Where to put biscuits on a chess board.

[Saltheart]

Originally Posted by nightfighter

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.

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.