[SomeDudeOnline]

Hello all,

I'm starting another chessboard/pieces (haven't finished the one I'm currently working on yet but will post that when I do finish) and was hoping for some input. This chessboard I'm currently working on has some corners that don't perfectly line up (attached is a picture of one of the worst corners). I think they're tolerable on this board but I would really like to get them all perfect on the next one if possible. I went on Etsy and looked closely at some standard chessboards and found some that have this same issue (and maybe even worse) so maybe getting all corners perfect is just not plausible? If it is plausible, please review my process below and let me know if it can be improved (without a jointer).

The chessboards in question are my battlefield chessboards that I've posted about in the past so I start with 8/4 maple and walnut then cut strips that are 2 1/4" wide on the tablesaw. Once I get 4 strips of walnut and 4 strips of maple, I run them through my new thickness planer on edge until they're 2 1/8" wide (I do both sides and take off about 1/32" at a time). I glue these strips together, trim an edge with a circular saw, and then cut the strips in the other direction using that trimmed edge against the fence. I do almost the same thing with the planer except this time I start with a strip of douglas fir to to measure and make sure I don't lower the planer too much.

The previous time (which is also the first) I did this process, I did my math wrong and didn't have enough play on the second set of strips to cut them to be 2 1/4" wide so I cut them to 2 3/16". Because of that, I guess it's possible I just didn't plane out all of the imperfects before getting to the final size but they looked perfect to me. Based on chessboard making videos I've seen, the standard practice at this point is to use straight edges to clamp the second set of strips together. However, this is where I noticed the corners didn't line up so I glued the strips together one at a time lining them up as best as they could be.

Does this seem like the best way to do this to get the corners as good as I can? Should I ignore the planer, trust the tablesaw, and just ignore marks from the blade? Is there something else I can be doing to ensure perfect corners? My girlfriend says that the boards are hand made, I'm not a machine, I can't expect perfection... but I can't imagine this is a problem that is inherent to hand made chessboards. Surely there's a way to do it so the corners are indeed perfect. If others can do it, I should be able to, right?

 

[kindanewbie]

Im in the middle of my first chessboard. Basically the same process but I started with thinner stock (and inconsistent thickness) which basically caused extra work at each step and ensured mistakes.

I think your issue must be the the results from the thickness planer. When you run it down to 2 1/8 is each piece exact? i would expect so but have never used a thickness planer. If you said you jointed them down to 2 1/8, theres no question that would be the issue. I just dont see how they dont line up if each strip is the same EXACT width. That being said, I agree with your girlfriend. The truth is no one will ever notice anything that small.

I jointed mine and when I realized I had different width strips, I had to then take two at a time and make sure that the opposing rows would be exact (or close enough to not notice) when flipped. So row 1 and 8, 2 and 7, 3 and 6, etc. I mean, the difference is about 1/32 at most. That allowed me to get perfect mating of pieces (my table saw cuts were no where near perfect) and everything lining up. It lets you joint each mating strip which I have found to be the cleanest way. If row 1 is 2 1/8 and row 2 is 2 3/32 it is unnoticable. But lines will match up and glue up will be perfect. I think the prevailing wisdom would be just cut each row exact but somehow... its not that easy. Focusing on two opposing rows at a time, and jointing them together, worked for me. But.. I still have spots where they dont align.

Where I struggled was that my strips were so thin, I couldnt clamp them hard or they popped all over the place. Still, no glue lines within each row because they were jointed. But I have some glue lines (and even gaps, ugg) between rows because my clamping was so difficult. I was at about 3/16 thickness and slight bow on some from my table saw. Couldnt joint across grain. I was too thick to treat as veneer, and to thin to clamp the hell out of them so I just couldnt force them together as needed in some spots to get rid of the bow.

Id much rather have your "mistake" than mine. Id honestly be surprised if what you see on etsy, if inspected, doesnt have similar issues.

 

[DrRobert]

I’ve never made a chessboard, but I know the issue is the squares have to be identically square. In builds like this the smallest error is multiplied.

So @kindanewbie brings up a good point - you can’t trust the strips are exactly the same width out of the planer. I would run some test pieces and use a cliper to verify your planer is functioning well. Once its set you don’t touch it.

My approach would be rip strips of both woods to identical width. I would use a fine cut blade or a sharp glue line rip and forget about the planer. Edge glue the 8 alternating rows together. Cut the panel crosswise to exactly the width of the strips and shift every other row over one square. I hope this is making sense. Maybe this pics will give an idea what I’m talking about. You would need 9 rows to start I think.

 

[kindanewbie]

Each video I have seen flips the rows. Shifting over by one seems much better for accuracy.

 

[SonnyAgain]

Just a thought. How about some elegance to your construction, if you have a mind for extending your woodworking experience/skills with inlay? To make up for misalignment, how about inserting some narrow inlay along the mating lines..... caning strips, as in caned chairs, comes in 1/16" width cane (bamboo)? Cane is inexpensive. Lots of lines, inlay strips, but the time and effort might be a more impressive work/look for the beneficiary, buyer or gift receiver. Practice your inlay work on some scrap?

Sonny

 

[kindanewbie]

Just a thought. How about some elegance to your construction, if you have a mind for extending your woodworking experience/skills with inlay? To make up for misalignment, how about inserting some narrow inlay along the mating lines..... caning strips, as in caned chairs, comes in 1/16" width cane (bamboo)? Cane is inexpensive. Lots of lines, inlay strips, but the time and effort might be a more impressive work/look for the beneficiary, buyer or gift receiver. Practice your inlay work on some scrap?

Sonny

How would you cut the lines for those inlays? I considered something sort of similar for mine to hide a couple of gaps but I figured id likely do more harm than good. I thought about something like thin cuts with a razor, super thin, and then filled with sort of a sawdust/hardening oil mix. I dont even know if that is a viable option, but I didnt want to run a saw or router over it 16 times.

If the image posted is the worst of it. I wouldnt even think twice about it. That will never be noticed and, again, I wouldnt be surprised if many shopmade boards have slight misalignments.

 

[SonnyAgain]

How would you cut the lines for those inlays? I considered something sort of similar for mine to hide a couple of gaps but I figured id likely do more harm than good.

Yes, there's the possibility of making errors. That's why I mentioned practice on scrap. Surely there's a way to cut thin grooves, maybe on a table saw. I would test/try a table saw approach (practice) as well. Possibly a shooting board technique, have to create the technique for the particular cuts. There is wire inlay, also, that might be an option.... which likely requires practice, also.

 

[SomeDudeOnline]

Thanks for the input everyone! Sorry for the delayed response. The last few days have been pretty busy for me.

Regarding the inlay idea, I personally don't love it but even if I did, my chessboard would make that extra complicated. I didn't state it in this post but the chessboard will not have a flat surface in the end.

For the shifting instead of flipping idea, I think it's a great idea for better mating surfaces but unless I'm missing something, it would require a bit more waste than I'm comfortable with given the price of lumber. I'm also concerned about trusting my tablesaw skills. I'll definitely hold onto this idea though. I ended up going with my original method but I made sure to get my math right to have that extra wiggle room for the planer which will hopefully remove some more inconsistencies. With that being said, I took my calipers to every piece this time and they all seemed to have a variance of about 4 thousandths of an inch along their length. I know perfection isn't possible but hopefully that's a small enough window and I'm able to replicate it for the crosscut strips that I can further reduce the problem corners.