Board build question

Hey guys,

I'm wanting to start playing chess again.  I have an older set that I'm having repaired now, and got motivated this weekend and built a board for it.  The board is red cedar and red maple with a black walnut border.  I liked the looks of a dreuke board i saw a picture of on here, which is why I made the grooves.  Its still unfinished but I plan coat with tung oil.  ok, so for the understide of the board, what do you think:

Felt or cork?  I was leaning towards felt.  My wife said red felt, because my chess set has red pieces, but I was thinking green because that seems to be the traditional color felt for chess and many other games. what do you guys think? 

Just my opinion, and I am in no way a color co-ordinated person, but I think red felt.

With the red pieces and the red in the board, it just seems natural to use red felt underneath.

Looks very nice so far, please post pics of the completed project.

That looks very nice. I also like the idea of red felt. I don't know for sure but felt may slide better than cork. The red pieces with green felt would always have me thinking of Christmas. That could be a bad thing because it might initiate feelings of good will toward my opponent.

That is really a nice job and good looking board.

I agree with the red felt for the bottom.

I would suggest not covering the whole bottom of the board with felt.  All the boards I have with the felt on the bottom have 4 circles of felt at the corners.

The cork is a nice idea, though.  I bet that would work too.

Add me to the red felt brigade. I haven't seen circles of felt like Eyechess, but I have seen triangles at the corners. However, I have also seen boards with the whole bottom covered with felt and that's what I like. Go big or go home!

Ps. Great board! Especially for a weekend. The set looks like ivory. Do you have any closer shots of it?

Gorgeous board. Well done! Felt. It's so inexpensive, I don't see a reason not to cover the entire bottom. But a pad in each corner would work just fine.

That's the set you posted a few weeks ago, isn't it? What a fantastic combination!

Thanks guys!  I really appreciate the input, and now that you mention it, the green might make it too christmasy.  Red Felt it is.  I'll pick some up on my way home. I've bought felt for other projects and the smallest quantity that the fabric store sells is more than enough, so I'll probably cover the whole bottom. 

And yes, this is the set that I posted pictures of a few weeks ago.  It is Ivory.  The Kings are 2.5" and the bases of all the pieces (excpet pawns) are 1".  I made the board with 1.5" squares.  I should get the rest of my pieces back this week, and will pick up the tung oil this week to finish the board.  I'll post pictures of everything once its finished and with all the pieces added.  Thanks again!!

You might get a couple of scraps of different color and test them out. I'm not sure how much will show. If it doesn't show, you don't have a Christmas effect with green. If it does show, will the red border be distracting. I've used dark blue and green myself, and neither one really shows enought to matter. It does seem like a lot of red to me, and I like red.

I had also considered that.  I have light brown, green, and white from previous projects.  I could pick up red and then see how they all look. 

That board looks beautiful! I have always wanted to build my own board and I think this is the summer to begin. Thanks for the inspiration, Flint777.

Red felt

Just an update, 

attached is a picture with some tung oil on it.  still not done, but getting closer.  Definitely not a professional job, but good enough for having made it myself. 

Nicely done! Thanks for posting.

Sweet! That's looking very nice. Thanks for the update.

I am now officially jealous...

Seriously, that board looks great.  That set and board will look perfect together.

Thanks guys! 

So now I'm thinking about whether or not to add letters/numbers around the outside.  the only problem is that i would probably have to burn the letters in and there wouldn't be a ton of contrast between the black burnt letters and the dark walnut border.  what do you think?  

I think I speak for most of the folks around here when I say, please don't add letters and numbers. You'll learn the squares soon enough and the board will look better without them.

+100

Sharp lookin board

Agree with Gomer and Bronco, no letters and numbers.

That board is looking beautiful. Keep up the good work and thanks for the updates.