Anyone do chess boards?

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I did one many years ago. Best advice I can give is to get your chess men (pieces)first and make the board squares to a size that matches by eye. I made mine to a plan and the squares were so large that any chess men seemed too small.
There is a trick so you don't have to glue up squares but rather planks. Let me know if you need more info.
 
walmapbrlchssm.jpg


Squares are 2" x 2", 1/4" black border, 2" border, finished with walnut panel molding. All veneer (walnut burl and red maple burl) on 1/2" baltic birch plywood.
 
Egads gary that is complicated.

No way I can make the pieces so will have to buy. Wonder where a nice not insanely expensive set can be had?
 
I did this one a couple of years ago. I used cheaper wood since it was painted. I'm an Ohio State fan so it was really difficult for me to do this with two SEC teams. Made the pieces on my lathe with a duplicator and templates from Penn State. Charged $250 for it.

Jim
 

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Size of the squares is irrelevant. I made a ceramic set in college that used 6x6 tiles, the king was a foot tall. Friend of mine in Ann Arbor used 12x12 paving stones for his garden set, the king is nearly 3 feet tall! Make the pieces then figure out what looks right.
 
Sorry, I lost track of the main point of the original post. I agree with Rick. Make the pieces then determine the checkerboard size based on the pieces.
 
According to the rules of the World Chess Federation, the size of a square should be twice the diameter of a pawn's base. It is recommended that a side of the square should measure 5 to 6.5 cm (roughly 2-2.5 in).

If you really want to get fancy, make the "squares" slightly rectangular - a bit longer than they are wide. That creates the optical illusion of them being square when you sit at the end.

Regards,
Eric
 
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