Where to put biscuits on a chess board.
 

I am building a table and at the center will be a chess boartd. It will have 64 squares each 2 3/8 square and 3/4 inches thick. As a chess board alone I would probably just glue it up but as a table top center , I am thinking of using biscuits to join the squares.

Would you use biscuits? If yes , where would you put the biscuits? If I put one on each side of every square it totals aredficulous 256 biscuits! :)

Anyway , thoughts? Suggestions?

One Idea I have is to just use a relatively few biscuits to hlp align the surfaces and put a piece of hardwood plywood under the middle to support the squares. This plywood would be hidden by a skirt that will run along the underside of the finished table.

Anyway , this is my first "big" project outside of pens and bell handle kits , etc . so curious what the real experienced woodworkers would do.

Stop. Back up. You do NOT want 64 squares to glue up... Instead start by ripping and gluing eight strips together, alternating the wood species. Then rip that crossgrain. Reverse every other strip and glue the eight new strips together. You could use biscuits in that glue up, if you wanted, and you then could place them anywhere in the strips.

Sawdust Dreams, Splinter Nightmares: Book Excerpt - Building a Chess Board

Good pics here. Also note the length he uses to allow for the kerf, ie the loss of wood cut out by the saw blade when ripping.

That's exactly how I'm doing the board part but its not just a board , eventually its going to be part of a table top with me and my fat friends :) using it to play and hold beers and to write on etc , etc. Unlike the simple board , as a table top it has to be strong too.I am doing 8 strips alternating Curly maple and black walnut. then I will rip them into 8 strips of alternating squares just like in the link you posted but any way you slice it you end up with joints on 4 sides of 64 squares and so the question is do they need biscuits to be sturdy enough for a table top. There are kits you can buy where you simply glue precut squares 1/8 inch thick but they get glued on top of whatever the structure is. I went the dimensional lumber , 3/4 inch thick and then cut them to strips exactly 2 3/8 wide (came out perfect) but now I have to decide the best way to get a strong table top with the chess board incorporated into it. If I was just building the board to sit on top of a table I would just glue it , no biscuits at all like the link. I also watched several videos of people doing similar boards but I haven't seen one yet about building a whole table around it..

BTW , I also have some Curly Cherry to make a 3 inch border around the board part and I may also include a band of mahogony that should get me to about 26 inches square. Then a final outside section of Walnut to end up with a 34 to 35 inch square table top with the chess board occupying the center 19 inches. Tables like this go for over $500 on line. I expect to put about $100+ into the wood and do all the work myself.

So anyway the basic question about the biscuits is still an open topic. Right now I'm leaning towards a minimum number of biscuits but with a hardwood plywood underside (another $20) :) that will eventually get hidden.

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The 3/4 ply will be the structural top of the table. You add the borders and a 1 1/2 inch band edge to the ply. The glued up board will sit inside your borders. A good glue up shouldn't need biscuits in this application

you can use biscuits for the perimeter if you want to, but even better and easier assembly might be a full spline if you are mitering the perimeter.

One other note, are you fastening the top to the plywood with screws through slotted holes from beneath? that will help with expansion and contraction between the solid and the plywood since the solid wood will want to move and the plywood is stable.

What do you mean by a spline Slip? I know what a spline is in a machine but not in woodworking terms.

Yes , if I go the plywood backing route I will screw it in from below. I don't think I will use 3/4 plywood though as that would really increase the weight of the table.

spline is a piece of wood or plywood about the size of the biscuit but long, 1/8" or 3/16" thick x about 1" wide x the length you need.

OK Bruce , I got the idea.

thanks.

Well I sawed the stripes into the checkerboard pattern and in the sawing process one of the glue lines (one square) let go. Obviously if someone bangs a Haufbrau House mug (2 pounds) full of a liter of beer (2 more pounds) onto the chess board , it will fall through. That would be a disaster so I will definitely have to provide some support from below! Cannot be spilling beer! :)