Chess Table plan

[ozziebluesman]

Hi to you all,

Some years ago my mother a hobby porcelain doll builder cast a set of porcelain chess pieces for my 50th birthday and she had a very basic chess board made. I love the set and it was left setup in our home however one day the cat decided to make a move for me and a few pieces where broken. Mum made replacements but they where not absolutely the same colour as the rest of the set. I have it stored up on the cupboard but would rather it out so I can use it and display the set.

I had a look around on the web for a plan and tried to download what I thought was a good looking plan from a woodworking site over in the US somewhere and you can guess, the file infected my computer system with a nasty virus. Gee I hate that!!!!!

Anyway, just wondered if anyone here had a simple plan of a nice chess table with a two way players draw to store the pieces in while not playing and during a game to store the pieces. I have seen a plan like this but it is not safe to download. It was all hand dovetail built too!

Cheers Alan

[P Bill]

Something like this? My old boss made this just before I started with him. BRW, Ebony, Ivory and Silver hinges.

Chess on the outside, Backgammon on the inside. We made two BRW armchairs to go with it. If I remember correctly 32 BF of BRW in the chairs. Rosewood came " value added " in those days........picnic tables.



http://www.homeportfolio.com/catalog/Pr ... dId=162703

[auscab]

Hi Alan ,
was the plan you liked for a 4 leg type table or a column that went down to three or four legs or feet?
A project like that would be a good way to use Ebony and Maple fretboard scraps ,if you had enough.
What do you want the top made from , sliced veneers or solid 3 to 4mm timber?

[ozziebluesman]

Nice Bill but looks a bit elaborate for my skills.

Auscab: A small table with four straight legs and it had a two way draw so when you are playing a game if you make a move and take a piece you can simply slide the draw toward yourself and place the taken piece in it appropriate spot in the draw and same for the other player. I do have enough ebony 4 mm off cuts but no maple figured maple. I was thinking of inlaying the pieces in a 20 mm thick table top the size of a chess board with say a 50mm extra around the board. Make a two way draw with divisions for the chess pieces for both players. Anyway that was my thoughts! Any suggestions greatly received.

Cheers

Alan

[auscab]

Sheraton and Shaker Tapered leg tables are a good design source for that sort of table ,I have an original I use to judge / nick, proportions off.
It's a Satinwood, Bonheur Du jour from the 1790s . I can give you details of it's base and you will have 18 century proportions to work with.. It has subtle changes in thickness of it's top and rails, and a short over hang of the top that make the difference between sweet and sour design.

[nnickusa]

If you wanted to pick up some MOP for the white squares, this guy(luthierwood-shop) on eBay has some good value, and a variety of sized MOP squares.....of course, there's also Australian Mother of Pearl.....

[auscab]

This is the sort of thing I mean Alan, Take off the upper drawer section and just make a plain version of the table part of this with a veneered games top, with cross banded veneer around the edge of the top as well. Or moulded top
4 x tapered legs
8 x mortise and tenon ,table part
4 x dovetail , table part
4 x dovetail for the drawer

what do you think ?

If you want to do it this way and are happy to use those joins let me know and I will get dimensions off my table and work out a cutting list. To do that I just need the size that you want the checkered part plus the border.

[ozziebluesman]

Hand painted pieces very nice


Rob: That is a beautiful little table and is exactly what I had in mind. As already stated I would like the draw to be two way with divisions either side for the two players chess pieces. I measured the top I have and it is in inches so if you don't mind I would rather talk metric. The inlayed checker board pieces can be 4mm thick, 50mm square pieces, eight squares either way gives it a total 400mm square board playing surface. The table top can be 500mm square and I reckon about 600 mm in height would be just fine.

Thank you Rob for your help

Cheers

Alan

[Nick]

Nice horsey Alan!
I can see why you want a nice board to match those pieces, your mother made a beautiful job of them. You almost want little dividers/pockets in the drawer that match the outlines so they don't make contact with each other.

[ozziebluesman]

Thanks Nick they are very nice pieces. The dark blue pieces also have a face outline but they didn't show up in the photo. Yes that was my thoughts too is to make the dividers to suit each piece.

Now the next job will be to find some nice wood for the job? I think some nicely figured Queensland Maple would suit the pieces. Any thoughts where I can buy some boards without breaking the bank?

Cheers

Alan

[auscab]

Nice pieces Alan,
No time today , I will work it out tomorrow.
The original I have is 707mm high ,and most tables to sit at and use are between 720 and 750.
can you go any taller than 600 ?
Totally up to you but most people sitting at a chair require the bottom of a rail under a table at 600 or taller.
This original I have is 707 high with a top 15mm and a side rail of approx 138mm. that leaves 554 under the rail .
You can always trim this type of leg down after its made as well ,if it feels to tall.
But if it has to fit under the height of a chair arm or sofa back that is another thing and they have to go lower for that.

[ozziebluesman]

Hi Rob,

I will go with all your suggestions as they make good sense and I want to be able to sit at the table to play a game.

Thank you Rob again for your time!

Cheers

Alan

[Kamusur]

Alan,

Anagotes at Marrickville (Sydney) often carry American Rock Maple etc undressed it not the fanciest nor the worst I have seen (luck of the saw i guess) but there is a guy there who is really helpfull and he will slice how you want or it can be left up to you if you have the tools to process the wood.
If you get caught out or need/want some PM me the dimensions and how you want grain orientation etc and i will pick it up for you and post it to you next time i go to Sydney.

Steve

[auscab]

A drawing , and some pictures.
The cutting list is

Legs 4 x 446 x 36 x 36
Rails front & Back Top 2 x 446 x 49 x 19
" F&B Bottom 2 x 434 x 49 x 22
" Side 2 x 438 x 131 x 19

The top you could do from 12mm ply, and thickness your veneers down to 3 mm to get the 15mm thickness. If you did a 3mm cross banded edge the top works out to
1 x 494 x 494 x 12
Or do it solid if you want to mould it.

You can see in the table I am doing atm how the rails at the front and back will fit around the leg. to keep the drawer runners simple just glue them in to the sides of the table after it has been glued up.
At this dimension the inside drawer space if the the sides and the center division are 10 mm is 378mm wide x 422 front to back .

The legs are tapered and the fronts and sides go down 131mm so I like to start my tapers about 4mm below that . so they start to taper at 135 down from the top and at the bottom they are 21 x 21 . they taper on the two insides only.
the three joint sizes are different the sides have 20mm long tenons the top rails have 24mm long dove tails and the front and back bottom fails have 18mm long tenons.

The drawer construction is a bit of a fiddle and I can help you out with what I would do later
Your haunch on the side tenon has to be under the front top rail dovetail unless you just dovetail into it.

No worries about the time Alan , just let me know if you want more explanations.

Rob

EDIT, just spotted a measurement mistake , hope there are no more 5 minutes to edit ?? please can we change it Boss ?

[DarwinStrings]

I reckon I could find a bit of 4mm medium figured maple in the pile if you want enough for the white squares Alan.

Jim

[ozziebluesman]

That would be great thanks Jim. If you do have something suitable can you send it with the bridge pins and I can then pay you for it and the post.

Cheers

Alan

[ozziebluesman]

Thank you Rob for the information.

Give me some time to digest the plan and no doubt I will have some questions.

Cheers

Alan

[auscab]

The tenon with in that side rail drawing is 9.5 mm x 20mm long.

[P Bill]

Sweet little table Rob. My take boys for what it's worth.

Through dovetails, light/ dark sides and front.

A checkerboard bead or purf at the bottom of the rails, between the legs.

Make up a checkerboard log and cut 30mm feet. Fitted after tapering.

[ozziebluesman]

G'day Rob,

In the cutting list for the suggested chess table is there material allowed for the draw? It doesn't look like it to me but I'm a novice at this. I took the cutting list measurements to a friend today and he is going to dig through his large wood stash and come up with some nicely figured Queensland Maple for me. I will go with the 12mm ply top as my friend suggested the same especially as the humidity moves around so much up here.

Thank you for your attention

Cheers

Alan

[nnickusa]

nice bunch of folks around these parts. Look forward to seeing your table Alan. Onya Rob for all the help. That's what I love about this forum....

[auscab]

I just spotted another mistake in the cutting list on the legs, they should be 692 long.

Just about every thing I make goes from a plan on paper like this then to a cutting list.
Before I start cutting I like to lay it out on a stick , or any scrap long enough that shows the length of the part to its shoulders of the Tenon / dovetail then the joint then the leg thickness and then over hang of the top.
I can then see if it comes out to the right length that the job is supposed to be, it shows up mistakes that have be made with the maths, or something that may have been left out.

The drawer list is not there Alan, I was just putting in enough to see if you were going to go down the path of doing it this way. Also a lot of the time I leave out the drawer till I need it at the end .
The parts for it need to be left a little to big so you can wait and see what you end up with for an opening for the drawers and that depends on joint accuracy .

You should see that all the chess pieces fit the internal drawer size I gave before as well , It would change the size of the table if they don't.

Your top at 500
- 2 x overhang of top 15
15
- 2 x leg thickness 36
36
Drawer length should be 398

The front elevation shows the drawer as 90mm high and they are mostly from 19mm thick or less for a small table.
so the finished size should be

Fronts 2 x 398 x 90 x 19
Sides 2 x 462 x 9.5
Bottoms 2 x 398 x 231 x 7 that's not exact but close , cut them bigger at 7.5mm thick

The fronts, I would cut them 10mm longer 4 mm higher and 19mm thick. same with the sides .
A little bigger when they are sitting on the bench in parts and refer back to the accurate cutting list.
And see if you can draw it up on a board or a stick to check all parts before they get cut. Don't trust my maths , and you will get a better understanding as well

The two way drawer means you will have to be dead on with shoulder lengths when cutting . which means marking out with a scribe off a mother stick, like one of your top rails.or a separate one that you could make up. more on that later if you need it .

[ozziebluesman]

I have bought some nicely silkwood for the chess table.

[DarwinStrings]

Please excuse the rip cuts on that Maple Alan, the blade on my 12" Bandsaw is blunt and the big Bandsaw is burried under motorbke bits so had to use the little one, still, that little saw does okay with a blunt blade.

Jim

[ozziebluesman]

I'm very grateful Jim that you could cut a few slices for me.

Cheers

Alan