A crack at a chess board inspired by Malabrigo.

Ok folks... today was an unplanned Easter project inspired by @Malabrigo. 

Background: I have trouble holding a hammer ... my day job is white collar and at 50+ years of age, I am somewhat embarrassed that I cannot teach my daughters anything to do with woodwork. Yet, I love the idea of craftsmanship... 

Anyway .... yesterday ... on one of the many secondhand sales sites here in Aus, I saw a chess table for sale and I purchased this table (with rusted metal legs) for $20 bucks. It had some kind of hard coat on it and looked a bit pox (the photos make it look better than it was) but in looking underneath, I realised it was hardwood not veneer. It's Easter Monday and I had the day off - so why not take on a little project... 

I took a chance, purchased it and and then took it to one of the big box hardware stores locally .... I lucked out with a really friendly store worker together and a knowledgable customer listening in ... who happened to love chess. (Sol... if you're out there thanks for your advice... )

Together, the three of us decided it was worth taking the wood back to raw ... and oil the board.

Truthfully, the photos probably don't show the difference but as a layman - I really love what has happened here. It is quite a transformation - a reasonably sh!tty old board covered in some form of gloss finish to ... I think ... quite a beautiful oil/waxed board. It smells like when I was a kid and used to put linseed oil on a cricket bat.... oh, the memories ...

I am stoked.

Sorry for the pics from my phone ... they represent a transition through the day and into the evening .... and ...interspersed with a few drinks with mates at a pub for a few hrs too!

Here's the transition - I might take some better photo's tomorrow in daylight - indeed, the board is not yet dry and probably will need a second coat too.... but I am impatient ....and really wanted to say thank to @Malagrigo for the inspiration. It's just a reconditioned board ... but I love it.

Happy time's!

 

 

Looks good to me Powder!

i like it, the board has gotten new youth

a nice find, congratulations

Looks very nice, you did a good job on it. 

Well done, a nice little family treasure now. 

Breathing new life into something that may have been discarded is a wonderful feeling; you also gave real purpose for this beautiful board as it will be used for its intended purpose, What a beautiful project and how satisfying it must feel to have restored this, Beautiful, just beautiful board.

Looks great 👍 

Beautiful restoration.  You or anyone else have an idea of what types of wood the board is made out of? I would guess that the dark squares are walnut but I have I have no idea about the light squares or border.  

Nice , Like the part was a kid and used to put linseed oil on a cricket bat.... oh, the memories ...

Cooked linseed oil is a wonder for wood

that's brilliant to get board out of chess table. Looks good too now.

Well done!

Thanks for the feedback everyone! Much appreciated.
It s incredibly satisfying to have restored this board. In terms of the wood... sorry, I have no idea other than Sol at the hardware store thought the dark squares may be walnut - as noted above too.

For further reference - regarding size - the squares are 2 1/8” (just under 54mm).

It also cost more than $20 to get to this finish .... I purchased a cheap electric sander $49 - plus pads (40, 80, 120) and finished with 240 ($18) The oil was on runout special for $2! So $89 - all up ... but I’ve got a sander now! 😏

I am happy that I decided to oil the board as opposed to a gloss or satin poly finish ... it feels (and smells) wonderful and seems to suit the age and look of the board.

As noted in your responses above, the board has a new life and is something that weaves into our family story now too. 👍

Not only a sander you have, but also a frame! Buy a sandblaster, give it a paintbrush and buy a cheap chessboard. Put that on the frame and you have a chess table or chess decorated saloon table!

Now you have an electric sander and sandblaster! 

Nice work. Can the legs be saved?

A sandblaster too ... Michael, I the want to keep my marriage 😉...
On Jupiter's question of can the legs be saved? In short, yes. That said, I am tossing up whether it is worth the effort.
It’s a cruddy metal set up with a magazine holder that creates a knee high table. (See pictures below)
Initially I was thinking about a rubbing with steel wool and then re-spraying in matt black but now that the board looks good ... I now think a higher stand/legs would be a better option. The danger here is letting my imagination get ahead of my skills! 😊
At present I am going to leave as a board only. That said, I really like the idea of collapsible/folding wooden legs - similar to one ones pictured below. I think that could make a lovely combination for me to set up on demand - at home or in a park with some folding chairs.

another possibility would be to pick up a second hand wine table cheaply (my wife bought one for $20 a little while ago) that would be a reasonable height and could be cleaned up.  The problem will be getting the timber colours to coordinate, the pale Tasmanian oak-looking border is a bit 60s or 70s in that sense.   

Thanks @greghunt, I like idea.... the search begins.

...and if you utilize the wine appropriately, you just might get your sandblaster after all, hahaha!

Great save and good work! If nothing else I'm stoked to hear you oiled, instead of coated it in plastic. It's a truly special thing to have a real wood board that is oiled and cared for. 

This board is also a good cautionary tale for new builders out there!

#1 thats a bad table to have had connected. The board and the table need to be able to float independent of each other, otherwise you run into issues with movement...

#2 Issues with movement I say??? Look at the miters on that board. Looks like it has an oak frame that is tight to the board on all sides, with the grain running length wise on all 4 sides. The miters opened up! Because you can't glue long grain perpendicular to long grain without paying the price. It's even conceivable that the border on the players sides could fall off one day and need to be re-glued. 

Well done with the restoration though! For the money you put in, what you learned, and what you walk away with, that is an awesome success! 

Its possible that the old, possibly synthetic, finish was holding down movement due to humidity changes. Much depends on how the sides are attached.