Beginner Woodworking question

[Kekonsetyk]

Hey so I'm thinking of making a chess board with pieces for me and my girlfriends anniversary, Completely lost on what tools I should buy for a beginner that would get me threw getting this project done. Any tips on tools/power tools to buy or any tips in general would be great help. I want to spend a lot of money for this projects which I won when play for real money, on the casino that I found here https://casinos-advisor.com/. So thanks for your help.

[oakey]

A lot depends on how you build it
RE solid wood will require much different tools than substrate and veneer
The pieces to go with it will require carving tools
The shop built boards I have seen were veneer to do that a straight edge and knife along with a vacuum bag and the pump to go with it
Pump for that size project can be as simple as a hand pump or you can use something like peel and stick veneer
Great place to start is a web page. Joewoodworker .com
If you decide to build one from solid wood (something like using end grain ) then you need a table saw. Some clamps and a way to flatten it
Such as a drum sander. Or hand Planes
Good luck and we come to the forum

[adamcherubini]

You’d have to describe what you have in mind. There are many possibilities, from getting a board and painting the squares (I made one out of pine and only painted half the squares green, left the others natural.), to veneer- I’d recommend hammer veneer since no vacuum pumps is necessary, to solid wood. Cutting squares and piecing them together is probably not a beginner project. That butcher block style is actually hard to accomplish without a couple of very good power tools. To get the squares glued up they have to be nearly perfectly square and perfectly alike.

I vote paint or hammer veneer. Hammer veneer gives you slot of style options without costing any more money. You could use MDF as your board. They you need a heated glue pot, but that could be a double boiler on your stove top. Then just a sharp knife, some steel straight edges, maybe a cutting gage and something heavy and smooth as a veneer hammer.

[ianab]

One good thing about woodworking is there is almost always several ways of getting something done. 

However a chess board (& pieces) is a bit of challenge as a first project, but don't let that put you off. 

I wonder if a small lathe would be more use, as it lets you turn the basic shapes for the chess pieces, and then it's a matter of carving some small details into each one. Then you can do a painted board, or even burnt onto a light coloured wood with a pyrography pen. 

The veneer on ply is also a good suggestion for limited tools, 

Personally I would do the end grain glue-up of alternating woods, but then I have the planer / band saw / router and bridge, sanders etc that I would need. Doing that method isn't horribly complex, but you have to be able to square up 8 contrasting pieces of wood, and glue them up into a long striped plank. Then you cross-cut that into ~2" long strips, flip them on end and alternate to they make a chessboard, then glue them back together. Then you need a way to smooth out the imperfections in the end grain top. Drum sander / router bridge / a Really good hand plane etc. 

But you can see that would take a lot more tools than a small lathe / basic chisel set that would make the pieces.

[Joel H.]

Hey so I'm thinking of making a chess board with pieces for me and my girlfriends anniversary, Completely lost on what tools I should buy for a beginner that would get me threw getting this project done. Any tips on tools/power tools to buy or any tips in general would be great help.

This is truly a multi-discipline project.  Turning, carving and flatwork.  Any one of which is a long-haul effort.  Most beginners start with one discipline and become relatively proficient at that before trying to combine them.  

Maybe begin by building the chessboard and buying the playing pieces?  Even that requires several large pieces of equipment unless you purchase the wood in the proper dimensions you'll require.  Which I think Hobby-Lobby has thin pieces that can be colored and glued to a base.  If you want to dimension the wood yourself you'll need a decent planer, table saw, sander and several clamps minimum. 

I'm not trying to discourage you, but trying to be realistic.  If you attempt too much you may get discouraged and give up altogether when things don't go as planned (which happens all the time when woodworking).  

Hope this helps and good luck,

Joel

[stoppy]

Hey so I'm thinking of making a chess board with pieces for me and my girlfriends anniversary, Completely lost on what tools I should buy for a beginner that would get me threw getting this project done. Any tips on tools/power tools to buy or any tips in general would be great help.

I duckduckgoed DIY Free chessboard plans.  

For the pieces using a band saw:  https://suncatcherstudio.com/patterns/chess-pieces/

For the boards there were several options that would work for a beginner.  BTW I am one for flat stock woodworking so your question caught my eye.

[Bill Wilson]

I duckduckgoed DIY Free chessboard plans.  

For the pieces using a band saw:  https://suncatcherstudio.com/patterns/chess-pieces/

For the boards there were several options that would work for a beginner.  BTW I am one for flat stock woodworking so your question caught my eye.

A scroll saw works very well for chess pieces.  Using the proper blade, you can get much finer detail and a cleaner cut than with a bandsaw.  Lots of patterns available for scroll sawn chess pieces.  

I'm no help on how to make the chess board.

[Cooler]

Apparently there is a lot of interest in this type of project.  Many "how to do it" articles on the internet:

https://www.google.com/search?client=fir...ess+pieces

[Kansas City Fireslayer]

I too would consider buying the pieces for now and making the board. Woodsmith magazine had a chess board plan in a past issue I believe. I would strongly consider using their plan or at least parts of it. Hard to go wrong using their plans when starting out.