End grain chess board

[Jebediah Eckert]

My High School senior wanted to make a chess set for a friend as a graduation gift. I let him figure everything out and he decided on an end grain board, he liked the look. He is also making the pieces, which is coming out pretty cool, but those are just going to get spray finished.

For the board we didn’t want to use mineral oil like you do on a cutting board. The board won’t get wet or need to be washed, and it doesn’t need to be food grade. It would end up being greasy and won’t need to be refreshed. We were thinking a of a using something that would soak in and harden? On hand we have some Osmo PolyX and General Finishes High performance. Maybe we could just put the Osmo of GF on the surface and just keep adding more as it sucks it into the end grain?

Anyone have any good ideas? Maybe a thin epoxy?

Thanks

[Jim Becker]

Sand it up to a very fine abrasive and use whatever oil based penetrating finish you like. And yea, you will need to do multiple coats until you get an even sheen once it's sealed, etc. The finer you sand it, the faster that will likely occur.

[Jebediah Eckert]

Thanks Jim. I just wasn’t sure if the deeper Osmo would cure but I guess at some point it will.

Forgot to mention, both woods are pretty tight grained. Hard maple and some type of real dense mahogany looking wood I picked up somewhere.

[John TenEyck]

Of those two products I would use the Osmo

John

[Jebediah Eckert]

Thanks John, Osmo for the win...

[Phil Mueller]

You could also initially fill the grain with shellac, then top coat. Shellac is cheap and dries fast.

[Jebediah Eckert]

Good idea. Thanks

[John TenEyck]

Good idea. Thanks

Not if you want to use Osmo. Sand it finer if you want to limit absorption, but always apply it to bare wood.

John

[Jebediah Eckert]

Got it. I thought it was an either or. Probably going to just use a couple coats of Osmo and see how it goes.

[Phil Mueller]

Thank you for the correction, John. Obviously, I’m not familiar with Osmo. I guess I thought just about anything coukd go over shellac. Glad you chimed in...!

[John TenEyck]

No worries, Phil. To be clear, Osmo likely will go over shellac just fine but it's designed to be used directly on the wood so it can soak into the wood fibers. Osmo goes over epoxy filled tables without issue so I'm sure it would adhere to shellac, too.

John

[Jebediah Eckert]

Well, here they are. He finished them just in time for the graduation parties!

We ended up doing 3 coats if OsMo PolyX. I let it sit and soak in longer then I normally would, but it still buffed out fine. The pieces we just went with rattle can lacquer. He is thrilled with the way they came out, and can’t wait to give them as gifts. Win win.

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[Mel Fulks]

I’m impressed with the precision. Years ago I helped a friend make a board and I wondered how the squares could vary in size in spite of
our extreme care ! Think a moulding around perimeter would improve the look and make it stronger.

[Jebediah Eckert]

Thanks Mel. The squares lined up better then we expected. A boarder would look good and we did think about it. We just weren’t sure how to do it with wood movement. Plus the clock was ticking and we didn’t want to push it.

[John TenEyck]

Looks really good Jebediah.

John