Looking for a source for walnut and maple in the 2.5" thick range. Any ideas?

[Justin Pfenning]

I'm planning a chess board build with my brother in mid August. He has some size goals, as this will be a statement piece in his house. He would like the chess squares to be 2.3"-2.5", and the overall thickness to be 3". My plan to accomplish this, is to purchase stock that will clean up on the thickness at 2.3"-2.5", and rip the board into strips 3" thick. Then we will stand the pieces up, to meet his goal of 3" thick. He also wants a side storage area 3" thick, to set the pieces after they have been taken. Overall board size would be about 3" x 19" x 28.5". Our preference is to source one piece of walnut and one piece of maple, to complete the project. That way the color tone of the woods are consistent. Any ideas where I can purchase nice kiln dried thick pieces like these?

Justin

[Dan Hulbert]

Check out CSWoods.com I've picked up some beautiful pieces from them over the years.

[Daniel O'Neill]

Kind of depends where you're at. Could you provide rough location? You can look online too. Just do a web search.

[Justin Pfenning]

Kind of depends where you're at. Could you provide rough location? You can look online too. Just do a web search.

Sorry, I'm in Nebraska. I planned on getting it online. When you live in Nebraska, you automatically assume everything has to be ordered.

[Prashun Patel]

Bell Forest sells 'project size' packs and ships UPS. I think they're in Michigan, I think. I have ordered from them a couple years ago.

Horizon Lumber in Pennsylvania is also very good to work with, but I suspect you can find other, as reputable places closer than this.

[Justin Pfenning]

Bell Forest is my goto spot, they have treated me very good in the past. I'm only looking for other sources, because Bell Forest doesn't have boards large enough to construct the project from one piece.

[Martin Wasner]

Metro Hardwoods has a satellite in Omaha I think. They aren't real fond of dealing with the public in here in Minnesota. They aren't real fond of dealing with small shops either.

Worth a call though.

[Ken Ketcham]

Try L.L. Johnson Lumber in Charlotte, MI. Web site: http://theworkbench.com/hardwood.php Phone #: 800-292-5937

I've found they're excellent to work with.

[Robert Chapman]

www.bellforestproducts.com carries all kinds of walnut and maple including figured maple like birds eye and curly maple. They ship all over the planet. Ask for Eric or Boone.

[Brice Rogers]

I'm wondering why you want it so thick. Are you talking about the thickness of the board, or the height of the chess pieces?

Other than what a person sees on the exterior, no one will know if the chessboard is solid or veneer. I'm not suggesting going to a veneer, but what is the need for the board to be so thick? Why not 1" walnut boards 3" wide? If you want to make the board 3, 4 or 5 inches thick, just glue the boards to something stable underneath.

As for the chess pieces, 2 x 2 x 12 walnut is commonly available on line.

Per your description, you apparently want all of the squares to show end grain only. If you put perimeter boards with the grain in the other direction, when the thing picks up moisture, you'll get a crack between the two different grain orientations.

[Jim Andrew]

I'd look for someone with a bandmill. I have a barn full of wood, but no thick maple or walnut. I cut most of my wood 4/4.

[Yonak Hawkins]

When I made a chess board with 3" squares only the outside squares had to be that thick. I glued up the thick squares and was never disappointed with the look. The interior squares were glued to a plywood substrate.

[Chris Padilla]

Getting a large, solid piece of hardwood is no guarantee of getting matching pieces. You might be better off foraging for folks selling scraps on eBay. I once picked up ~30 2' long pieces of 1/8" thick maple 2" wide for under $20 shipped. I used them to edge plywood. I've finally run out of 'em and am looking for more.

Yonak has an excellent idea about only making the visible squares (28 of 'em) thick and making the inner squares (36 of 'em) much thinner.

Brice also has a good point. You may wish to consider using/making/cutting veneers (IMO, anything 1/16" or thinner is considered a veneer and you don't have to worry about it moving) to apply to all visible surfaces to make it look like the whole thing is made from chunks of solid hardwood. Sounds like fun to me.

[Justin Pfenning]

Sorry for my depature from this thread, I had some things come up, and had to focus my attention in other areas. Here are answers or replies to some of your questions.

The idea of veneer is a good one, but my brother has one currently built with veneer and plywood, and it's coming apart. There was likely some ways he could have executed it better, but he is soured on the veneer idea, so we are going hard wood.

The idea of the reduced thickness is also a very good one. We may end up gong this route. I have found some boards for sale to fit the requirements, and the wood price is fair, but the shipping is blowing the budget out of the water.

Brice, my plan was to plane the boards to 2.375" thick, and rip them to 3" wide. Then stand them up and use the 2.375" measurement for the square size, and 3" measurement for the board thickness. I don't think this is mixing end grains and side grains.

Thank you for all the feedback. If anyone has any other ideas, let me know.

Justin

[peter gagliardi]

Irion Lumber always seems to have nice stock.