My Next Project....

[Ed Sallee]

I have been asked to make a chess board and humidor combination.... and my mind went a runnin'.....

Here is a rough draft of what I plan on making for the fella.....

Each player will have a drawer in front of them and the lower case will indeed be a humidor. I have drawn how the drawers and drawer fronts will be able to be sealed and on the computer, it looks like it will work just fine.....

The decoration on the side are directly influenced by Bill Wyko's recent post....

My other project is still on the bench going through it's finishing schedule.... so, I still have some time to work through all the details and get my plan together.... but, it all starts with a thought and an idea. And, that's what you're lookin' at.....

I'm planning on using Bloodwood, Ebony & Bird's Eye Maple. I will blog it in here as well....

Overall Dims: 24" x 24" x 6-3/4"

Any critiques would be more than welcome.

[Craig T. Smith]

Ed, The design is interesting.Very Artsy and quite lovely. IMHO a good cigar( I don't smoke any more and miss a good cigar an awful lot) is a peacefull ,relaxing meditation event. And chess is a game of thought almost like a battle. I think if the humidor is to be used for it's true dual purpose the design is too busy. My 2 cents. Quite creative though. Craig

[John Thompson]

My first thought was a chess board and humidor also. But.. if that is what the doctor (client) ordered... administer the medicine. The sketch-up is quite beautiful as I wade thought an attemp to make a couple of simple drawer knobs this morning before starting drawers. Makes me feel small in mental comparison.

I think I would show the potential design to the client with both the inlay on the side and without and get his take. That way there is no doubt what he thinks before you sink a saw-blade into that much ebony (probably about what my house if worth ) and other exotics. You might even show him a few more designs as this one is going to be tricky dual personality issue that Craig mentioned with the combo chess board-humidor.

Good luck in finding the winning combo...

[Jerry Olexa]

sometimes simplicity is better IMHO. I'd eliminate the end decoration. Its overkill I think. Your design and sketch are excellent but try it without the extra decoration. Just my humble....

[David Schmaus]

I would get rid of the end detail also.. The other question is where do you store the chess pieces?

[Jim Pritchett]

Ed,
What is it with all these exortations to simplify such a beautiful design? I think the original design work by Jameel Abraham and the beautiful execution by Bill Wyko is something to behold. From what I've seen of your work theres no reason to doubt that yours will just as amazing.
Like the Sarge said, you may want to give the client a chance to decide if he wants simplicity or elegance. BTW, the humidor you've shown in the latest post is outstanding.

Jim

[Ed Sallee]

You guys are right.... I was excited about trying out the thing that Jameel & Bill did.... But, at least, now, I have it drawn up.....

[John Thompson]

Ed... David poses a good question on where to store the chest pieces. Now.. if you had a slide out tray on the bottom of the humidor to store chest pieces in... this thing would have more intrique than an Egyptian pyramid with all it's hidden rooms and compartments...

Just a thought to ponder...

[Craig T. Smith]

I think from the description the littleknob on the end is for a drawer fo tehe chess pieces? Craig

[Ed Sallee]

Nope.... hopefully I can get another box for the chess pieces. The fella wants it to be a humidor. For now, he's gonna let the chess pieces stay on top...

[Don L Johnson]

Ed,

As one steps into the room, it is "first" a chessboard; I've always liked the squares to be a little proud of the frame and each square with champhered (sp?) sides. An inlay banding around the playing field is always a nice touch IMHO. Can't wait to see your skill at implementation; it will be beautiful and unique, cause that is how you do things!!

[Stephen Musial]

Just food for thought:

Regulation chess board squares are 2" x 2" (50mm x 50mm). That's 16" x 16" which means a 4" border on your lid which seems to wide. If you make the squares larger, standard pieces will seem out of scale (unless you're building this for an oversized chess set that he already has).

[Ed Sallee]

I did a little bit of research and read somewhere that the regulation sizes were 2-1/4.... which is what I based this on.

I'll have to sniff around and see what's out there for pieces... but, I'm not on the hook for any of the pieces.... thank goodness!

Finished up drawing the inerds.... should be a good tight fit. I pretty much encased the entire inside with Spanish Cedar and made bevel cuts on the drawer front (spanish cedar pieces) and then the reverse bevels to receive them.

Here's a pic with the drawers open.... They are opened 8".

[Stephen Musial]

I poked around a bit more and it looks like there is no "regulation" size. The only regulation seems to be that the squares should be twice the diameter of the pawn's base and for competition can run from 2" to 2-1/2". Maybe check with him and see if he has a set in mind and build it to fit his pieces.

For the World or Continental Championships wooden boards should be used. For other FIDE registered tournaments boards made of wood, plastic or card are recommended. In all cases boards should be rigid. The board may also be of stone or marble with appropriate light and dark colours, provided the Chief Arbiter finds it acceptable. Natural wood with sufficient contrast, such as birch, maple or European ash against walnut, teak, beech, etc., may also be used for boards, which must have a dull or neutral finish, never shiny. Combination of colours such as brown, green, or very light tan and white, cream, off-white ivory, buff, etc., may be used for the chess squares in addition to natural colours. Referring to 2.2 the size of a square should be twice the diameter of a pawn’s base. It is recommended that a side of the square should measure 5 to 6.5 cm. A comfortable table of suitable height may be fitted in with a chessboard. If the table and the board are separate from one another, the latter must be fastened and thus prevented from moving during play.

[John Keeton]

I like the concept, but agree on the side inlays being just a bit much. What would really be neat IMO is to have silhouette inlays of chess pieces in dark wood along the two sides - not that I am trying to complicate this or anything