DIY Wooden Chess Board

in this instructible I will be showing you how to make a DIY wooden chess board. for your convivence I have included a complete list of all the supplies you will need to make this chess board in the following step.

additionally, over the course of this instructible I will also point out how and where I went wrong with my chess board and give you tips and tricks so you can avoid the problems I faced. keep in mind the tools you will be working with for this project are designed to cut wood but can also easily cut you so please use proper shop safety.

1: For each color of your chess board, you need eight 8" by 2" strips of wood or four 16" by 2" strips depending on your saw (I used 8" by 2" strips).

2: A power saw of some sort (I recommend a table saw or bandsaw, but you can get away with using a jigsaw or circular saw if you use the smaller strip measurements.)

3: A strong wood glue of any type.

4: A wood sander (a hand or drum sander will work.) and sandpaper for the sander.

5: Multiple large clamps or a strap clamp (here's the link to the one I used Bessey Variable Angle Strap Clamp | Rockler Woodworking and Hardware.)

6: Clamps of all sizes and shapes.

7: Proper safety gear such as a dust mask, safety goggles, and ear plugs.

8: Wood finish of your choice.

9: A wood plane/planer/jointer of any kind.

10: Some salt for glue-ups (sounds crazy but is very useful.)

With those supplies you will be able to make a basic chess board but if you want to put a border on your chess board like I did you will need these additional supplies:

1: An additional 3" by 6' board

2: A router with a "roman ogee" bit this is optional but looks very nice.

3: Anything you can use to cut a 45-degree angle.

we start this project as you start all other carpentry projects by choosing our wood. you will need two woods with contrasting colors, I used red oak and pine that was recycled from pallets, but you can use any two woods that contrast. for the light-colored squares on the board, I would recommend white oak, maple, holly, or pine. and for the dark I would recommend purpleheart, ebony, wenge, red cedar, or red oak. but you can really use any two woods that you think look nice.

next you need to measure/mark your lumber. we will be cutting eight 2" by 8" strips per color of wood (if you have a saw capable of doing long straight cuts easily then you can cut four 16" by 2" strips instead.) in the first picture above I have shown how I marked my boards pre-cutting. then I simply cut along the highlighted lines in the second image using a jigsaw (any saw will work though). after that I simply planed the long and skinny edges of the strips to final thickness and made sure the sides were flat to improve the glue-up.

to start this glue-up you'll need to lay eight alternating strips on their sides (the sides you planned) then cover the sides facing up with glue and after that sprinkle the glue lightly with salt (it reduces the amount of slide between your work pieces as this video demonstrates: Use salt with glue! - YouTube.) finally you flip your pieces onto their sides as shown by the picture above then you simply clamp the pieces and let your glue dry (I used a strap clamp for this project, but you could use any clap that's large enough.)

if you used the 8" by 2" strip measurements then repeat step three with your remaining eight strips. if you used the 16" by 2" measurements, you're good to go and can skip this step.

in this step we'll be cutting strips out of the slabs we just glued-up. the measurements for this step are very simple all you need to do is measure the average width of the strips you cut earlier and then mark that same distance along the length of the panel you just glued up. in the image above I have demonstrated this with the red line. and all you need to do now is cut along that line then rinse and repeat until you have a total of eight new strips (from now on the steps are the same whether or not you used the 8" by 2" or the 16" by 2" measurements.)

this step is extremely similar to the first glue-up except I have better pictures. so, the first thing you need to do is once again lay the boards on their sides the only difference between this and step 3 is you rotate every other strip to create the chess board pattern (image 1) put glue and salt on those sides (image 2) then you simply glue and weigh down the work piece as needed (image 3). I really recommend a strap clamp for this both for cost reasons and convenience.

all you need to do for this step is cut a strip of wood the per side of your chess board the length of these needs to be the length or your side plus the width of your strip multiplied by two (multiply the width of your strip measurement not the length.) next you need to cut a 45-degree angles on the ends of your strips (image 2). and this last thing is optional but looks very nice. using a "roman ogee" router bit rout what will be the outside edges of your work pieces (image 3.) finally glue your boarder to your chess board (images 4/5.) this is another scenario where the strap clamp came in useful.

for this step you just need to do is sand/plane the board to final thickness with a coarse grit (40-60 grit) then sand to final smoothness by working through progressively finer grits till you get your desired smoothness (40 then 60 then 80 then 120 then 220 grit.)

for this step you need to apply whatever wood finish you have according to the package directions (I used tung oil.) if you want to do multipool coats all you have to do is sand with your final super fine sandpaper then apply more Finnish once again according to package directions (I did two coats).

to some this is the most difficult step that being learning how to play and playing chess on your brand-new handmade chess board. in all seriousness I hope you enjoyed this instructible and if you make a chess board, please post pictures in the comments below and thank you for taking the time to read this instructible.