Wow at nearly 3 years old this video has exploded! (At least for me). I appreciate all the views and comments of advice. Just a bit of background. This was my very first RUclips video and is cringy to watch for multiple reasons! The saw technique being the biggest reason. My editing and voice over skills being another big one for me personally. I still consider myself a beginner in both regards, but the recent response to this video has inspired me to continue to make videos and improve my skills. Rest assured I do not use the table saw like this anymore 😀 Thanks so much for watching and subscribing! If you have a sec check out my other videos!
@@edmilner On NPR they had a news item that chess sets are selling out because of "The Queen's Gambit". They also claimed people socially distancing and staying home seem to prefer a physical set to play.
Don't sweat the early mistakes. You've got a decent mix of tools, and you'll gain the experience over time to do some nice stuff. When glueing strips, clamp a couple of straight rigid boards across the strips, top and bottom, to keep them flat. Use wax or parchment paper to keep them away from the glue. This will really cut down on the planing and sanding.
That was a rough journey. And I only say that not to dog you, but because I know exactly how that feels. Man, you perservered and you made a lot of small mistakes (we all do) but the point to take home was you ended up with a beautiful piece at the end! The mistakes don't matter. What matters / mattered was you stuck it out and fixed them. Great work. I hope mine turns out that nice in the end!
Absolutely beautiful - very generous to share that. I have seen lots of videos with perfect presentations which are obviously geared towards selling. But your video is actually inspiring dudes like me who have never done this and don't have fancy machinery to make something like that. YOUR chessboard and especially the way YOU made it is my favored. THANK YOU
You are very welcome, the world needs more and more people like you, who simply share their experience, instead of pretending or trying to be perfect due to a lack of self-acceptance. All the best!! @@benofalltrades
I am a complete amateur, but even I can see this is some horrible H&S. No knife, no blade cover, leans over the blade, no push stick thing and also no dust collection.
You made this video some 3years ago and this is my first visit. I think it’s inspiring to any wood worker beginning or experienced. You learn from your mistakes and find a way to make it right. Your shop looks well equipped and one thing I can offer is to use them, it’s a lot easier and safer. Your honesty and narrative made this a pleasure to watch.
I love your honesty and humbleness. Mistakes happen and we learn from it. This video inspired me to make one. I hope you stay safe and healthy and nothing bad happens to you in shop. Love your videos man. Keep up the great work.
It’s easy to rave about your successes, but it takes real sand for a man to show others his failures. Cheers for that. You’re ahead of the game for two reasons: First, RUclips. I wish I had access to so much visual instruction when I first started woodworking. And second, you seem smart enough to ask for help. Best of luck on the journey.
Using your push stick right next to the fence tends to rotate the stock into the blade-a recipe for mangled stock and a mangled body from kickback. Get or make yourself a decent push stick, one that applies pressure to the top of the workpiece as well as pushing it forward. [Ah, I see one in use at 7:25.] When cutting really thin strips, it is far safer (for you and the stock) to cut the strips so they fall away from blade, not between the blade and the fence. It's a bit more fiddly to get the thicknesses consistent, but it's not that hard and decidedly worth it. When filling gaps, it's best to use wood glue; superglue will darken the wood, making the repair more evident. You ended up with a nice piece, and without having been told about the mistakes made along the way, it's unlikely anyone would ever know.
Can make a stop block at the infeed to have a consistent size so all you gotta do is slide the fence over and sandwich the board between the stop block and the fence. The fence only moves the width of the cut plus the saw kerf every time. Should - in theory - get consistent size strips then. Still scary to me though since my table saw has an actual chasm next to each size of the blade. 😂 Kickback damn near broke my hand / wrist once already trying to cut thin stock. Have a zero clearance throat or buy a bandsaw for that kind of work.
Dont beat yourself up too much over this. Anytime you make your "prototype" project, it always takes a lot longer as you are working through things as you go. The next time will be a lot easier. In the end, you have a really nice chessboard, and unless you are making these for production, thats all that counts.
I love it. Thank you for sharing! I cringed at your mistakes and cheered at your "but I can fix it". A chess board is hard to execute. The theory is really simple but you have to do everything right. A day of woodworking that doesn't involve bleeding is a success. I appreciate your humility. Your board looks great!
What a great video! The board turned out great in the end. I liked the explanations of the mistakes knowing that I would make numerous errors also the first time doing anything. It’s good to know I’m not alone 😮
Despite your "learn as you go" errors, it really turned out beautifully! The contrast between the wood squares is really nice. I also liked your choice of finish going with the satin. I am going to try to build my first entire set, starting off with the board and then on to the pieces, but at a smaller scale of 75% USCF size (1.5" squares). I just bought a Dremel 4" table saw for the board and a small Dremel lathe for the pieces. A full size set would likely exceed the capacity of my tools, so I'll just plan on scaling everything down. Great job again!
When I have some trouble with varying thickness of boards causing trouble on the table saw like you described, I use some hot glue or double sided tape to attach a smooth carrier (MDF of somthing similar) to the bottom and let that slide on the table saw surface. Easy peasy for taking care of that until you get it dressed down smoother. There are also lots of videos using a router sled to smooth the surface down. I have used this method a couple of times and it is great for reducing the amount of sanding required to get the surface smooth.
Brave soul for putting your mistakes out there Haha. It’s sad how RUclips can be such a negative place where people put others down and think they are the greatest at everything. This is excellent work because you learned something and you will only get better with time. Everybody starts somewhere and the board came out great! What else matters? :) keep making dust man!
the best way i find to do accurate forty fives is by fussing and caliberting your saw to a couple thousandths or so true. It is easier to have a high end miter gage like the incra which is tedious to set up true but stays there and will only need to be trued to ninety degrees the forty five settings are true to the ninety to a couple thousandths or so. it has taken me quite a few years to actually learn how to set up my mitre gage correctly using the five sided board method.
There are (and will be) lots of people just starting out to work with wood and woodworking machinery. Experts can explain how they easily make something but the beginner will struggle to accomplish close to the same thing. Watching YOUR mistakes and learning just as you did is much, much better than watching an expert craft a perfect piece. Thank you, tremendously, for showing your mistakes. This video is a treasure!
You're Perfect👍🏻 In your first time. Like me, learning by ourselves. Also, learning from the mistakes. Thoroughly enjoyed your woodwork. I love that two-wood colors.
Great looking chess board! Observation : You need to align your fence to your saw blade, or you will be sanding more than you will be sawing. Spend a few days calibrating your saw fence and making sure your saw blade teeth has enough clearance to material as well as a thick steel so it will not bend during the cut. After the cut you should only need light sanding instead of trying to sand off the burn marks. Let the blade rest on hardwoods and even use lubricate to cool the blade to prevent it from overheating & bending while going through a lot of material.
I'm sure you'll excell at whatever you do - as you clearly seek and accept advice rather than thinking you know everything as (some) others do. Great honest video, which gives someone with far less skill some hope. Thanks for posting flaws and all - it really helps.
I enjoyed the video and I made the same mistakes as you and I will making my next chess board soon, hope I've learnt some thing. You learn by your mistakes. Well done.
It honers you that you talk about the mistakes , but still improvised , adapted and overcame. The result is super and you will treasure this board for years. The little imperfections make it unique and human.
Dude! Make yourself a decent push stick! A scrap piece of wood is not a push stick. I cringed when I saw you using that thing. As far as bar clamping, use more clamps and alternate them top /bottom to even out the forces and as you say, do not overtighten. Clamping cauls may help to even out the pressure as well.
I'm interested in how you got all that equipment for such a beginner - I've been doing it as a hobby for years and gradually add and replace tools - still don't have a decent table saw or many of the branded measuring tools, saws, jigs etc
Most of these tools are my dad's. He's been a DIY'er his whole life and has been collecting them. I've added just a few tools to the shop. I'm definitely lucky in that regard
@@benofalltrades thanks for the reply man, a very jealous Brit over here looking at all that stuff! Great job by the way, even though it was a while ago. I'll be subscribing to catch more videos
For cutting board glueups I have a few pre cut/tape wrapped 1\2" plywood squares that I lay on top of the glue up. About 1/4 inch edge exposed around edge, and I use pipe clamps. Helps me.
I'm not an experienced woodworker, but the strategy that Wood You Make It uses for the glue up is to put weight on the top of the board before clamping the sides. He has a custom jig for clamping chessboards, but yeah having some downward force to prevent bowing seems important.
I have now watched several very skilled craftsmen making chessboards. They come in ultra high-end, using expensive materials, down to this one, which uses off cuts. They are all fantastic, but this one brings it down to MY level. I have to hunt down some wood now. Thanks for the video. It is great!
You did a great job. The only thing is, evenly distribute finishes onto your cloth. It makes it much easier to evenly apply than to apply directly and spread it.
This is the second video of yours I have watched and like that you tell viewers about the mistakes you make during the build. It helps me learn as much as learning the correct version the first time.
Thanks for watching! I figure if I'm gonna dive into something new the least I can do is share hiccups along the way to hopefully help someone else. Glad it's helping!
@@benofalltrades Thanks for replying to my comment. I am the type of person who learns by watching others and your demonstrations are very good. I get a lot out of them.
@@ronroffel1462 sure thing, I appreciateiate the feedback. As someone fairly new to the RUclips scene it's good to hear that my videos are worth something to people
You can glue the boarder on as a square pieces to get perfect miters, then cut the bevel after the glue up. this allows you to sneak up on the perfect bevel keeping your fingers well away from the blade.
Since this video is almost 3 years old, I'd like to know how it has held up? The internet says not to put boarders around such a glue-up because the swelling and shrinking of the squares (seasonal wood movement) will pull the 45's apart. Did you find that to be the case? I guess it also depends on where you live and how the humidity swings between seasons.
I actually sold this board after about 6 months. I know that's not very long, but I didn't notice any changes in that time frame. It's also the only one I ever made, so maybe it's time to make another!
@@benofalltrades That show on Netflix is driving a ton of interest in chess right now. This would be an excellent time to make a new video and do another chessboard. Strike while the iron is hot! Get those clicks!! :)
Thanks for your humble presentation. Many of my projects are the "second" attempt. You were able to salvage your first attempt with surprisingly good results. The gap filling on the 45's was particularly impressive. If you'd like to play a game... I'll play white... E4...
Thank you! Yeah first projects are always tough. And I'll admit, I rarely play chess even with a board. I wouldn't even know how to play by just describing the locations of the board 😀
It looks like it came out great after any missteps. Wood is pretty able to help you cover mistakes. On the glue-up with thin strips (similar to doing cutting boards) I think the wonkiness is eliminated by first laying your chess board strips between opposing 3/4" strips of a hardwood like maple wrapped in plastic wrap so they don't stick to the wood. 3 pairs of these wood strips on top and bottom of your board clamped with C clamps prevents flexing of the board that happens if you only use the long pipe clamps.
Looks great.Love that you shared your errors and mistakes.Everone makes them but not all have the guts to admit it. I don't have a riving knife so don't worry.The sad ones that criticize are usually the ones that don't do anything
Thanks for watching! Yeah honestly I'd feel a bit better with one, but the one that came with the saw is to thick and prevents wood from being pushed through soooo 🤷🏼
I just made my first chessboard and even if I had watched your video, I probably would have still made some of the same mistakes. I learn by doing, and I learned a lot. One thing that amazes me about woodworking is how similar it is to PGA golf. While it’s nice to be in the fairway and on the green, the most important skill is recovering from a bad situation. In woodworking this typically involves a lot of sanding!!! 😂😂😂😂😂 Great video!!!
As you can see, I love to watch and it doesn't matter as long as I enjoy it. Maybe in some time I'll come back to congratulate you, one more time aguien jejejej
Sandwich the strips between 2 pieces of plywood when you're gluing it up, and use some clamps to apply vertical pressure to the plywood, as well as the horizontal pressure from the clamps directly on the board. That should help with the bowing significantly.
Beautiful job in my opinion! .... And thank you for NOT destroying your video, like so many others do, by thinking it necessary to dub in loud, distracting, unnecessary music... I can actually hear your useful commentary!
I made a thinner chessboard in woodshop when I was in high school; we glued the board to another piece of wood and I had no problems plaining the board since it was attached to a base at that point.
@@benofalltrades I would just get a smoothing plane and learn how to use it. When you do get proficient with it can be fast and extremely accurate with it. Hand tool woodworking with some power tools can be extremely fast and very accurate. There is no machine that can get near to the quality level of a hand plane for a surface finish.
Nice board, interesting project. Not sure if anyone else has commented on the 45-deg corner issue, but I would highly recommend a shooting board and hand plane so that you can cut them a hair overlong and then plane the corners by sneaking up on the exact final length, doing one corner at a time. It works like a charm. It is SO difficult to do these kinds of joints on a machine to the degree of accuracy you need/want.
A way to make close fitting miters is to clamp two pieces back to back and use a block plane to smooth both at the same time. Like making a rub joint between two boards, the angle are complementary.
You weren't born a master woodworker. You learn by doing. Your chess board was a great challenge and learning project. Something to be proud of. Display it with pride. It would be great to see where you are now in your woodworking journey. Keep "doing" and learning.
I started using biscuits for glue-ups years ago, and it changed the game for me. It doesn’t totally eliminate the need for cauls, but they are awesome for paneling.
Use cauls to put across the board - clamp then to the table/workbench and then clamp the glued surfaces together. You do not need to clamp super tight just enough to get the glued surfaces to adhere to the next one.
Good job! I realize you (like me) aren't a master woodworker, but I'm impressed with your perseverance. The end result is great and that's what matters most. 😊
Thanks for sharing your trials and errors with your adventures in chess board making/ building. How do we learn!!?? We learn from our mistakes that we make. Hopefully we don't keep repeating the same ones over and over, because that's the definition of insanity.
Bro! I just went to home depot and cut out a 17x17 , measured out 2 inches for 8 squares and had enough space for the squares to be good enough. I spray painted and enameld my board to whatever the customer. I made about 15 chess boards and sold about half of that now. You still did awesome Bron. Hellz yeaa!
It takes a lot to create RUclips content. You will always be your biggest critic. Good job finishing the project and posting it. You will want to make a table saw jig for perfect 45 degree cuts. The miter isnt good for it unless you have a high end one.
Checkmate!! Looks like years of fun. It will be handed down. Still have my grandfather’s that he made about 100 years ago. Yours turned out beautiful❤️
I thought at first to advise you to become a firewood supplier but joking aside it's refreshing to see your honesty and watch your self learning process you have very good kit especially the Festool and I'm sure you'll be a master carpenter/ joiner in the future good luck.
Agree with all the safety comments. But you are on the right track. Build yourself a router sled to flatten after glue-ups. You dont need the final thickness to be much more than a half inch. You can back it with plywood and then cover the edges with hardwood
Great vid, thank you! I'm going to give this a go this year (when it's warm enough to be out in the shop) and your video has been really helpful. I think I'll keep the border square, cut the 45 degree angles and then add a chamfer with a router after its glued. I don't have a table saw so that's going to be my biggest challenge I reckon. If it comes out half as nice as yours I'll be happy!
I learned in orientation for my job, I build guitars, that too much clamping will only build stress into your project. They had us make a 100% glue joint out of broken coasters, using hand pressure to show us that you dont need much pressure to create a 100% connection. Im watching this because I was inspired to build a chess board last night. Im going to use mahagony and maple for mine. If I can get my hands on some ebony that would be kick ass, but Im not holding my breath, even though the company I work for owns the Crelicam Ebony Plant in Africa.
The real purpose of clamping is to force the glue to pressurise into the wood fibres between the two glue surfaces. When doing joints such as mortise and tenon and dovetails the clamping keeps the joint fully inserted into place. Glue are vicious and air pockets can form and glues can expand into space so you need the right amount of clamping pressure. Too many people apply pressures that are not going to provide any extra benefit.
It turned out pretty nice in the end. One thing though, the direction of the grain of the squares should be horizontal to the player. All old boards are like this. I'm probably not the first to point this out.
Using a shoot board and hand planer cut your miters long and then approach them on the shoot board (you should have one that's 45 and 90... make them), that way you know the angle is right and you can get a snug fit on the 4th corner. Fixes any mistakes in your miter gauge or miter saw's adjustments. You could also use a large shoot board to have square the large edges, you just need to go slow if they're that rough. Consider using a frame for gluing panels square, and cauls to keep them from bowing. A router would have saved you hours of sanding, since you could have routed the board flat with a jig instead of doing it on the drum sander. You could have thickness planed them by hand too... a hand planar goes a surprisingly long way in the shop.
@@benofalltrades I used to be a trim carpenter and we used them pretty often. You can also use pieces of scrap between what you’re gluing and the clamps to prevent minor damage to your project. I learned from working with other people. Keep up the good work.
I did my glue up and had the same problem. I had made a gig a while back to flatten boards. I used this with my router and a flattening bit.. It is in one of my videos I am sure. Another thing I do is since my planner will only take 13.5 inch material. I make my boards in two glue ups, then run them through the planner until they are the same thickness, then glue the two halves together. As the comment just below mine says, I use straight boards on edge clamped to the pieces to keep the pieces flat while tightening the clamps. I also use wax paper on the work bench to keep the whole thing from sticking to the table while gluing.
I’m sure you know this by now but just in case - when glueing you could clamp a board across the top to keep things in flat (eg cauls). Just cover them in packing tape so they don’t stick to the glue.
I got a nice piece of granite from the granite place. Told them what I needed it for and they gave me a nice piece of leftover. I use it for my glue table keep it clean and polished and the glue does not stick to it. Using clamps vertically for holding down to the granite surface. and of course the horizontal clamps for squeezing the boards together.
You can make the square and stick it to the board and then give it the shape it is easier to work and make the corner cuts when you have the complete wood, I also recommend that when you have large imperfections you can use a router to smooth everything is faster and It is better, also if you have a problem joining many pieces of wood, simply lighten the task, paste 2 at a time, let it dry and then paste the rest little by little. very good video and do not be mortified that mistakes are where you learn best I do not remember any project that once finished I did not think of another way to do it better that always happens to me
Hi I just found your channel. I came across a guy making a chessboard so I searched for more. i am also very much a beginner. So i think I'll hold off on the chessboard. mostly because i do not have a jointer or a planer yet. I am learning to make a jig for jointing a board. hopefully it will work well.
I think this could be done with hand planes as well. But I've never done that. If you got some wood that was already planed and made sure both boards were the same thickness I bet you could still pull it off
Excellent, honest video. Congratulations on tackling a complex project to start out with! I usually do a simple version of my dream project first. I will subscribe
To prevent the bow when glue/clamping you want to get a scrap board for the top and bottom so you can clamp it vertically as well as horizontally. That should keep it straight. And if you don't have a planer I can see at least two instances in this video where you could have saved yourself a lot of time/hassle by buying a chisel. That way you could easily shave off the little slivers instead of sanding it the whole way down.
Hi BA, just in the process of putting the boarder around the playing area, I'm going to do square joints and not mitre as I know the board is not square. I done the same mistakes as you I just didn't record it, but so pleased you did, just to know I'm not the only one to have made those mistakes. Great video so informative. All I have is a festool orbital sander, dewalt table saw, and my makita plunge saw.😂. I love it though.
I like it that three years later, you have learned much.....it's keeping our fingers whist we do so, eh? That was a very nice looking chess board, by the way....you might have gotten there 'the hard way' but ya got there. -Veteran '66-68
Thanks! Yeah I've learned a lot over the years and still have all my fingers! Seems like all my projects are a "first" for me so I'm learning the hard way a lot 😂 but it's all good
Wow at nearly 3 years old this video has exploded! (At least for me). I appreciate all the views and comments of advice. Just a bit of background. This was my very first RUclips video and is cringy to watch for multiple reasons! The saw technique being the biggest reason. My editing and voice over skills being another big one for me personally. I still consider myself a beginner in both regards, but the recent response to this video has inspired me to continue to make videos and improve my skills. Rest assured I do not use the table saw like this anymore 😀 Thanks so much for watching and subscribing! If you have a sec check out my other videos!
I think it's almost certainly a result of the Netflix 'Queen's Gambit'.
@@edmilner that totally makes sense. I'll take the exposure!
@@edmilner On NPR they had a news item that chess sets are selling out because of "The Queen's Gambit". They also claimed people socially distancing and staying home seem to prefer a physical set to play.
I thought it was great through and through.
@@nicolasmartinez6288 thanks!
Don't sweat the early mistakes. You've got a decent mix of tools, and you'll gain the experience over time to do some nice stuff. When glueing strips, clamp a couple of straight rigid boards across the strips, top and bottom, to keep them flat. Use wax or parchment paper to keep them away from the glue. This will really cut down on the planing and sanding.
I'm sure after 4 years your skills have truly improved. I wish you best of luck in your woodworking endeavors.
That was a rough journey. And I only say that not to dog you, but because I know exactly how that feels. Man, you perservered and you made a lot of small mistakes (we all do) but the point to take home was you ended up with a beautiful piece at the end! The mistakes don't matter. What matters / mattered was you stuck it out and fixed them. Great work. I hope mine turns out that nice in the end!
Absolutely beautiful - very generous to share that. I have seen lots of videos with perfect presentations which are obviously geared towards selling. But your video is actually inspiring dudes like me who have never done this and don't have fancy machinery to make something like that. YOUR chessboard and especially the way YOU made it is my favored. THANK YOU
Wow, thank you!
You are very welcome, the world needs more and more people like you, who simply share their experience, instead of pretending or trying to be perfect due to a lack of self-acceptance. All the best!! @@benofalltrades
Two words --- riving knife.
two more --- dust collection
Another 2 - luna-tic. stand back and stay outta the way? great advice. this is definitely a what not to do vid.
I am a complete amateur, but even I can see this is some horrible H&S.
No knife, no blade cover, leans over the blade, no push stick thing and also no dust collection.
crosscut sled, that was scary to watch - accident waiting to happen...
@@rl8631 your right. This is a what not to do video. READ THE TITLE
You made this video some 3years ago and this is my first visit. I think it’s inspiring to any wood worker beginning or experienced. You learn from your mistakes and find a way to make it right. Your shop looks well equipped and one thing I can offer is to use them, it’s a lot easier and safer. Your honesty and narrative made this a pleasure to watch.
I love your honesty and humbleness. Mistakes happen and we learn from it. This video inspired me to make one. I hope you stay safe and healthy and nothing bad happens to you in shop. Love your videos man. Keep up the great work.
Thank you! I really appreciate that. I'd love to see what you come up with. Tag me on Instagram @bawoodworking82 with some pics of the final product
It’s easy to rave about your successes, but it takes real sand for a man to show others his failures. Cheers for that. You’re ahead of the game for two reasons: First, RUclips. I wish I had access to so much visual instruction when I first started woodworking. And second, you seem smart enough to ask for help. Best of luck on the journey.
I appreciate the feedback. Thanks for watching!
Wonderful. What a helpful tutorial. Love it. Thanks for your humility and candor.
Using your push stick right next to the fence tends to rotate the stock into the blade-a recipe for mangled stock and a mangled body from kickback. Get or make yourself a decent push stick, one that applies pressure to the top of the workpiece as well as pushing it forward. [Ah, I see one in use at 7:25.]
When cutting really thin strips, it is far safer (for you and the stock) to cut the strips so they fall away from blade, not between the blade and the fence. It's a bit more fiddly to get the thicknesses consistent, but it's not that hard and decidedly worth it.
When filling gaps, it's best to use wood glue; superglue will darken the wood, making the repair more evident.
You ended up with a nice piece, and without having been told about the mistakes made along the way, it's unlikely anyone would ever know.
Thanks for the advice. Yeah definitely still learning all the tips and tricks!
Can make a stop block at the infeed to have a consistent size so all you gotta do is slide the fence over and sandwich the board between the stop block and the fence. The fence only moves the width of the cut plus the saw kerf every time. Should - in theory - get consistent size strips then. Still scary to me though since my table saw has an actual chasm next to each size of the blade. 😂 Kickback damn near broke my hand / wrist once already trying to cut thin stock. Have a zero clearance throat or buy a bandsaw for that kind of work.
Thanks for the video. I'm a beginning woodworker too. It's nice to see someone else who makes mistakes and has to figure out how to fix them.
Thanks for watching! I'm just learning as I go and almost every project I post is a first for me so mistakes are kinda my thing! Haha
Dont beat yourself up too much over this. Anytime you make your "prototype" project, it always takes a lot longer as you are working through things as you go. The next time will be a lot easier. In the end, you have a really nice chessboard, and unless you are making these for production, thats all that counts.
I love it. Thank you for sharing! I cringed at your mistakes and cheered at your "but I can fix it". A chess board is hard to execute. The theory is really simple but you have to do everything right. A day of woodworking that doesn't involve bleeding is a success. I appreciate your humility. Your board looks great!
Thanks for watching! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
What a great video! The board turned out great in the end. I liked the explanations of the mistakes knowing that I would make numerous errors also the first time doing anything. It’s good to know I’m not alone 😮
Despite your "learn as you go" errors, it really turned out beautifully! The contrast between the wood squares is really nice. I also liked your choice of finish going with the satin. I am going to try to build my first entire set, starting off with the board and then on to the pieces, but at a smaller scale of 75% USCF size (1.5" squares). I just bought a Dremel 4" table saw for the board and a small Dremel lathe for the pieces. A full size set would likely exceed the capacity of my tools, so I'll just plan on scaling everything down. Great job again!
Thanks! That's awesome! Good luck on the project! Share pictures on Instagram and tag me @bawoodworking82
When I have some trouble with varying thickness of boards causing trouble on the table saw like you described, I use some hot glue or double sided tape to attach a smooth carrier (MDF of somthing similar) to the bottom and let that slide on the table saw surface. Easy peasy for taking care of that until you get it dressed down smoother.
There are also lots of videos using a router sled to smooth the surface down. I have used this method a couple of times and it is great for reducing the amount of sanding required to get the surface smooth.
Gorgeous looking wood. Board looks lovely!
Brave soul for putting your mistakes out there Haha. It’s sad how RUclips can be such a negative place where people put others down and think they are the greatest at everything. This is excellent work because you learned something and you will only get better with time. Everybody starts somewhere and the board came out great! What else matters? :) keep making dust man!
It can definitely be a tough environment, but if I can help someone avoid a similar mistake it's worth it! Thanks for the kind words!
I would not exactly say they were mistakes but adjusting the work as need be.
the best way i find to do accurate forty fives is by fussing and caliberting your saw to a couple thousandths or so true. It is easier to have a high end miter gage like the incra which is tedious to set up true but stays there and will only need to be trued to ninety degrees the forty five settings are true to the ninety to a couple thousandths or so. it has taken me quite a few years to actually learn how to set up my mitre gage correctly using the five sided board method.
There are (and will be) lots of people just starting out to work with wood and woodworking machinery. Experts can explain how they easily make something but the beginner will struggle to accomplish close to the same thing. Watching YOUR mistakes and learning just as you did is much, much better than watching an expert craft a perfect piece. Thank you, tremendously, for showing your mistakes. This video is a treasure!
Thanks for watching! I'm glad it was helpful!
Really helpful to see how you fixed your mistakes.
Oh good! I'm glad!
Never mistakes, we call them happy accidents. (Bob Ross)
You're Perfect👍🏻 In your first time. Like me, learning by ourselves. Also, learning from the mistakes. Thoroughly enjoyed your woodwork. I love that two-wood colors.
Thanks for showing us this. Turned out real nice
Thanks! And thanks for watching!
Great looking chess board! Observation : You need to align your fence to your saw blade, or you will be sanding more than you will be sawing. Spend a few days calibrating your saw fence and making sure your saw blade teeth has enough clearance to material as well as a thick steel so it will not bend during the cut. After the cut you should only need light sanding instead of trying to sand off the burn marks. Let the blade rest on hardwoods and even use lubricate to cool the blade to prevent it from overheating & bending while going through a lot of material.
I'm sure you'll excell at whatever you do - as you clearly seek and accept advice rather than thinking you know everything as (some) others do. Great honest video, which gives someone with far less skill some hope. Thanks for posting flaws and all - it really helps.
Thank you! I'm glad it helps in at least a small degree
I enjoyed the video and I made the same mistakes as you and I will making my next chess board soon, hope I've learnt some thing. You learn by your mistakes. Well done.
Thanks much!
It honers you that you talk about the mistakes , but still improvised , adapted and overcame. The result is super and you will treasure this board for years. The little imperfections make it unique and human.
Thanks!
You done good! It looks very nice, and professional !
Dude! Make yourself a decent push stick! A scrap piece of wood is not a push stick. I cringed when I saw you using that thing. As far as bar clamping, use more clamps and alternate them top /bottom to even out the forces and as you say, do not overtighten. Clamping cauls may help to even out the pressure as well.
fun process if I get some smiles but it was worth it this beautiful congratulations
Great video, i really appreciate all the mistakes! :)
I'm interested in how you got all that equipment for such a beginner - I've been doing it as a hobby for years and gradually add and replace tools - still don't have a decent table saw or many of the branded measuring tools, saws, jigs etc
Most of these tools are my dad's. He's been a DIY'er his whole life and has been collecting them. I've added just a few tools to the shop. I'm definitely lucky in that regard
@@benofalltrades thanks for the reply man, a very jealous Brit over here looking at all that stuff! Great job by the way, even though it was a while ago. I'll be subscribing to catch more videos
@@alanhill6974 thanks! I appreciate it!
I really like the fact that you shared your mistakes. We all make them. Turned out very nice. Well done.
Thanks for watching!
For cutting board glueups I have a few pre cut/tape wrapped 1\2" plywood squares that I lay on top of the glue up. About 1/4 inch edge exposed around edge, and I use pipe clamps. Helps me.
That's a great idea!
I'm not an experienced woodworker, but the strategy that Wood You Make It uses for the glue up is to put weight on the top of the board before clamping the sides. He has a custom jig for clamping chessboards, but yeah having some downward force to prevent bowing seems important.
I have now watched several very skilled craftsmen making chessboards.
They come in ultra high-end, using expensive materials, down to this one, which uses off cuts.
They are all fantastic, but this one brings it down to MY level.
I have to hunt down some wood now.
Thanks for the video. It is great!
I'm glad the video helped in some way! That means a lot to me. Happy hunting/crafting!
You did a great job. The only thing is, evenly distribute finishes onto your cloth. It makes it much easier to evenly apply than to apply directly and spread it.
Good idea, thanks!
Hey, that turned out to be a lovely, classy-looking board! I'd buy it. 😀
This is the second video of yours I have watched and like that you tell viewers about the mistakes you make during the build. It helps me learn as much as learning the correct version the first time.
Thanks for watching! I figure if I'm gonna dive into something new the least I can do is share hiccups along the way to hopefully help someone else. Glad it's helping!
@@benofalltrades Thanks for replying to my comment. I am the type of person who learns by watching others and your demonstrations are very good. I get a lot out of them.
@@ronroffel1462 sure thing, I appreciateiate the feedback. As someone fairly new to the RUclips scene it's good to hear that my videos are worth something to people
You can glue the boarder on as a square pieces to get perfect miters, then cut the bevel after the glue up. this allows you to sneak up on the perfect bevel keeping your fingers well away from the blade.
Definitely a good idea!
Thanks James. Was going to rush out and make one of these and I definitely appreciate that tip. Sensible and safer too!
That was a lot of hard work behind that beautiful chess board. Looking great in the end. Good feeling to play chess with a home built board.
Indeed, thank you!
I’ve found getting the rough stock true on one face and edging them helps. The gluing and a hand plane to finish the glued boards square
Yeah I definitely need to get a hand plane!
Since this video is almost 3 years old, I'd like to know how it has held up? The internet says not to put boarders around such a glue-up because the swelling and shrinking of the squares (seasonal wood movement) will pull the 45's apart. Did you find that to be the case? I guess it also depends on where you live and how the humidity swings between seasons.
I actually sold this board after about 6 months. I know that's not very long, but I didn't notice any changes in that time frame. It's also the only one I ever made, so maybe it's time to make another!
@@benofalltrades That show on Netflix is driving a ton of interest in chess right now. This would be an excellent time to make a new video and do another chessboard. Strike while the iron is hot! Get those clicks!! :)
@@phoenixredux4262 that's what I'm thinking! I gotta finish some Christmas presents and then it's on to making another chess board. . The right way ;)
Thanks for your humble presentation. Many of my projects are the "second" attempt. You were able to salvage your first attempt with surprisingly good results. The gap filling on the 45's was particularly impressive.
If you'd like to play a game...
I'll play white...
E4...
Thank you! Yeah first projects are always tough. And I'll admit, I rarely play chess even with a board. I wouldn't even know how to play by just describing the locations of the board 😀
E5 always brotha nah just kidding I play Sicilian
@@austintomkewitz7206 hit me up on Lichess.com TheWayneShow
It looks like it came out great after any missteps. Wood is pretty able to help you cover mistakes. On the glue-up with thin strips (similar to doing cutting boards) I think the wonkiness is eliminated by first laying your chess board strips between opposing 3/4" strips of a hardwood like maple wrapped in plastic wrap so they don't stick to the wood. 3 pairs of these wood strips on top and bottom of your board clamped with C clamps prevents flexing of the board that happens if you only use the long pipe clamps.
Looks great.Love that you shared your errors and mistakes.Everone makes them but not all have the guts to admit it. I don't have a riving knife so don't worry.The sad ones that criticize are usually the ones that don't do anything
Thanks for watching! Yeah honestly I'd feel a bit better with one, but the one that came with the saw is to thick and prevents wood from being pushed through soooo 🤷🏼
I just made my first chessboard and even if I had watched your video, I probably would have still made some of the same mistakes. I learn by doing, and I learned a lot. One thing that amazes me about woodworking is how similar it is to PGA golf. While it’s nice to be in the fairway and on the green, the most important skill is recovering from a bad situation. In woodworking this typically involves a lot of sanding!!! 😂😂😂😂😂
Great video!!!
As you can see, I love to watch and it doesn't matter as long as I enjoy it. Maybe in some time I'll come back to congratulate you, one more time aguien jejejej
Sandwich the strips between 2 pieces of plywood when you're gluing it up, and use some clamps to apply vertical pressure to the plywood, as well as the horizontal pressure from the clamps directly on the board. That should help with the bowing significantly.
Definitely a good idea. Thanks!
Thanks for Sharing Ben. Interesting.
Beautiful job in my opinion! .... And thank you for NOT destroying your video, like so many others do, by thinking it necessary to dub in loud, distracting, unnecessary music... I can actually hear your useful commentary!
Thanks! I appreciate the feedback! And I feel your pain with the loud music on some videos haha
You can try using small double-ended tacks in the chequered strips before gluing together so they don't slide
I made a thinner chessboard in woodshop when I was in high school; we glued the board to another piece of wood and I had no problems plaining the board since it was attached to a base at that point.
Definitely a good idea. Just need a big enough planer now 😊
@@benofalltrades
I would just get a smoothing plane and learn how to use it. When you do get proficient with it can be fast and extremely accurate with it.
Hand tool woodworking with some power tools can be extremely fast and very accurate.
There is no machine that can get near to the quality level of a hand plane for a surface finish.
awesome! and very useful tips! going to try to make one of these sometime
Thanks for watching! Glad you saw some value in the video
Nice board, interesting project.
Not sure if anyone else has commented on the 45-deg corner issue, but I would highly recommend a shooting board and hand plane so that you can cut them a hair overlong and then plane the corners by sneaking up on the exact final length, doing one corner at a time. It works like a charm. It is SO difficult to do these kinds of joints on a machine to the degree of accuracy you need/want.
Thanks for watching! Yeah the shooting board method has been mentioned. Definitely need to add it to my arsenal
A way to make close fitting miters is to clamp two pieces back to back and use a block plane to smooth both at the same time. Like making a rub joint between two boards, the angle are complementary.
Oh good idea!
You weren't born a master woodworker. You learn by doing. Your chess board was a great challenge and learning project. Something to be proud of. Display it with pride. It would be great to see where you are now in your woodworking journey. Keep "doing" and learning.
I started using biscuits for glue-ups years ago, and it changed the game for me. It doesn’t totally eliminate the need for cauls, but they are awesome for paneling.
Yeah I just used some for the first time on a project a few weeks ago. So helpful!
Turned out nice. These are common problems i think all woodworkers face. Ill be reading tips as well. Good video production as well
Thanks for watching! I hope it helps others avoid similar mistakes
Use cauls to put across the board - clamp then to the table/workbench and then clamp the glued surfaces together. You do not need to clamp super tight just enough to get the glued surfaces to adhere to the next one.
Good job! I realize you (like me) aren't a master woodworker, but I'm impressed with your perseverance. The end result is great and that's what matters most. 😊
Thanks for sharing your trials and errors with your adventures in chess board making/ building.
How do we learn!!?? We learn from our mistakes that we make.
Hopefully we don't keep repeating the same ones over and over, because that's the definition of insanity.
Bro! I just went to home depot and cut out a 17x17 , measured out 2 inches for 8 squares and had enough space for the squares to be good enough. I spray painted and enameld my board to whatever the customer. I made about 15 chess boards and sold about half of that now. You still did awesome Bron. Hellz yeaa!
Nice! Sounds like a great way to make boards fast! Thanks for watching!
It takes a lot to create RUclips content. You will always be your biggest critic. Good job finishing the project and posting it.
You will want to make a table saw jig for perfect 45 degree cuts. The miter isnt good for it unless you have a high end one.
Thanks, I appreciate that! Yes, I really need a good sled or two or five :)
Looks amazing well done
Thanks very much!
Checkmate!! Looks like years of fun. It will be handed down. Still have my grandfather’s that he made about 100 years ago. Yours turned out beautiful❤️
That's awesome! And thank you!
Great honest video, keep up the good work man, after all, it looks great !!!
Thank you! Yep somehow I made it work
Thanks for the video, glad to see the same mistakes I’ve made. Thank you.
Good job! It looks nice as a final product, don't fret about the small stuff, it's the final product that counts.
I thought at first to advise you to become a firewood supplier but joking aside it's refreshing to see your honesty and watch your self learning process you have very good kit especially the Festool and I'm sure you'll be a master carpenter/ joiner in the future good luck.
Thanks!
Agree with all the safety comments. But you are on the right track. Build yourself a router sled to flatten after glue-ups. You dont need the final thickness to be much more than a half inch. You can back it with plywood and then cover the edges with hardwood
Thanks. I want to compliment you on making the video. You did a great job on that.
Thanks! I appreciate that
This is great! Thank you for sharing the entire process and all the pitfalls!
Thanks! And thanks for watching!
Great vid, thank you!
I'm going to give this a go this year (when it's warm enough to be out in the shop) and your video has been really helpful. I think I'll keep the border square, cut the 45 degree angles and then add a chamfer with a router after its glued. I don't have a table saw so that's going to be my biggest challenge I reckon.
If it comes out half as nice as yours I'll be happy!
I think the final result came out nice and clean! Well done
Thanks! I appreciate that
Try cutting thin strips with the work piece against the fence. Nice work, BTW.
Good idea, and thank you!
I learned in orientation for my job, I build guitars, that too much clamping will only build stress into your project. They had us make a 100% glue joint out of broken coasters, using hand pressure to show us that you dont need much pressure to create a 100% connection. Im watching this because I was inspired to build a chess board last night. Im going to use mahagony and maple for mine. If I can get my hands on some ebony that would be kick ass, but Im not holding my breath, even though the company I work for owns the Crelicam Ebony Plant in Africa.
Nice, yeah I definitely learned my lesson with clamping on this project. Also, your job sounds amazing! I'm jealous!
The real purpose of clamping is to force the glue to pressurise into the wood fibres between the two glue surfaces.
When doing joints such as mortise and tenon and dovetails the clamping keeps the joint fully inserted into place.
Glue are vicious and air pockets can form and glues can expand into space so you need the right amount of clamping pressure. Too many people apply pressures that are not going to provide any extra benefit.
Great! i made one for a school project back in 1995 I've still got it. They are things of beauty to me. 👍👍
That's awesome! Yeah they really are beautiful!
THANKS MOST WOOD WORKERS WONT SHOW THERE MISTAKES, GREAT JOB. I ALSO A BEGINNER!!!!!!
It turned out pretty nice in the end. One thing though, the direction of the grain of the squares should be horizontal to the player. All old boards are like this. I'm probably not the first to point this out.
Ah that's good to know, I hadn't head that before
Using a shoot board and hand planer cut your miters long and then approach them on the shoot board (you should have one that's 45 and 90... make them), that way you know the angle is right and you can get a snug fit on the 4th corner. Fixes any mistakes in your miter gauge or miter saw's adjustments. You could also use a large shoot board to have square the large edges, you just need to go slow if they're that rough.
Consider using a frame for gluing panels square, and cauls to keep them from bowing.
A router would have saved you hours of sanding, since you could have routed the board flat with a jig instead of doing it on the drum sander. You could have thickness planed them by hand too... a hand planar goes a surprisingly long way in the shop.
Thanks for the tips, yeah I really need some hand tools and jigs for all my tools!
For glueing flat panels, use a biscuit jointer. It will help align and secure the pieces.
Yeah I just used a biscuit jointer for the first time recently. Definitely going to be using it more
@@benofalltrades I used to be a trim carpenter and we used them pretty often. You can also use pieces of scrap between what you’re gluing and the clamps to prevent minor damage to your project. I learned from working with other people. Keep up the good work.
Nice job. Learn so much when making the first one.
It's true. I feel like I'm always making "the first one" for whatever I make 😂
@@benofalltrades 😂
I did my glue up and had the same problem. I had made a gig a while back to flatten boards. I used this with my router and a flattening bit.. It is in one of my videos I am sure.
Another thing I do is since my planner will only take 13.5 inch material. I make my boards in two glue ups, then run them through the planner until they are the same thickness, then glue the two halves together.
As the comment just below mine says, I use straight boards on edge clamped to the pieces to keep the pieces flat while tightening the clamps. I also use wax paper on the work bench to keep the whole thing from sticking to the table while gluing.
Thank you for this video. I learned a lot about fixing some of the mistakes I’ve been making. Great final product!
Glad it helped! Thanks for watching!
I’m sure you know this by now but just in case - when glueing you could clamp a board across the top to keep things in flat (eg cauls). Just cover them in packing tape so they don’t stick to the glue.
Yes, I've gotten lots of good tips from the comments including this one, thank you!
good job but what is the real time you spent to make this board pls??
Hey man when gluing enything take a small bar clamp and a straight board put it on the top side
I got a nice piece of granite from the granite place. Told them what I needed it for and they gave me a nice piece of leftover.
I use it for my glue table keep it clean and polished and the glue does not stick to it. Using clamps vertically for holding down to the granite surface. and of course the horizontal clamps for squeezing the boards together.
Oh nice, that's an awesome idea! Always nice to have a good flat piece of granite or marble laying around
@@benofalltrades No problem. I am working on starting my own You Tube channel and have that figured as an episode as it was my own idea.
@@j.davidslaugh5761 nice! I'd definitely be interested in checking it out!
Making mistakes = fastest way to learn 👌
Good work chap 👍
I agree. Thank you!
You can make the square and stick it to the board and then give it the shape it is easier to work and make the corner cuts when you have the complete wood, I also recommend that when you have large imperfections you can use a router to smooth everything is faster and It is better, also if you have a problem joining many pieces of wood, simply lighten the task, paste 2 at a time, let it dry and then paste the rest little by little.
very good video and do not be mortified that mistakes are where you learn best I do not remember any project that once finished I did not think of another way to do it better that always happens to me
Thanks for the tips! Yep the best way to learn is by doing and then doing again!
Hi I just found your channel. I came across a guy making a chessboard so I searched for more. i am also very much a beginner. So i think I'll hold off on the chessboard. mostly because i do not have a jointer or a planer yet. I am learning to make a jig for jointing a board. hopefully it will work well.
I think this could be done with hand planes as well. But I've never done that. If you got some wood that was already planed and made sure both boards were the same thickness I bet you could still pull it off
Excellent, honest video. Congratulations on tackling a complex project to start out with! I usually do a simple version of my dream project first. I will subscribe
Thanks! I appreciate the view and the sub!
Excellent tutorial !
To prevent the bow when glue/clamping you want to get a scrap board for the top and bottom so you can clamp it vertically as well as horizontally. That should keep it straight. And if you don't have a planer I can see at least two instances in this video where you could have saved yourself a lot of time/hassle by buying a chisel. That way you could easily shave off the little slivers instead of sanding it the whole way down.
A solid tip! Thanks!
Hope since this video you've gotten a riving knife/splitters, and started using a proper push stick, youre going to send pieces flying
that and aren't you not supposed to cut a piece between the fence and the blade?
Hi BA, just in the process of putting the boarder around the playing area, I'm going to do square joints and not mitre as I know the board is not square. I done the same mistakes as you I just didn't record it, but so pleased you did, just to know I'm not the only one to have made those mistakes. Great video so informative. All I have is a festool orbital sander, dewalt table saw, and my makita plunge saw.😂. I love it though.
Sounds awesome! I'd love to see the board when you're done. Tag me on Instagram @bawoodworking82
I love how you fixed the mitres. They look great after the fix 👍
Thanks!
I like it that three years later, you have learned much.....it's keeping our fingers whist we do so, eh? That was a very nice looking chess board, by the way....you might have gotten there 'the hard way' but ya got there. -Veteran '66-68
Thanks! Yeah I've learned a lot over the years and still have all my fingers! Seems like all my projects are a "first" for me so I'm learning the hard way a lot 😂 but it's all good