# Chess table



## Bob Adams (Jul 5, 2014)

50yrs ago my girl friend gave me a chess set for Christmas. She bought the set while visiting Malaysia. That set followed me, then us, around the world and I now I finally got around to building a table. 
The wood is walnut and ash. Drawers are mitered with dovetail splines. Finish is Osmo Polyx satin. The chess pieces are hand carved bone by an unknown artist.


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## marecat3 (Nov 30, 2010)

very nice table also the chess set is cool too


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## sreilly (May 22, 2018)

Beautiful chess set and board which complement each other very well. While I haven't played chess in years I can certainly appreciate the work.


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## Biagio (Mar 2, 2013)

Gosh Bob, that is pretty. May I ask how you did the dovetails?
Th guy who carved the pieces also knew what he was doing.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Very nice.


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## Bob Adams (Jul 5, 2014)

Biagio said:


> Gosh Bob, that is pretty. May I ask how you did the dovetails?
> Th guy who carved the pieces also knew what he was doing.


I used this dovetail jig. It makes the process very easy and I like easy!


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## TenGees (Sep 12, 2012)

Very nicely done, Bob. I can appreciate all of the steps involved in something like that. The finish looks great.

I wonder what a drawer pull in the light colored wood would be like.


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## DesertRatTom (Jul 3, 2012)

Wow. Now THAT'S a chess table. Love the contrasting woods, and the storage drawer for the pieces is a great detail. The set in very interesting, although replacing bishops with cardinals might not fly in Rome. Enjoy playing the game of kings.


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## Bob Adams (Jul 5, 2014)

TenGees said:


> Very nicely done, Bob. I can appreciate all of the steps involved in something like that. The finish looks great.
> 
> I wonder what a drawer pull in the light colored wood would be like.


I went back and forth on drawer pulls, and decided that I would just rout a finger pull on the inside bottom edge of each drawer. My thinking was if I wanted exposed drawer pulls later on I could add them. Right now I kind of like the non-interrupted drawer face.


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## MarkJonesRanger (Aug 14, 2020)

Stunning! Nice!


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## bfblack (May 2, 2012)

Nice job!!!


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## mariop (Jan 3, 2010)

Very attractive! Very professional looking table! Is there a plan you used for the legs?


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## Bob Adams (Jul 5, 2014)

mariop said:


> Very attractive! Very professional looking table! Is there a plan you used for the legs?


I used sketchup to plan the table, I downloaded a cabriole leg design then slightly modified it for my legs. I printed a paper template, then made a template for the legs. I did make a prototype out of poplar before doing the real thing.


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## bryansong (Mar 4, 2015)

Very nice Bob, beautiful work. I haven’t played chess since probably 1978 and I loved it but never had a nice set. The table looks great!


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Bob Adams said:


> 50yrs ago my girl friend gave me a chess set for Christmas. She bought the set while visiting Malaysia. That set followed me, then us, around the world and I now I finally got around to building a table.
> The wood is walnut and ash. Drawers are mitered with dovetail splines. Finish is Osmo Polyx satin. *The chess pieces are hand carved bone by an unknown artist.*


Bob , are you being serious about the Chess pieces ? I thought they looked 3D printed .

great job on the table


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## Bob Adams (Jul 5, 2014)

RainMan 2.0 said:


> Bob , are you being serious about the Chess pieces ? I thought they looked 3D printed .
> 
> great job on the table


Pretty sure they didn't have 3D printers 50yrs ago. I have always been amazed at the skill something that takes!


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## RainMan 2.0 (May 6, 2014)

Bob Adams said:


> Pretty sure they didn't have 3D printers 50yrs ago. I have always been amazed at the skill something that takes!


That’s incredible


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## Rev. A (Jan 29, 2021)

Bob Adams said:


> 50yrs ago my girl friend gave me a chess set for Christmas. She bought the set while visiting Malaysia. That set followed me, then us, around the world and I now I finally got around to building a table.
> The wood is walnut and ash. Drawers are mitered with dovetail splines. Finish is Osmo Polyx satin. The chess pieces are hand carved bone by an unknown artist.
> 
> WOW - absolutely gorgeous. Great job.
> ...


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Hi, Bob.
A chessboard is my current project. Unfortunately, I suffered a fracture in my right ankle while my wife and I were walking for some exercise.
I already have the contrasting wood, (pine and saman) cut and glued but looking at your nice job, I almost change my mind to make the entire table, including the drawers.


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## old55 (Aug 11, 2013)

Get well soon Alexis @papasombre


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## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

Beautifully done Bob. That's something I've thought about for the last 51 years too. The acquisition of your chess set has a somewhat similar ring to how I got mine. It was during an R&R in Hong Kong, from my tour in Vietnam, that I bought a carved ivory chess set. As it turns out, I'm a really lousy chess player so the set is still in it's original box on a shelf with other memorabilia. Unfortunately, none of my kids or grandkids are into chess so I've decided to leave it on the shelf and let them fight over it after I'm gone. One less thing for me to think about ♟️


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## Bob Adams (Jul 5, 2014)

Barry747 said:


> The acquisition of your chess set has a somewhat similar ring to how I got mine. It was during an R&R in Hong Kong, from my tour in Vietnam, that I bought a carved ivory chess set.


My wife wanted to buy a different set was carved ivory. She couldn't afford it, but I think the set she bought was perfect. I was drafted 2 months after she gave me that set. Hard to believe it was 50yrs ago.


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## Barry747 (Jun 16, 2011)

Yep, a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. The only reason I was able to afford the ivory set is that I bought it in Hong Kong. At US prices it would have been out of the question. Fortunately, with the current ban on just about anything ivory from being sold, I'm happy that I've decided to leave it to my kids. That was my original intention anyway when I bought it. After seeing your work, although I can't replicate it, I just might make a chess board to go with the set. The box that the pieces are in form a board but it's just painted on. I've made a number of things out of birdseye maple and walnut and have plenty of offcuts, my scrap bins are my biggest, so I'll probably use that. Thanks for the memory and the motivation.


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## papasombre (Sep 22, 2011)

Thanks a lot for your wishes, Ross.
I'm in rehab therapy right now. Maybe it takes a month for total recovery.


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