Chess anyone?

[Lee Schierer]

My oldest granddaughter called me a few days ago and asked if she could "commission" me to make a present for her to give to her brother. She asked if I could make a carrying case for the ceramic chess set she is making for him. After a couple of discussions and getting the dimensions of the chess pieces, I drew up a design and sent it to her. She liked the design and we talked about materials. She asked for the case to be made from cherry. Finding the materials was a bit of a challenge. I found the needed latches and handle on Amazon. The piano hinge and finish were from Lowes. The 1/8" plywood was from Woodcraft. The foam came from JoAnn Fabrics. The cherry was the hardest material to locate. It seems almost all my local sources had none in inventory.

The design is pretty much a briefcase with an egg crate style insert with foam top and bottom. To make the case lighter I planed the case sides down to 5/8" thickness and the side panels to 1/2" I thought of going thinner, but wanted it to also be strong. I decided on finger joints for the corners to maximize the strength. I used my adjustable finger joint jig (https://sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?300391-Adjustable-finger-joint-jig) on my table saw to make the joints.
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The case is 16-1/4 H x 18-1/4 W x 3-1/4 D. It is made from cherry,that was milled locally in NW PA. The finish is MinWax Clear semi-gloss polyurethane.
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The interior egg crate is made from 1/8" birch plywood and the foam is 1/2" thick. Ideally the chess piece will be slight compressed into the foam when the lid is closed. The egg crate is removable as is the foam should it need to be replaced.
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Thanks for viewing.

[Frederick Skelly]

What a great gift - the set plus the case!
So how's granddaughter going to pay the commission - a batch of chocolate chip cookies, perhaps?

[Bryan Hall]

Looking good!

[Mark Rainey]

Lee, nice case! The Minwax poly works well. I assume it was the oil based poly, not the water based. It is a very easy finish to apply - did you wipe on or brush?

[Maurice Mcmurry]

That is really nice! I could hold my own fairly well playing Chess against humans in the past. I have tried a game or two against this darn Mac recently... very humiliating.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

It will be cherished, I'm sure, Lee! Well done, Sir!

[Lee Schierer]

What a great gift - the set plus the case!
So how's granddaughter going to pay the commission - a batch of chocolate chip cookies, perhaps?

No cookies are involved in this transaction. The materials were paid for, labor was free. By the way my granddaughter is 22.


Lee, nice case! The Minwax poly works well. I assume it was the oil based poly, not the water based. It is a very easy finish to apply - did you wipe on or brush?

I used the new "Warm Semi-gloss", which is supposedly the same mix as the old Gold can. I brushed it on and while the surfaces were still wet, I carefully drew the brush across the length of the surface, with very light pressure dragging any small bubbles to the sides. I applied three coats to all the outside surfaces, two coats to the inside. Since it is oil based and it is too cool to do it outside and I didn't want fumes in the house, I applied the finish in our small attached green house, where the warm temperature dried the finish quickly and the sun also helped darken the cherry.

[Lee Schierer]

As a follow up....My granddaughter gave the chess set carrying case that she asked me to make, she also paid for it, to her brother today. Here is a photo with some of the pieces in the case.
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I think you can determine from the photo whether he likes it or not.

[Frederick Skelly]

Wonderful!

[Mike Allen1010]

very very cool

[Lee Schierer]

It turned out that the pawns were a bit taller than I was told, so the case and pieces came back to my shop. I remade the egg crate with dimensions to accommodate the pawns. It is still a close fit on the Queens, but the whole gang fits now.
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[David Falkner]

Very nicely done, Lee! Looks like he really likes it, too. :)