How to Make a Marquetry Chessboard
- 1). Fabricate a cutting board by covering a 15 inch by 15 inch piece of plywood with cardboard. Use this board surface to cut the veneer with a razor blade knife.
- 2). Decide on the size of each chess board square. The standard size is 1 and 3/4 inches per square.
- 3). Use a steel straight edge to cut four equal strips of light veneer and five strips of dark veneer. All strips are measured to your chosen dimension.
- 4). Fasten the strips together temporarily on the top side with masking tape. Alternate dark and light woods.
- 5). Place your straight ruler perpendicularly across the stripes to form perfect squares, and cut with a razor blade.
- 6). Stagger strips to create an alternating color pattern. Join them together with tape on the reverse side.
- 7). Trim the extra portions that extend off the ends of the chessboard surface. Check the symmetry of the board with a square.
- 8). Cut thin pieces of veneer, of various widths, to fabricate a top border of contrasting woods; these are called the "stringers."
- 9). Lay and tape these border pieces along the outside edges of the board. Overlap the veneer at the corners to facilitate accuracy when cutting miter cuts.
- 10
Place your steel straight edge diagonally across a corner of the board. Carefully cut along this line with a razor blade. Be careful not to cut into the square chessboard portion of the board at the corners. - 11
Repeat the miter cuts on all corners, and tape them in place on the top side. - 12
Glue the completed veneer surface to a plywood board with PVA glue and dry completely. - 13
Apply complementary veneer to the sides of the plywood base with glue, and press in place. - 14
Sand the surface with progressively finer sandpapers starting with 150 grit. - 15
Finish and buff with paste wax.
