Chess board

It’s a challenging but fun project to create this fabulous wooden chess board – with a little bit of help from Resene.

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Resene Toys and Games with Mark Rayner - Project 14

Difficulty level: Challenging

You will need: Approximately 3.3m of 10mm x 50mm pine moulding, Clean cloth, Clean towel, Heavy weight (such as a concrete block or stack of books), Paintbrush, Piece of 6mm marine plywood measuring 400mm x 400mm, Pencil, Resene Aquaclear gloss, Resene Colorwood testpot of Resene Mahogany, PVA glue, Sandpaper, Saw, Tape measure, Two offcuts of plywood (larger than 400mm x 400mm)

To get the look: Mark painted the table with Resene Lustacryl tinted to Resene Gin Fizz.

Other ideas: For a traditional black and white look, stain the wooden squares with Resene Colorwood testpots of Resene Pitch Black and Resene Rock Salt.

Step one
Measure the marine plywood to the dimensions listed above. Measure and mark the pine moulding into 64 pieces measuring 50mm x 50mm.

Step two
Use the back of the saw to mark cutting lines at ninety degrees, as shown.

Step three
Cut the marine plywood and pine moulding using the pencil marks as a guide.

Step four
Smooth any rough edges with sandpaper and wipe off any sanding dust with a clean cloth.

Step five
Apply one coat of Resene Mahogany to 32 of the cut squares, brushing in the direction of the grain. Allow to dry.

Step six
Place the marine plywood onto an offcut of plywood and, beginning in the bottom left hand corner with an unstained square, lay out the wooden squares, as shown, fixing with PVA glue. Alternate the direction of the grain with the stained and unstained squares.

Step seven
Continue until all 64 squares are in place. Place the clean towel over the chess board, and the second piece of plywood on top of this. Weigh down with a concrete block (or stack of books) to ensure the chessboard dries flat. Leave overnight.

Step eight
Remove the weights and other coverings, and apply three coats of Resene Aquaclear gloss to the chessboard, allowing two hours for each coat to dry.