Building a Cedar Slab chess table

Ok... Almost done,,,  My big 50" X 38" X 4" Cedar Slab Chess Table.

I Flattened the slab with my CNC machine.  Sorry.  I have a woodworking shop better than most.  Then CNC’d the squares and maple border slot.  Painted the recessed squares black.  Then I poured West System clear epoxy on the whole thing.  The whitish border is ¼ maple inlay.  I’m going to use some 8 X 8 Fir beams to make a t-pea 2 leg support with wide bottom supports.  I know it’s hard to imagine.  Another picture in a few weeks.

I ordered large wood chess pieces from Cool Chess Canada in Eastern Canada that should come next week.  King height is 4". King base is 1.96".  My squared are 2.5"

I was going to set the bottom height of the table to 27"  making the top surface 31".  Too high???

More pictures in a week.

Any and all feedback is appreciated.

Thanks

You are my hero.  Seriously.

Man you are living my DREAM!! Spent some time up in Montreal in the early '80's and LOVED it. Not to mention my favorite band is from there(Toronto I know I know). Need you guess *RUSH*   

It looks beautiful. But how easy is it to reach the far side of the board? Just thinking you may need to take that into account when you consider table height. Maybe try setting it on blocks of different heights and try moving real pieces around. 

If you sold slightly(!) smaller versions of this I believe many people would be interested.......

Quite unusual and original. Kudos!
A dining room table generally runs between 29"-31" so it shuld be a usable height.

ChastityMoon,

Why do you care if he's here to play chess or post photos of his chess table?

It's a chess site... I would think that anything chess related goes!

P.S. I haven't played any games here either... that's not why I signed up.

Wow indeed! Where do you plan to use it? Will it serve any function other than as a chess table? Like coffee table?

rhubka, my friend, you are an artist. It´s your mastercraft creation. Magnificent.

Nice Job. If it's only going to be used as a chess table, I would set the hight at 16 to 18 inches. It would be a much better view looking down on the board, rather than across the board, and through your men. Just a thought. This way it would make a very nice coffee table as well.

Great Post, great table. You are a very skillful. You have a lot of talent!

I like it. Is it for sale when finished?

Lots of people sign up here just for the forum or things that aren't playing chess.  Including me.

Thanks for the feedback and compliments everyone.  I m must agree it's a tad too big.  At 6' 1" I'll be fine but I would hate for shorter players have to rise or be inconvenienced by a too far a reach.  Also agree that lower would be better but 16/18 inches would not allow a players knees to be under the table.

Yes, I have not played here yet.  I mostly play chess with "Stockfish" and "Play Carlson" on my iPhone and Fritz on my PC or my wife or people at work.  I'm a bit chicken to start playing people here but will get up the nerve up soon.  At 62 years old you'd think I should not be nervous but I am.

The weight and size of this table would make shipping stupid so I'll probably make a just a few over the next year for local pickup.  I still have a day job at the local government office for 2.5 more years.  But who's counting

Thanks again everyone.  I'll post a final picture with chess pieces and legs in a week or 2.

Are you making your own chess pieces?

I should post a picture of the one I have. They are beautiful pieces. 

Conner...

1) No, it's not for sale.
2) Nope, I'm not making chess pieces.  don't have a Lathe yet and it looks like too much work:)

If you make pieces, Sure I'd love to see your setup and pieces.

Your table is quite beautiful.  You did an amazing job!

As to the height.  For this large table, I would think a "coffee table" height would work well.  Not only would it look good, say in your living room, but it would be comfortable sitting around it while affording an excellent viewing angle to the playing surface.  

I would think a height of less than 20 inches would be perfect.  I have a chess board table at a height of 18 inchess and it is perfect for sitting in my lounge chair or couch and viewing the board comfortably.  Even pulling up a couple of standard chairs, if desired, works well at this height.  I think 18 inches would be a perfect height for your large table.  

One thing to note.  You can make it on the high side to begin with.  If you find you don't like it you can always shorten it.

Of course, this is just my two cents.

In any event, congratulations on your great looking table.  I'm sure you will love it no matter which height you utimately decide on.

Well... an old lady died up here in the Highlands and they were auctioning off her stuff, she had no family. I ended up buying this chess set. I started the bid way too high. It was for a good cause.

So I did'nt make it myself, I have no idea who made it. Here it is.

Ignore the ring on top of the queen. I was kidding on with the wife then.

The board is exceptionally well carved.

The pieces arrived today. The Sheffield, Chess Pieces in Ebonized Boxwood.  King height is 4". King base is 1.96".  Here's a few pictures,

That's it people.  The legs will be a weeks or 3.

Cheers