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An old client of mine contacted me and asked about making him a chess board to match some pieces he had. Here I am contemplating materials and how to integrate them together.
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Veneer selections, and jig for cutting strips to width. The maple cauls are 1.75" square.
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Cleaning up the edge to make it straight.
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A cleaned up, straight edge!
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The veneer is butted up against the first maple caul, then the second is clamped down over it. After this I cut with my trusted Hock Marking Knife, using the side of the caul as my reference.
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Unclamp the caul and the first strip is created. Repeat this process for all the veneers. Because of the bevel on the marking knife a new, straight edge needs to be cut each time.
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Jumping ahead, here is the board in a rough state. This is the back, or glue side.
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Jumping ahead a bit, here is the top of the chess board. That is a very thin veneer tape keeping all of the pieces together in place.
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This is the underside of the board, which will be getting glued up to sub layer (backer) veneer very shortly.
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Hide glue, which gets melted in a small double boiler. Hide glue has been used for centuries and is very easy to work with and repair.
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Home made veneer press.
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The first half is glued up to the sub layer of veneer, in this case a thin sheet of walnut - it is what I had available and the size and grain direction were correct. Also, I wanted a dark under layer so any small voids or cracks in the board itself would be unlikely to show through. This is also an advantage of hide glue - it is relatively dark in color.
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A high quality, 1/4" thick sheet of plywood will form the base of the board. Ah, I should note here as you may be confused already - this will be a folding chess board with storage for the pieces on the inside. It should make sense as things progress. The edge of the plywood will be visible, here I am using tape as a clamp to glue a piece of mahogany to the outer edge.