Medium Walnut Chess Table

I thought I would show another Chess Table of the same design but using different wood. And also tell where I got the idea for the chess square and the secondary pattern that it gives.

I call this my “Medium size Walnut” chess table. This table stands 30” tall and is 32” wide. Each square is 2 ½”, the whole board is just over 20”. There are over 3200 pieces on the entire table. The pieces are used over the edge and onto the pedestal and feet of the table. Each square is made using 4 diamonds and 6 triangles. It gives a chess or checker board a completely different look. It has two drawers, one on each side. The drawers have magnetic catches on the back of them, so they don’t slide out on their own. I use wood dowels to help hold the drawers together. The table is finished in its natural color with 6 or 8 coats of varnish. After the varnish hardens for at least a month, I level it and buff it to a high shine. The pieces are a bit over 3/16” thick, glued onto a Baltic Birch base, so they hold up much better than a thin veneer.

The type of wood is listed on the bottom of the table. The dark square has “Lacewood” from Australia in the middle and “Bubinga” from Africa on the outside. The light square has “Oak” in the middle and “Hackberry” on the outside both from Missouri. And then “Hackberry” and “Walnut” from Missouri are used on the rest of the table.

The pieces in each square are placed so that two diamonds are on opposite corners. Then when you look at those corners where 4 squares meet a star is formed at that corner all over the table. You can see it easiest on the Chess Board, itself, here on the “Close-up” picture.

On the bottom I signed it, listed the wood, dated it and put the number of the table.

I lined the bottom of the drawers with black velveteen.

What gave me the idea for the square on this Chess Table was when I made the Stars and Cubes Quilt Pattern. I looked at the four corners and thought those would make a nice chess square and that I could make a secondary pattern of having stars all over the table by putting the diamonds together on the corners.

Thank you for looking,
Robin Tucker

-- It’s not so much what we know that causes the trouble, it’s what we know that’s not so.