A crack at a chess board inspired by Malabrigo.

Again thank you all for the continued positive response. I am chuffed that a person like me - with little knowledge or experience can try something new and have some level of success. It's part of the great value of this forum, I reckon anyway. We can share experiences and learn from our collective knowledge. So thanks agin for sharing your knowledge. 

@Malagrigo and @greghunt - I have taken some more close-ups in natural light and you'll see more of the flaws - for example, the filling where frame must be screwed to the board, the rough joints of the frame and some of the flaws in some of the squares. 

All the flaws included I still love it heaps and most of all - the honey coloured light squares and the walnut dark. Lovely stuff. :-) 

And below ... the whole board in natural light. 

Powder, there are always flaws in wooden things, its the nature of the material.  It changes as time passes and its so easy to create imperfections as you make a thing.  Perfection requires plastic or metal and mass production. 

The frame might be nailed to the board, the filler in the holes isn't very pretty, it could have been a better colour, but its there now and I wouldn't worry about it coming apart, its clearly survived some years already.

No idea I'm afraid.  I made a guess about the frame because of the faint pinkish cast that the timber has in some pictures, but the light squares: no clue.  

Thanks for the extra photos! You're completely correct about the frame being fastened to the board with more than just glue. Very interesting, not something you commonly see these days. 

This photo tells the tale of wood movement even more:

Do you see how the border piece with the wood grain matching the board is still nicely aligned with the corner? That's because the wood expands and contracts in the same direction there. The border that is perpendicular to the grain though, not only has the miter lost its corner, but you can see the glue from the bottom right square tried to hold the border, resulting in expansion and contraction that actually started to pull that square apart. Probably not flawed when made, but now that it's moved over the years this is the breakdown. 

This picture you see how the glue starved endgrain of the walnut actually released the contradicting orientation of the border completely:

For wood, I'd be fairly confident from looking at the pictures to call that a red oak frame, white oak and walnut board. 

if it was made here, the frame might be Tasmanian oak, which can have that pink tinge (look at hardwood in Bunnings next time you are there, there will be some faintly pinkish bits), but if it was made in the US then red oak might well be the thing.  

Well, you’re much handier than me, then!

And yeh, 54mm squares would work fine with my set — I’ll have a 42mm diameter King. Still working things out with a Vic-based wood CNC company...🤞

@Greghunt - yep makes sense, good point - logical to assume the board was made locally... so Tassie oak. I also note that the bl@@dy thing is heavy too!
@khopablanca - good luck with the CNC company, you've put a lot of work into that design, I hope it works out for you.

And at everyone else - a last few picks of the board in play... with me about to get torched by a friend online  ... yep, a novice at woodwork and chess but enjoying the journey. These will be the last picks - I am basically boring folk now. (Interestingly, I hadn't realised - until these photos - how thick the felts are on this smaller GM Blitz set. In future, I can picture replacing these green felts with a finer felt and possibly a more subtle colour too.) 
Cheers all.

Well done @Powderdigit ! Re-purposing something that was discarded is a unique experience of it’s own. The “ready made” flaws only add to the character of its personality. Others are right, wood continues to move as it ages, predicting and controlling it, if possible, is key. Great job, and yes, thank you for oil vs. a cheap epoxy plastic finish. 

You need a sandblaster though, but then you get this.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/893728889/handmade-wooden-table-chess-foldable?ref=user_profile&frs=1

Seems like the board's not oriented correctly.  I would think there'd be a lot more knee bumping the legs as it is.

Haha! I did not even notice that. Good point! You could always remove the legs and just use the board just like Powder did.

uhm, that table is so low I don't think you even can get your legs under it lol

I'm a Hobbit.

@Bryan-HallWS Why do you prefer oil for a chess board? I'm not a wood worker but in ordering boards and watching videos of people like MTM Woods and Sweethillwood I found that they puse polyurethane with buyers choice of semi-gloss, glossy or satin.

Good question. To start, I guess I'll clarify right away that I have no criticism of any other craftsman using proven techniques. If they are finishing their boards correctly, and they like the finish, and their clients like the finish, then great. 

You hit the nail on the head asking why I prefer oil. It's exactly that, a preference over other viable options.

So, in no organized order:

1. I really like working with wood, and I like being able to feel the wood. When I oil something, I'm not especially changing the feel of the board, I'm working with it, and trying to bring out the unique traits that I find to be beautiful. Polyurethane is plastic. I don't have any desire to cover the wood in plastic. I sometimes apply a wax/oil blend, that's about the most I ever alter the feel of the wood. 

2. Health concerns. If you watch those guys doing the application, they typically have spray areas and are wearing respirators to apply the finish. I'm exposed to so many toxins already, that if I get to choose between using a non volatile organic compound oil finish, or if I want to spray a toxic aerosol, I'll take the oil every time. Almost every item I make is at the foodsafe level with all of the glues and finishes I use. I don't want kids, pets, etc getting sick from anything I've made at any point. When I'm in the shop, if my family or pets walk in unexpectedly, I don't want them breathing chemicals. When I take a break and pet my dog, I don't want to be contaminating her. It's a commitment to care for both myself and those around me. Finally, the environment around us. The oils I use are not only safe for me to use, for you to use, but when cleaned up they aren't toxic and running off into the streams and oceans around us. I'd like the environment to last as long as possible, I need those trees to keep growing ;-) and by choosing a natural oil over a plastic finish I think I am making the right decision for the planet. I'm also a surfer, rock climber, mt. biker, and kitesurfer, so I spend a lot of time appreciating nature. 

3. Ease of application. I don't want to be a good painter. I don't desire to be skilled at applying polyurethane. I don't work with stains and other chemicals either. I want my skill to be proven as a woodworker who finds beauty through what the wood has to offer. As such, I use oil. The application is INCREDIBLY SIMPLE. Almost impossible to mess up. This comes with the added bonus of the fact that any board or piece of furniture I make can easily be touched up by the owner in the future. If I'm making an heirloom, I expect it to last forever, and when service is needed, I don't want people being forced to use chemicals and wild amounts of sanding to revive the finish. At the most, a light sanding and re-oiling is all you should ever need to do to one of my pieces. If you scratch polyurethane that was sprayed on.... that's a much more involved repair. 

I'll probably think of a few other, smaller details as to why I use oil, but those are the biggest. Taking a well thought out and intentional approach to each element of my builds is important to me. As such, I've chosen to exclusively finish with oil. 

Let me know if you have any additional questions!

polyurethane will need less maintenance than an oiled and waxed finish: damage to a synthetic finish is harder to repair, but in the absence of damage, the oiled finish should be re-oiled periodically.  Many boiled linseed oils do contain drying agents of various kinds that make them less healthy to be around.