Old Projects #3: Chess Table Inlay
Customer gave me this table and asked for an inlaid chessboard. They did the finishing. Chessboard Inlay into customers table
The Second Chess Board
https://youtu.be/JBLvcSFJ6Qo – here is the link to my video. I started this project one day when my daughter commented that she could beat me at the game of chess. While she was at school, I attempted to build a board with Purple Heart and Yellow Heart to play with. When I had nearly finished she arrived home from school and I asked if she would help me finish it. In the process some footage lost so we started again. The first board was aligned end grain so even though I used e...
I'm building an Army #11: Parting Shot
Well last night I used blue painters tape to mask off all the wood and grout the tile field. I’m pretty happy with how everything turned out, although putting down grout with an uneven/carved border made it a bit of a challenge. There are definitely some low spots in the grout, but for me, pretty darned good. Tonight my son and I used elmers glue to stick felt to the bottom of all the pieces. We cut oversized felt squares, spread the glue with our fingers, and held them with press...
I'm building an Army #7: Now where was I?
not much more in the way of progress, but I did get a few things done. To put in the weights, I mixed up some 2-part epoxy and just goobered up the hole, then squished in the weight. I goobered over the top a little to make sure they were held in. To do the pieces in bulk, I nailed together a little sled holder thingamabobber (no critiques, scrap wood and a brief 1 time necessity, not a lifetime shop jig). This would hold 8 pieces at once, which allowed me to glue in the weights in 4 fligh...
I'm building an Army #3: aaaaand cutting, and cutting
Thought I would throw up some more pictures and a few more notes. MAKE SURE YOUR BLADE IS SQUARE!!! Just checked it? Check again. It definitely doesn’t cut perfectly square due to blade flex in the thick material, but if you don’t start out square, you’ve got no chance. To try to keep the blade flex effects down, I am feeding very slowly with little pressure and letting the saw idle for a few seconds at the stops before I swing the piece. When I make the turns, I st...
Chess pieces and board #10: Chess board finished
Check out the finished product here. Thanks for following along.
Chess pieces and board #9: Finishing out the Chess Board
Here’s a couple more pics of the progress I’ve made. I glued some veneer around the edges to fill in the gap between the fancy stuff and the edge where the board will transition into the sides. Then it was onto a lot of sanding. What I hadn’t expected was the dust from the Rosewood to stain the maple while sanding. So I sanded it down as good as I could without going through the veneer and then used a cabinet scraper to finish it off. I think it came out really nice and I ca...
Chess pieces and board #8: Finished Pieces Starting on the board
Here is the latest:The pieces are all made. On to the board. Birds Eye Maple and Rosewood.I got the veneer supplies ready to go and glued each piece to the 1/2” Birch Ply after cutting them to rough width, 2.25”. I used the full length of each 12” piece of veneer and had a gap in the middle, which was fine because I had enough to get the eight strips out of it. Each strip is 24 inches long and I just cut what I needed out of it and skipped over the gap. I then cleaned up the...
Chess pieces and board #7: Turning the Bishop
Here is the latest video I’ve made in my series on chess piece making. This time it’s the bishop. This one has been the most fun to make so far. The knights were fun but so much work went into each one and they were difficult. This was a nice easy turning job with a little break to put the kerf in the top. Thanks for watching!http://youtu.be/EgwWgVPppMw<iframe src=”//www.youtube.com/embed/EgwWgVPppMw” frameborder=”0” height=”315” width=...
Chess pieces and board #6: Knights done, and all pieces so far
I have finished with the knights. This took some doing. Mostly cuts in transverse directions on the scroll saw. Then hand carved, fluted, eyes drilled and all sanded to 600 grit. Several layers of finish with sanding between. Next stop the bishops!
