# Chess Board - Huon Pine and Queen Ebony



## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

It's been so long I might have to re-introduce myself! Business has taken a lot of time, but I have managed to get 2 projects actually finished this week. This one is a chess board for our grandson. It's made from a slab of Huon Pine, with the black squares as Queen Ebony inlay.

Didn't get many photos of the actual construction phase as I was just grabbing time here and there when I needed a break from business. The first is at the latter stages of sanding, and gives an idea of what the raw slab looks like. In the next, I was filling the gaps in the inlay, and gluing in a piece that had splintered off. If you know where to look, you can see it in the other photos, but now it just looks like a "feature" in the grain.

Third photo is after about 5 coats of CFP. I found that the drying time for Huon Pine is a lot longer than other timbers I have used. Must be something to do with all the oil in it. The rest of the photos are the finished product - 11 coats of CFP in the end. The third last shot shows the growth rings. For those unfamiliar with Huon Pine, it has very fine growth rings and is very slow growing, and is now heavily protected. Our granddaughter counted up to 159 rings about 1/3 of the length, so we guess this particular slab is about 4-500 years old. 

Needless to say, our grandson is very happy to have this. Unfortunately, the day we went to deliver this to him it wasn't a very good week from his parent's point of view, so he has to wait a little longer to actually keep it. Once he gets it though, I think it will last him a life time, even with his brothers around....


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## fdcox (Dec 3, 2007)

That is amazing and surely a piece he will be passing on to his children, I would have loved to have seen a tutorial on the inlay of the squares and finishing.
Did you use a template of some type to do them?

Floyd


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## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

Floyd,

I didn't use a template, but I might consider that for the next time I do something with a lot of pieces the same. The process I have developed with inlays goes like this:

1. cut out the inlay and get it right.
2. put the inlay on the job where it is supposed to go, and trace lightly around it with a sharp pencil. Too much pressure will move it. Trace multiple times if needed to get the line dark enough.
3. run around the pencil line with a sharp knife until there is a groove about 0.5mm deep - deep enough to be distinct but not much more.
4. set the depth of the router bit to match the thickness of the inlay piece.
5. rout out the inlay excavation starting at the centre. You can go to within about 2mm of the knife line without having to be too careful.
6. when close the the knife line, rout it out in smaller and smaller increments. When you see the timber feathering you have hit the knife line. Stay on that line or back off.
7. Use a chisel or knife where needed to square up corners.
8. Do a test fit of the inlay piece, and rout out any extra that may be needed. Be careful how you fit it in, or you may not be able to get it back out.

It sounds a lot more difficult than it really is. The key points are to make sure the inlay piece doesn't move when tracing around it, and running a knife around the outline so that you get feathering when you get close. I tend to rout slightly shallower than the depth of the inlay, and then sand it all off later.

Speaking of sanding, I also keep sawdust from sanding / routing. Mixing this with glue later can be used to help patch minor mistakes.

HTH,
Darryl


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## kywoodchopper (Jul 18, 2013)

Darryl, you have given me inspiration to make something nice for my son and grandson's birthdays - both are coming up. You did an excellent job on your board. In one of the photos I think I see where you are using an air brush to spray on the finish. I have never considered doing that even though a lot of my projects are small. Malcolm / Kentucky USA


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## Knothead47 (Feb 10, 2010)

Beautiful! A thought- you mention that one might put the inlay piece in and not be able to get it out due to a real tight fit. Could you drill four holes about 1/4 inch in diameter close to the corners? Use a piece of dowel or the top end of a drill bit to push it out? The holes in the finished board wouldn't be visible. Just a thought.


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## chessnut2 (Sep 15, 2011)

Wow!!!!! I have a thing for chess tables (as you can tell from my username), and this is great. I've been mulling over how I want to build a nice one for my son's Med School graduation in 2016, and this is looking awfully good to me. Thanks for sharing. Jim


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## Botelho007 (Sep 23, 2012)

Very beautiful. 
Work of Art.


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## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

kywoodchopper said:


> Darryl, you have given me inspiration to make something nice for my son and grandson's birthdays - both are coming up. You did an excellent job on your board. In one of the photos I think I see where you are using an air brush to spray on the finish. I have never considered doing that even though a lot of my projects are small. Malcolm / Kentucky USA


Malcolm, yes that is an air brush and it is absolutely the best thing I have found for applying varnish. After experimenting, I now thin the varnish at least 50/50, or maybe thinner, and apply several light coats. Because the thinned out coat dries so much quicker, I can actually get the job done quicker even though there are a lot more coats. The thinner coats also spread more easily, which gives a more even coverage and a better gloss finish.

Funny thing with this job - it was a lot more susceptible to scratches from the sandpaper. Even 600 wet and dry was leaving marks that didn't spray out. Used 000 steel wool for many of the final coats.


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## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

Knothead47 said:


> Beautiful! A thought- you mention that one might put the inlay piece in and not be able to get it out due to a real tight fit. Could you drill four holes about 1/4 inch in diameter close to the corners? Use a piece of dowel or the top end of a drill bit to push it out? The holes in the finished board wouldn't be visible. Just a thought.


The reverse side is visible so punching holes through the excavation wasn't an option. I have done that in other situations though.


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## routergieck (Feb 11, 2013)

Darryl thats a fantastic looking board. I was wondering if you had any problem sanding when across the ebony and pine with the ebony dust wanting to carry over and stain the offsetting pine. If so how did you handle it?

Dennis


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## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

Dennis, I didn't have any problems as you described at all. The biggest issue was the difference in hardness between the two, and using a scraper was a key part in "sanding" the surface smooth. All in all, I think I used 2 grades of scraper blades, belt sander @ 120 grit. 1/3 sheet sander @ 120 and 240, wet and dry @ 600 with both water and turps, and 000 steel wool. I kept blowing the air duster over the job when sanding, mainly to see what was happening, and I only once let the wet and dry actually dry out. That may have helped keep the colours separated, but it really didn't raise itself as a serious issue. A bigger concern to me was that 600 grit wet and dry was leaving scratches that weren't spraying out. Haven't had that before. Fortunately the steel wool pulled most of those out, but you can still see some if you know where to look.


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## bosox (Jun 12, 2012)

Creative and well executed. I like the wood.


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## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

bosox said:


> Creative and well executed. I like the wood.


Thanks. I like it as well and have been waiting a long time to get my hands on a piece of Huon Pine.


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## Gaffboat (Mar 11, 2012)

Impressively well done!


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## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

Grandson has finally behaved well enough for his father to let him have the chessboard. Here are some photos of the first game of "checkers". He doesn't have any real chess or checkers pieces, so he improvised....


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## Jeanette M. (Jan 22, 2014)

*chess board*

nice job! This will surely be a hand-me-down for generations to come. I plan on doing that with a doll cradle I will build for my great-niece. This is truly a gratifying hobby!


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## MEBCWD (Jan 14, 2012)

Darryl,

Love the raw edge of the board, it adds a lot of character.

Your grandson has a great imagination in using the toy pieces for checkers. Maybe a set of checkers and a set of chessmen would make a good Christmas present!


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## darsev (Feb 3, 2012)

MEBCWD said:


> Darryl,
> 
> Love the raw edge of the board, it adds a lot of character.
> 
> Your grandson has a great imagination in using the toy pieces for checkers. Maybe a set of checkers and a set of chessmen would make a good Christmas present!


I think I will leave the checkers and chess pieces to his parents, and yes, his imagination is quite vivid. He wanted to turn the toys into chess pieces to start with, but there was no way we could remember which was which after the game started.


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