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.
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.
