I made a chessboard to practice marquetry

180 points · 17 comments · view on lemmy.world

17 Comments

DreamingAlice@piefed.blahaj.zone · 20 pts · 301d (5 replies)

Looks great, congrats! Although I will say that the wood grain not being uniformly aligned (mostly visible on the white spaces) does bug me a little. But that's just a small detail. What kind of wood did you use?

yakko@feddit.uk · 7 pts · 301d (4 replies)

I know, same. I was being too hasty.

I actually can't tell. I bought a job lot of veneer samples and they weren't marked.

HotsauceHurricane@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 301d (3 replies)

I'm guessing walnut & oak? Both are very nice looking.

yakko@feddit.uk · 4 pts · 301d

Strong guesses, those are in the list of types on the posting but the individual pieces weren't marked. I'm not much of a woods buff yet, I just went with what felt right.

I had two types per half, and used an even mix of grain and burl. Seemed like the best way to use the cuttings I have.

CelloMike@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 301d (1 reply)

Agree on walnut but the lighter one is definitely ash imo

HotsauceHurricane@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 301d

I'm basing the oak off a table I owned that was oak. Looked the same.

The_Picard_Maneuver@piefed.world · 8 pts · 301d (3 replies)

This looks fantastic!

yakko@feddit.uk · 4 pts · 301d (2 replies)

Thanks! I'm happy with the result but I have ideas of what I'd do differently next time. ..If there is one.

fakeman_pretendname@feddit.uk · 3 pts · 301d (1 reply)

There absolutely should be a 'next time'. You've done a really nice job there, and if you already have ideas for refinements and improvements (and assuming you actually enjoyed the process of making) you should certainly continue with it.

yakko@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 300d

That's very kind. I do plan to keep making things, but I'm slightly limited by the need for a worthwhile idea at times. Unless I know exactly why I'm doing things, I tend to run out of steam.

YoiksAndAway@piefed.zip · 7 pts · 301d (2 replies)

How do you sand and finish with the grain going in different directions?

mushroommunk@lemmy.today · 8 pts · 301d (1 reply)

Just keep your sandpaper clean. Going with the grain sanding is just to help hide if you drag a little, but there's no requirement for it. Light hand, smooth strokes, change paper often, clean surface often

yakko@feddit.uk · 6 pts · 301d

That's what I did. It works okay. The idea was never perfection, this is my first foray into woodworking of any kind.

Fedegenerate@lemmynsfw.com · 6 pts · 301d (1 reply)

Congrats on a finished project.

I don't do woodworking, but I do undertake projects. "Finishing the project" is a priority all of its own.

yakko@feddit.uk · 4 pts · 301d

This was my first with wood veneer. I actually set out in this direction to make a marquetry design on a homemade ereader cover, and this was just a side quest to make sure I can do the real project.

Nima@leminal.space · 4 pts · 301d (1 reply)

absolutely gorgeous! I love the gold corner accents.

yakko@feddit.uk · 3 pts · 301d

Thanks! I found ones I liked even more, but shipping would have tripled the cost. Glad I found these ones.