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TD's Chess board

12/13/2012

1 Comment

 
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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.  


1 Comment
Susquehanna
2/15/2013 14:42:32

The work is so intricate and the end result beautiful. One wouldn't think there were so many steps!

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