Making a Walnut and Maple Chess Board Tutorial
HTML-код
- Опубликовано: 10 окт 2021
- Hi, in this video I take you through the process of making a gorgeous wooden chess board.
Music: bensound.com
Disclaimer: This is not a tutorial on how to safely use use woodworking tools, but rather how to make the chess board. Please understand woodworking is dangerous and make sure you know how to use all tools in a safe manner.
Amazon Affiliate links:
Dewalt Planer: amzn.to/3eHkMAT
Jet Drum sander: amzn.to/3gJxq54
Rikon disc/belt sander: amzn.to/3e0pkTU
Table saw: amzn.to/3vAuIDf 
Хобби
Nice work! One thing I've tried is to glue up the walnut border and maple strips together first before cutting your 45's. Then you can cut your 45's on them as a unit and glue them to your checkerboard as a unit. This makes it easier to get perfectly aligned joints in the corners.
You did a great job. I make chess boards also. I do recommend using dowels on your framing miter joints. Hardwood moves around and you don’t wanna lose your joint down the road
How thick should the wood be
Totally not neccesary
Great video. I just got my planer mounted on a cabinet I built and glued up my first chess board. I’ll incorporate you double border idea. Yours looks great. Tomorrow I’ll complete the building part and do the finishing the next day.
I really appreciate your instructions.
You made a masterpiece of woodart! Absolutely amazing!!
That is wonderful - thank you so much. I am making a board for my son and watching this has been invaluable. I have been able to make notes and do screenshots of each part of the process nd now feel confident that I will be able to do a good job.
Thanks, glad I could help!
How was it??
Love it - will be making one for my sons 16th birthday!
Great tutorial, many thanks
It's like the 5th time I've watched this video. Really good job. I think I would like to make one
Beautiful. Love the video and the music. So relaxing. You are an artist.
Thank you very much!
Nice job. After watching I realize I had made a 3d board from one of your videos. I had a ton of learning experiences
Thanks! I'm glad they could be of help!
Wow the process is so interesting. I certainly would love making something like this.
Excellent video! Working on one now and using a dark walnut and Brazilian Walnut. There is enough distinct difference in color.
Thanks! I'm sure that will be pretty!
Thanks man...really help allot.
Lots of love from Fiji 🇫🇯 ❤❤
Thanks, Glad you enjoyed it!
Beautiful work, you make it look effortless!
Thanks so much! Although things don't always go as smoothly as they seem.
@@CalebsFineWoodworking I would like to try this board. Any special instructions?
I don't have too much more to say than to just take your time and make sure things fit together well. Good luck!
wow, that board looks so cool!!
Beautiful board!
fine woodworking indeed. I love it
Beautifully made
Really nice, great job
Thanks, this is a very helpful video
Its gorgeous man. I'll be using pretty much this same plan when making mine. Starting on it tomorrow!
Thanks! Good luck!
How did you get on?
That was a great video, thanks!
Glad you liked it!
I made this project back in high school and I really wish I could give it another shot as I am wanting a new chess board to go with new pieces I bought 😅
Owe man...I wish i could have the materials and the equipment for this...
What are the dimensions of the final project
I made this a year ago it was my first project.
ruclips.net/user/shortsI8rEApg5x1g?feature=share
Lovely!
Brilliant 👏
Very well done video!!
Thanks, glad you like it!
Thank you very much indeed Sir, watching from java Street, java island Indonesia
Beautiful
Beautiful
Classic 👍
Grate work
Beautifully and wonderfully made! Have you made any more chess boards since this video?
。
beautiful
Wow, this is beautiful😍. I would love to make one myself for hubby's bday but I have 0 experience 😅
I teach woods and was wondering if you could share some plans for that jig you used to cut the strips once they were glued up?
Very nice !!
Thanks!
Never thought of making a chess board. Really into chess lately so I’m gonna knock one out this weekend.
Beautiful work no doubt. Any chance you can sell us one in 20 I ch size? Love the work.
thats great. what did you use in the end for polish?
I’m in high school right now and I plan to make my first chess board this summer, I don’t know what woods I want to use though.
Awesome board. Im actually working on one myself, and came across your vid while looking for some references. I actually am making mine out of 2” scrap squares, which are already cut. Any suggestions for clamping them up, so they are all even?
I don't think that would work; there is a ton of endgrain there, which does not glue well. An idea that would work would be to glue them to a stable substrate, such as baltic birch or 5-ply. A nice benefit is that you could to some pre-finishing, such as adding dyes or stain without having to worry about the finish bleeding into the other species. Good luck!
What kind of wood size did you use 2x8 or 2x6 to start? Looking to order some material to try this out.
I’m trying to make my first chessboard. and I wanted to know what would a right width and length when it comes to a chessboard.
Love it ...
Thanks!
It seems most wooden chessboards are made with the woodgrain aligned to go up and down the files, but some, like yours here, go from left to right across the ranks. Even the DGT boards used in grandmaster tournaments have the grain going up and down the files. I wonder if there is a preference among top chess players.🤔
It lines up with the pieces visually
so cool
Thanks!
Very nice. Would it have been easier to glue the thin maple and thick walnut perimeter edges together first, and then cut diagonally to fit the sides? I'm thinking that would eliminate a whole series of the diagonal cuts and fittings.
Thanks, I think that actually would work pretty well, Good idea!
great job, i loved the square edge though.... gonna whip a few of these up. you ever try tung or linseed oil?
Thanks! have fun! I haven't tried them before
@@CalebsFineWoodworkingI’ll let you know. I’ve got the strips glued up. Could you rip the strips on table saw or is the sled with stop just better? I’ve got no experience with a sled. For cross cutting the glued up strips?
And to think you only spent 10 minutes and 42 seconds to make this. Incredible!
There was a lot of cutting and speed ups so it took a lot longer
@@Marcus-pn1yn I was just joking :)
What router bit did you use to make the profile rdge?
Nice
Awesome!!! Do you any written out plans for this?
Thanks! Sorry, I don't have any written plans
Nice board! But I'm just curious if there was a reason you didn't go with tournament standard 2 1/4" squares. Space concerns?
Thanks! Yeah, it was mainly to keep the overall size a little smaller.
Nice work
Thank you!
what are the dimensions for the entire project so I can write these down and make it for my construction class
Great Chess Board! I have some questions. What kind of router bit did you use to join the boards? Second, What is the thickness of the Maple and Walnet boards?
Thanks! I used a Whiteside spiral router bit with a 2 inch cutting capacity, and used 4/4 lumber.
Beautiful board! Now that it is a year old, have there been any issues with wood movement causing cracking? Reason I ask is because the border runs perpendicular to the grain of the squares on two sides, which could result in restricting the seasonal movement of the wood.
I am very curious how it held up i want to make it exactly like this
@@dicekarYes ,that miter joint will open or the board may cup when the solid wood chessboard expands . You will see this border used on sets with veneer with plywood backing board which is more stable.
Very nice job, enjoyed the video.
What degree was the bevel on the last 4 walnut pieces?
Do you sand in between coats of the poly? Thanks
Does it have any movement concerns??
I immediately recognized the song but now i dont know where from since its royalty free
How long start to finish did this take you to make?
I'm very new to woodworking and I'm wondering how you accommodate for the loss of wood when sawing. When I think about making a chessboard I feel like I would have uneven squares when it comes to cutting the vertical, glued boards. Thank you in advance to anyone who replies to this.
So pretty
How thick was your wood to begin with? It looks to be about an inch. This is great, I’d like to make it for my nephew for Christmas. I was gonna grab some wood for it but didn’t know the thickness.
Yeah, I used 4/4 wood which is just under an inch at 15/16ths. Good luck on the board!
Can I order the chessboard?
what is the thickness did you make the strips?
What are the final dimensions? What size was each square?
thank you i making a chess board and this helped me a lot
Glad it helped!
I would like to buy one. Brad-
If someone could answer this question that’d be great!!
What glue did you use, and how is holding together?
Pretty sure it's a PVA glue
amazing job man! Awesome craftsmanship. Out of curiosity, how much would you have to sell it to make it worth it
Thanks! Hard to say as it depends on how much you spent on materials, how long it takes and ultimately how much you decide your time is worth.
@@CalebsFineWoodworking yeah true. The supplies don't cost much, but the amount of time put into it does
I’m getting ready to make my first chessboard so I have enjoyed watching your video. It made me feel more comfortable in making one. Thank you. One question though, what was the starting and final thickness of your board??
I was wondering the same thing. He cuts it though to 1 3/4in and it put together the board should be 14in (Not counting the edges)
Great job! What exactly is poly? Is it some sort of oil?
Polyurethane
Does this border survive the wood movement? I am contemplating a chessboard like this one but was unsure how to frame a board made of real wood. I thought i would do it like a door panel with expansion slot in the frame but you arent doing that and i would rather not do that either
Frame and panel is the best for the movement problem,will also help to prevent cupping of the solid wood chessboard
Correct me PLEASE if I’m wrong. At 1:08 I should have 4 maples that are 18in long and 1 3/4in thick (I’m using table saw) and 4 Walnuts 18in long and 1 3/4in thick.
I decided to try woodworking and started with this however I don't have a thickness planer and found it really hard to close the gaps of my strips even with clamps, is it possible to make these without a planer? or do you need a planer to make everything seamless?
Glad you're giving woodworking a try! If you don't have a planer or jointer you'll have to find another way to square up your board if you want good joints. If you have a router table you can set that up to joint edges, or build a jig to joint edges on the table saw. Another option would be using a hand plane. There are lots of good videos out there that will be able to explain those methods in detail. Hope this helps and good luck!
Beautiful work. It has been a number of months since you completed the board. Have you seen any cracking through wood movement?
Thank you! The board hasn't had any issues yet but it has been in a pretty stable environment. I would try to design the frame around wood movement next time just to be on the safe side.
How would you go about doing that? @@CalebsFineWoodworking
hello woodworkers, i own one large chess board with 6cm squares, huge masterpiece but i have noticed there have been some small gaps between squares and one of the square is slighty cracked. i store the board in my room with temperature min 18 in winter max 35° celsius in summer when ac is off, do you think that create the gaps and cracks ? Also do you have some advices to fix these small imperfections before it became worse ? I own the board for about a year. Thanks for any advice
Hello, this most likely happened due to the board being made of “new” wood. Once cut from the tree, wood needs to dry out before it can be made into a stable project, this can take years. Moisture inside of finished wood pieces can cause movement as the moisture dries out, like swelling, cupping, twisting, and cracking. The temperature changes in your room are only expediting the process, however if the wood were already dry it would not matter. In order to fill the cracks you can use wood glue with some sawdust of matching color. Avoid using CA glue or epoxy as these glues are very hard and brittle and will cause more cracks to form as your piece continues to dry out. Have patience and good luck!
(Source: I make and restore violin bows)
Making a chess board with solid timber squares and a mitred border is just asking for trouble with wood movement.
Wood Whisperer has a good video on his one failing by making it without allowances for wood movement.
Thanks for the info! I suppose that could be a problem, I haven't had any problems yet with a past board made like this but we'll have to see how it holds up.
Can you please tell me, have you checked how maple wood works with walnut in terms of thermal expansion coefficients? What is the risk that these types of wood are not friendly with each other, resulting in cracking, swelling, or splitting? Also, what if I wanted to make the board wood-block end to top to make the wood structure more fancy - would gluing them be any different?
I don't know much of the science behind how the two different woods will move. I haven't had any problems yet but that's not to say they won't move some in the future. As for using end grain, you can do that using the same process but you will want to make sure you make the boarder from the endgrain as well. this will help to prevent as much cracking from wood movement.
@@CalebsFineWoodworking Thank you! Got it.
Make a hexagon chess set!
Thank you. It doesn't seem to be too difficult. I am inexperienced but think I will give it a try. I need to work on my router skills which are non existent right now.
Good luck!
2 years later. Any issues with the miters pulling apart? Thanks!
So far I haven't had any issues. It has been in a stable, low humidity environment the whole time which I'm sure has helped.
Any reason why you left it in two pieces before the secobd glue up? You stated it was so you could plane it but then you inmediately glued it up all together again haha
What is the thickness of the board?
anyone know what router bit gives this edge profile?
Excellent!
Thanks!
How can I place an order for it
I'm an idiot. I tried to make one before doing any research, and cut each individual square and glued them together. It turned out with seamless joins, but the squares are slightly rectangular by 1/32 or so. Wish I had seen this. Makes so much more sense
Glad it could help! I've definitely had experiences like that. That must have been a fun glue up with all those individual squares.
@@CalebsFineWoodworking I was about halfway through and realized I could've done it this way and saved about 45 cuts or so lol. So I ended up redoing it the RIGHT way, and I couldn't be happier. Thanks! The glue up was rough, but it worked! goes to show that there a different ways to tackle something, some more efficent, and others more painstaking, but you can get the same results.
Very true, much of woodworking is learning from yours's and other's mistakes and then improving on what you know. Glad it came out great!
Making this rn in a woodworking class
I am unsure of how wide it is expose to be. Does anyone know?
How much do U charge for a chess board?
What thickness are your boards please
I used 4/4 lumber which measures 15/16th inches.
Hey, I wanna order a chessboard, 4x4 squares, total 16 squares only. How to contact you?
That wouldn't be a chess board.
I highly suggest that anyone watching this think about the square size. 2" to 2.5" is a much better square size. My grandson and I finished it and it is TOO small to comfortably play a chess game on. Makes a good cutting board tho.
How is it too small? I have a glass chess board with 1.75-inch squares, and it's still pretty easy to play on.
@@Hosterofdarest probably the pieces are too big and it is hard to see the situation in closed positions
so i just made a chess board (first project i’ve ever done) but i wish i found this vid before i started. i made it so much harder than it needed to be lol
Good luck on your woodworking journey!
Since the board is encased with the mitered maple border glued to it, won't the wood movement of the pieces cause it to crack somewhere eventually? I'm thinking about making a chessboard, but I've seen some warnings saying to either not use a full hardwood top (use MDF and veneer instead) or to find a way to allow for movement perpendicular to the grain. Any thoughts/recommendation on that?
Yeah, ideally you build in a way that accounts for wood movement. I realized that after building this one. I haven't had any problems with this board, or one that I made around two years ago. I'm not sure how long it would take for it to become a problem. Maybe I will do a video on that in the future. Good luck on your board!
Maybe if it stays inside in an air-conditioned/heated space, and if you don’t live somewhere too humid, it won’t have any problems? 🤷♂️ I live in Utah and it’s bone-dry here all the time, so I bet it wouldn’t be much of a problem.
Dowels in the side of the the framing mitre jointed pieces should hold the lot together well.
LIKE FROM BRAZIL
I dont understand how in the world mine did not come out perfectly square. When i went to take off around 1/32 off the edge i discovered that it was off by about 1/8, maybe a little more from one end to the other. I cut it all the same , even the crosscuts... AAARRRRGH... Oh well it is what it is . Sled is perfect, table saw fence and blad are all square but shit happens i guess