End Grain Chess Board // How To

This is my second time making a chessboard but this time, it's an end grain one! My sister really likes brain-thinking games especially chess; so, I decided to make this end grain chessboard for her birthday! There's a walnut molding around the chessboard with an maple inlay that decorates the board, and the actual chessboard is levitated up about an 1/8 of an inch for the design.

This board is made out of walnut and maple because I love the contrast of these two types of wood and it is not hard to work with. However, making an "END GRAIN" board maybe a little bit of confusing. Let me explain:

As you can see the diagram above, end grain is the softest part of wood itself. Usually, most of the cutting boards are made with end grain, so that the knife that you are using will not be dulled easily. I may make a cutting board in the future so from there, I will further more explain the concept.

Another point when making an end grain board is that the end grain part will soak up a LOT of your finish, why, because it is END GRAIN! So be sure to apply layers of finishes to actually seal the wood, or just soak the entire board into your finish. (like baby oil when making a cutting board)

So, you can make your chessboard with many different options: face grain, edge grain and end grain! Decide which one you like the most and start making!

BTW, I used lacquer to finish this chessboard if you haven't already know so.

Build Video: