ss

samson

11/12/2007 12:04 AM

Twisting Chess Board

I made a chess board a couple of years ago out of oak
and maple, two inch alternating squares, framed in a 2
inch oak. It looks fine, but it tends to twist when it's
not kept flat. I'm willing to cut off the 2 inch frame and
try something else if anyone has a suggestion.

Thanks,

S.


This topic has 3 replies

LH

"Lew Hodgett"

in reply to samson on 11/12/2007 12:04 AM

10/12/2007 10:41 PM


"samson" wrote:

> I made a chess board a couple of years ago out of oak
> and maple, two inch alternating squares, framed in a 2
> inch oak. It looks fine, but it tends to twist when it's
> not kept flat. I'm willing to cut off the 2 inch frame and
> try something else if anyone has a suggestion.


Did you glue the squares to a plywood backer when first built?

Lew

OG

Old Guy

in reply to samson on 11/12/2007 12:04 AM

11/12/2007 3:38 AM

I made one like that out of 5/8" stock, and so far no trouble.

Did you finish the underside, so that the wood has the same porosity
on both sides?

Do you think the twist is caused by humidity or by the weight of the
wood when it is stored other than flat?

Maybe the answer is to make a box to keep it in (flat).

Or, maybe the frame needs to be deeper (is the 2" dimension width or
depth?) to resisit twisting. Are the frame corner joints just glued
or are they splined or other mechaical fastening.

What kind of glue did you use to assemble the board? Dan you tell
which joints are flexing to make the board go out of flat?

Sorry, more ideas and questions than answers.

It's no fun to have a nice project that behaves badly!

Old Guy
Wishing for a warmer Minnesota



On Dec 11, 12:04 am, samson <[email protected]> wrote:
> I made a chess board a couple of years ago out of oak
> and maple, two inch alternating squares, framed in a 2
> inch oak. It looks fine, but it tends to twist when it's
> not kept flat. I'm willing to cut off the 2 inch frame and
> try something else if anyone has a suggestion.
>
> Thanks,
>
> S.

ss

samson

in reply to samson on 11/12/2007 12:04 AM

11/12/2007 10:05 AM

In article <1d5992c9-b66b-4396-935d-94ea02c03723
@e23g2000prf.googlegroups.com>, [email protected] says...
> I made one like that out of 5/8" stock, and so far no trouble.
>
> Did you finish the underside, so that the wood has the same porosity
> on both sides?

Thanks for the help! I did not finish the underside. I finished
the rest with polyurethane.

>
> Do you think the twist is caused by humidity or by the weight of the
> wood when it is stored other than flat?

I'm pretty sure humidity. It sat on top of my plastic turntable top
for about three weeks and began twisting again. There's little or no
heat coming from the turntable, but maybe just a bit from the receiver
below.

>
> Maybe the answer is to make a box to keep it in (flat).
>
> Or, maybe the frame needs to be deeper (is the 2" dimension width or
> depth?) to resisit twisting. Are the frame corner joints just glued
> or are they splined or other mechaical fastening.

2 inches wide, 1/2 inch height, but just plain butt joints,
no miter or tongue in groove. I wonder if either of these
joints would help.

>
> What kind of glue did you use to assemble the board? Dan you tell
> which joints are flexing to make the board go out of flat?

Yellow glue. If I were to guess, I'd say the squares are making the
twist.

>
> Sorry, more ideas and questions than answers.
>
> It's no fun to have a nice project that behaves badly!
>
> Old Guy
> Wishing for a warmer Minnesota
>
>
>
> On Dec 11, 12:04 am, samson <[email protected]> wrote:
> > I made a chess board a couple of years ago out of oak
> > and maple, two inch alternating squares, framed in a 2
> > inch oak. It looks fine, but it tends to twist when it's
> > not kept flat. I'm willing to cut off the 2 inch frame and
> > try something else if anyone has a suggestion.
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > S.
>
>


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