How To Build a Chess Board or Checkerboard (Part 1 of 3)

Cutting the Slices

There are a couple of ways you can to this. With the first method, you set up the fence twice: once for the initial cut, and a second time for cuts two and three. If you want to set up the fence only once, you can do a little more math. Using the minimum width of the boards and the thickness of the blade, you can calculate exactly how wide each slice needs to be, set up the fence once, and then cut three slices. I prefer the method I describe below. Using a band saw, stand the glued piece up on end and resaw (or slice) it in half. It doesn’t have to be exact, because you’re going to be sanding the entire board flat, but the more accurate you are when cutting these slices, the more time you’ll save sanding. You’ll end up with two slices, each about 3/8 of an inch thick.

Resawing the boards in half (first cut)

At this point, you can flatten each of the rough sides with a planer, jointer, or sandpaper. In fact, it’s common when resawing like this to flatten just one of the rough sides a bit for better adhesion when gluing the slices down. If you do this, take off just enough wood to make it reasonably flat, and do so always on only one side – the side that will be glued down. You’ll clean up the other side later after all the slices have been glued. I prefer to just leave them rough at this point and clean them up by sanding them later. Next, reset the band saw fence and cut each of these slices in half again.

Resawing each half (second and third cuts)

Use a push stick so you don’t saw your fingers off.

Using a push stick for safety

When you’re finished, you’ll have four slices: each half dark and half light, and each exactly the same width. Again, it’s okay if the cuts are a little rough or the thickness varies slightly. What you’re concerned about here is having perfect edges and perfect widths, and because you cut them all from the same glued-up boards, these slices will be perfect in that regard.

Four similar slices of wood

Line up the slices in the order you cut them, and either draw another alignment triangle or number them 1 through 4. This will help you remember how to glue them up.

Lay out in order, then number or mark for alignment