Instructables
Minimalistic Chess Board Publishable Instructional Design Projects

20 March 2023

Steps

1. Aquire Wood Get yourself some wood. Any size, any width. As long as it is big enough to fit the width of your entire board. Chess Step 1 Image
2. Cut 8 Strips (2") Cut the wood into eight equal strips using a band saw. Can be any size you want. This example has each strip cut at two inches. Sand the edges and faces, using a belt sander, of the strips to ensure they are smooth and safe to touch. Chess Step 2 Image
3. Stain 4 Strips Stain the four strips and keep the other light. These will be your darker squares. Chess Step 3 Image
4. Glue Strips Glue all strips together. Make sure they are alternating. Chess Step 4 Image
5. Cut 8 Opposite Strips Evenly divide the board horizonally so that the lines to be cut are against the direction of the previous strips. Then use the band saw to cut the lines. Use the belt sander to smoothen the edges of the newly cut strips. Chess Step 5 Image
6. Glue Strips Glue the newly cut strips together and ensure they are alternating and complete the checkerboard style. You may stain the edges of the board to add more style. Chess Step 6 Image
7. Cut Small Wooden Pieces (32) Use the wood again to cut small wooden pieces. Chess having many pieces, you will need to make thirty-two of them. Chess Step 7 Image
8. Stain 16 Pieces Stain half of the pieces and keep the rest light. Sixteen pieces will play as black. Chess Step 8 Image
9. Cut Vinyl Cut vinyl to add the piece's symbols on top of the thirty-two pieces. You will need one white vinyl cut and one black vinyl cut. Each having 1 King, 1 Queen, 2 Rooks, 2 Bishops, and 2 Knights. Chess Step 9 Image
10. Peel and Attach Vinyl Peel and attach the vinyls. The white vinyls will go on the black pieces and vice versa. Chess Step 10 Image
11. Play Admire your work and start playing with others. Chess Step 11 Image

Challenges

One of the multiple challenges I faced were trying to differentiate the pieces by carving minimalistic pieces. None of the tools available in the lab were suitable to create the pieces effectively. In order to combat this challenge, vinyl cut to individual pieces symbols were used.


Final Notes

Some things I would improve in a future version of this product would be flattening the board using weight on top of the board during the gluing process. Nevertheless, I think this project was completed very well and a lot of people seem to enjoy the game when they were testing the product.