This is one project I definitely regret selling. At the time it seemed like a good idea.

I scored a set of ‘Romans versus Vikings’ resin chess pieces for a bargain from Trademe, and decided to make a DIY chessboard during the Christmas holidays.

I had a spare offcut of Puriri from a tree we felled on our old property. I cut it square, sanded it smooth, routed the edges curved and filled the inperfections with wood filler.

The tricky part was painting it. The steps in brief were.

  1. Cover the entire board in high quality masking tape.
  2. Measure and mark 64 squares, and add border if desired.
  3. Using a craft knife carefully cut the tape and remove the squares to be painted.
  4. Using matt-black spray paint, spray several coats (allowing time to dry between coats).
  5. Paint the entire board with several coats of clear varnish.

I finished the project by adding antique-esque edge protectors and felt feet.

It looked awesome if I do say so myself. DId I mention that I regret selling this?

Will have to make another one one day.