chess table

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I'm trying to make a chess board for my daughter. I've cut the tiles but not having Philly's Excalibur and Osbourne not all the tiles are perfectly square. The question is, how can I fill the slight gaps on some of the tiles? Any suggestions will be appreciated.
 
Cut some more tiles to replace the duff ones?
Filling might be tricky as you will get "bleed" from dark to light.
 
I tend to agree with Aragorn. The whole point of a chess board is that it's supposed to be square and the human eye is very good at picking out alignment errors.

If you decide to continue with the pieces that you've cut, you could try an old marquetry trick. Seal and sand the faces of the pieces individually. When you've got a satifactory finish, apply one more coat of sanding sealer and assemble all the pieces face down on a barely tacky surface. You can get temporary spray adhesives from stationers that do this; alternatively use adhesive tape that's been dabbed a few times to remove some of the stickiness.

Take some of the darker wood you've used and sand it to collect sawdust. Mix the sawdust with some glue to make a thick paste and force it into the cracks from the rear. Allow to dry, then sand the rear of the assembled board to give a flat surface. You need to do this or the board will never stick properly to the base material. Finally, glue in position and remove the tacky surface from the front of the board. Give it one final very light sanding - you'll find the sanding sealer will protect the light squares from the darker ones if you don't sand it too heavily. If you do, it's a case of reapplying sanding sealer and sanding again, repeating the process until no dark dust remains in the light wood.

I was hoping that someone else would have been able to make a better suggestion than this. It's a process that'll need a delicate touch and there's a considerable risk that someone who's inexperienced will get an unsatisfactory result.

Gill
 
Another option would be to glue it up as is then route grooves over the joints in both directions and fit a contrasting stringing.

How are you making the squares strips of solid wood or veneer :?:

Did you glue them up as strips then cut in the oposite direction :?: or are you trying to cut and glue individual squares :?:

If you look through the completed projects forum you will see my chess table, I used THIS method which would also work for strips of solid wood.

Jason
 
On reflection, I thought it might be useful to post a link that gives details of how to make a chessboard from veneers. It's probably easier than using thick timber and gives a very good result.

Veneer Chess Board

Here's a link that shows what can be achieved if you've got a lot of patience!

Celtic Chess Board

Gill
 
I think we cross-posted, Jason :) . Your 'how to' link is better than mine 8) .

Gill
 
The photo's make it easier to follow, like the Celtic one though :D

Jasson
 
Thanks all. I think I will have another attempt at cutting the pieces a bit more carefully.
 
In a similar vein...

SWMBO bought me a set of backgammon tiles as a stocking filler. Of course that was a major hint! Anyone got any tips for repetitive cutting at very acute angles a la backgammon board layout?
 
I'd saw/plane down a couple of pieces of contrasting timber into matching triangular sections (stretched toblerones) and saw off slices.
 
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