree. I really go back alot further than that but my Dad was the one who got me into basically working with my hands and it started when I was around 7 years old and we were renovating our house. We had just put a set of dormers on the house because all kids were getting older we needed the room. Well My dad did all the interior work himself and that was when I was introduced to the busy end of a hammer . He also did some woodworking such as making a doll house for my sister and actually made all the furniture for it. Desks, dressers, beds. It was cool. Did it on a bandsaw and old Craftsman tablesaw. He then went on to make full size desks and kitchen cabinets and many other things. I was right there soaking this stuff up like a sponge. I made a few woodworking projects back in the early days that I wish I had photos of. I made a knick knack table that was cool. I made the columns with wooden chain links. That did not survive with much moving around. Made all the chain links with a jig and a router that my parents gave me for Christmas present. An old Craftsman router. That probably was the launching pad to my tool obsession today. I wish I had a photo of that table. Trip down memory lane. I remember talking to my Dad in his later years and we walked down some of those memory lanes and to this day I wished he had all the tools I have today and would have loved to see what he could have done and how much easier our jobs would have been. Hammering small finishing nails in and then setting with a nail punch and filling in with Plastic Wood putty (that should wake some people's brains up using that stuff if they had any brain cells left. Smelled good) . Then sanding by hand the overflow. Oh the good old days.

 

[KenB259]

I like this and try as I might, I can't see where that rope is spliced. I can see this right at home in a vacation cabin or somewhere there is a nautical theme going on. I hope anyone here feels free to take any idea that I might inspire here and run with it.

 

[BULLWINKLE]

Excellent. Beautiful table and chess board

 

[jttheclockman]

I like this and try as I might, I can't see where that rope is spliced. I can see this right at home in a vacation cabin or somewhere there is a nautical theme going on. I hope anyone here feels free to take any idea that I might inspire here and run with it.

I am the same way. Anything I post is up for grabs and if I can assist in anyway just shoot me a message. The rope is not spliced. It is just ends butted together. I will say this those reels were well built with a ton of spikes in them. Not easy taking apart

 

[Jim15]

Awesome work.

 

[sorcerertd]

That's really nice and has certainly stood the test of time. I've seen a lot of plain round spool tables, but I really like the octagon. Turning the concave side of the boards outward is a really nice touch, too.

 

[johncrane]

it's a wow from me