For a solid board, let me recommend Bill's Woodpile on Etsy. Several of us have dealt with him and his products are quite good. He can be found at: https://www.etsy.com/shop/BillsWoodPile?ref=l2-shopheader-name
He will make a board for you to order. You can specify the wood, square size, border width, trim strip -- anything you wish, in fact. His prices are quite reasonable, starting around $160 dollars,
Bill made me a lovely 2-3/8" board of Peruvian walnut (very dark) and curly maple with a maple trim strip and Peruvian walnut border. Cost two years ago was well under $200. See sample pics below:
I second that recommendation. I have three of Bill's boards, a 2", 2.125", and a 2.5". All are very well made and offer an excellent value for the money. I find the boards work very nicely with the reddish rosewoods, padauk, red sandalwood, and sheesham sets. Here are some pictures of Bill's creations.
2.5" board in padauk and northern ash with 2" bloodwood and ash board.
2.5" board in padauk and northern ash with 2.125" bloodwood and maple.
Hello, all!
Up to this point, I have used a 2-1/4" squares Drueke Walnut/Maple board for my home "study" table setup. It is AWESOME, and I am totally happy with it when using my Ebony or Red sets. However, when using several of my older Rosewood sets, the dark brown of the pieces almost perfectly "blends in" with the dark Walnut color of the Drueke. Not as much contrast as I would like. For this reason, I am looking for another "supplimental" board.
What I am seeking:
* 2-1/4" to 2-3/8" (55 to 60mm) Square Size. I am COMPLETELY inflexible on this requirement.
* Non-folding single piece wood board
* Jet BLACK ebony squares, no "Tiger" or other brown or striped ebony.
* I don't care what color or wood the lighter squares are.
* Matte finish preferred, but I can deal with limited gloss if it's not too shiny.
* Border is preferable, but I could live with a borderless board if it's a really good board.
* I would prefer solid wood blocks (like the Drueke), but I realize this is unlikely at a reasonable price. If inlaid or veneer, I would like the thickest inlaid wood available in my price range.
* No costlier than about $300, but $200 would be my "sweet point" target price.
I do not care what the source is, inside or outside of the U.S. is alright. I'm not in a huge hurry to obtain the board, the Drueke does fine in the meantime and I won't have the disposable income to buy this for another month anyway.
Just one other thing... I would consider a black squares wood OTHER than Ebony, including stained or dyed woods, but ONLY if this was a tradeoff to obtain solid wood block (non-veneer) construction. In fact, I might even consider lighter non-brown woods for the dark squares for the same tradeoff. However, if my choices are pretty much limited to veneer or inlaid, then I want to stick with black Ebony as my dark square wood.
Any recommendations?