Thread: Competition Chess table design & Build

Nice design work mate, you've put some hours into drawing it up for sure. I agree with you, i prefer the new rails rather than the cross bracing too, it opens up the lower area much more so that your eyes are drawn to where u want them - the top.
i'll keep an eye out for when u start this 1 i recon shes gonna be something special.

Very nice design, I also like the look of MkII better, but will the players be able to get their knees under it? Mk I may be more practical.

Ooh boy oh boy! Another WIP from Lord Nibbo

I was going to also put my vote in for MkII as it looks better on the eye, but then I read AlexS' post which made a good point.





Is sailing season over yet? C'mon.

OK, I just had a look at the dimensions - obviously they're not meant to get their knees under it. Sorry 'bout that.

Originally Posted by AlexS

OK, I just had a look at the dimensions - obviously they're not meant to get their knees under it. Sorry 'bout that.

On dimensions, competition etc....

I'm a chessplayer, when in competition I was just about average in skill (other chessplayers will understand that often got one of the top three players in a tournament in the first round).

Because of my interest in chess, a chess table is on my to-do list. However, mine would conform to FIDE regulations for chess tables for international competition.

For that, a table has to have space for the board (of course), but also for other equipment such as chess clock, score sheets and so on.

You could also consider (and probably should for a woodworking competition) drawer(s) for storage of chess equipment, including stationery.

So, if you'd like to make a chess table to enter into a woodworking competition, and have that table also useful in competitiive chess, look into the FIDE regulations.

Lord Nibbo,

Also consider;

The white square on the bottom is to the far right of the player which makes the drawer come out in front of the player. ie he must move to open the drawer.

The plans show white as in white. I heard once that the serious players use shades of brown rather than black and white.

Graham

Well I got off my butt and made time to make a start before I run out of time to make it


So I sorted some wood from this piece on the bench



I cut two lengths off the plank and in this pic you can see I'm getting it ready to rip it down to get all the pieces needed for the whole table




These were the only two cuts I needed to make using the table saw at this stage, most of the other cuts will be made on the band saw.




First cut made on this piece, these two pieces will become four when sawn again and will eventually become the cabinet sides.




Nearly all the parts, just a few more pieces to rip out of the boards to the right in the pic




Most of the parts with one face and one edge planed flat and square, next job is to run them through the thicknesser to size them all. You might just see in this pic I've written all the finished sizes needed when they reach the thicknesser. Some of the thinner wider pieces will be sized using the table saw and cut slightly over size to allow a final planing to size.

Strating to get somewhere, looks good for chunks of wood

Everything has been thicknessed and planed to final dimensions, except the four side pieces of the main cabinet two of which need the drawer fronts cut out. When that job is done the final width can be cut for all four pieces.



The real woodworking starts here.
I cut all the legs to length using a scrap piece of MDF as a backer.



With all the legs clamped together it's easy to mark them up exactly the same.



All marked up for where the taper will start.



Setting up the taper jig using the mitre slot as a guide



With the jig set it's easy to slide it all across to the blade ready to start cutting.



All four legs now have the tapers cut only on what will be the inside faces when assembled.



A final pass over the planer finishes the legs off. Next to do on the legs will be cutting the mortices.



All four pieces that will become the top edges of the chess table have had the curved part cut using two passes on the router table, here is the resulting pic after cleaning up with the vac.

Cutting the shoulders on all eight rails starts here.




After cutting the shoulders the next step was cutting off the wider cheeks on all the rails.




The upper rails radius cut tight to the line freehand on the bandsaw and the remaining small cheeks of the tenons were also removed on all the rails here.




All the radius cuts were sanded down to the marking line.




Nearly ready for a dry fit, just needs the tenons cleaning up with a block plane and a good sanding and the base is ready for glue up

Starting to come together.

hey the work in progress is very good . the pics were nice and the plan is good . all the best for your project.

Ah yes my lord!! The removal of those diagonals, which were at odds with the overall design, has certainly strengthened the overall effect.

Good to see things are coming together.

I always enjoy reading your WIP posts. Very informative. Looking forward to seeing the project progress.

ajw