Repairing old chess table

[akirk]

My father has a chess table which was his father’s before, so has a bit of age to it (his father died in the 50s)
the inlaid squares are not in perfect condition and need a bit of love, in particular a piece that needs replacing…

logically, cutting, flattening, sizing and glueing a piece of wood shouldn't be tricky
but - what is the best way to try and match wood / colouring etc.?

additionally - I am assuming that in terms of maintaining the history we should leave other squares which are cracked but still original

 

[akirk]

raising this again, the chess table has turned up in my workshop, so any thoughts / ideas / views from the wonderful brains on here would be appreciated!

 

[Fitzroy]

Matching will be interesting… you would need to do a bunch of tests until you get one you are happy with then repeat for the actual square.

Alternatively could you put a completely contrasting piece, or a piece commemorating your father, and grandfather. Marketry initials or similar. Likely just as hard but perhaps easier on the eye.

Fitz

Ps love the two year gaps between this being a potential job and an actual job, I can so relate.

 

[Cabinetman]

The lighter squares look to be either a fruit wood or maybe Sycamore, they look to have darkened/yellowed considerably with age and sunlight. From an antique point of view probably best left alone but if it were mine I would carefully sand it down to show the true original colours, only then would I try to match up the missing pieces.
I’m sure you realise, but attempting to stain just the darker squares will end in failure.
Ian

 

[akirk]

my father used to play my grandfather every night on this table, as my grandfather died 68 years ago there is clearly some age to the table / wood…

I was wondering whether it might be oak and sycamore? oak will have darkened over time…

not sure Ian about your comment ref staining the darker squares ending in failure is that because while it matches now it will change over time?

what are thoughts on repairing the cracked but whole pieces?

 

[Cabinetman]

I was thinking more about the stain bleeding into the pale wood next to it actually.
How thick are the squares, they look a bit like thick veneer? And what is the base underneath? early plywood?
Interesting that the grain goes one way for the dark and the other way for the light squares, I’ve never made a chess board but this seems like it could cause problems to me, maybe as the squares are only small it doesn’t matter.

 

[akirk]

I had assumed that I would stain any piece of wood before fitting it to the table so it shouldn’t affect anything else
- work out shape
- cut wood
- stain it
- glue it
???

Not sure about the base will have a look

 

[Richard_C]

A couple of unconventional ideas. First, you could remove the remaining bit of the missing square and put it in your wallet. Every time you pass a charity shop look at their bits-and-pieces shelf, you often see tatty old boxes and you might stumble on one that you can cut a close-match piece from. The other is the underside, what's it made of and with great good fortune you might be able to remove a piece to make the missing one.

Regarding the what to do with the rest, it's difficult because once you start you have to keep going. The restorers dilemma. It's not broken so you don't have to do anything. You could try a clean (maybe a mix of white spirit and Linseed oil with steel wool) on the underside and then decide if you want to do the top. It's a very personal choice though, keep the history or make it smart. Only you can decide, it's not about £££.

 

[Cabinetman]

I had assumed that I would stain any piece of wood before fitting it to the table so it shouldn’t affect anything else
- work out shape
- cut wood
- stain it
- glue it
???

Not sure about the base will have a look

Ah, yes, I was thinking about if you sanded it all and then wanted to stain the dark ones.
Good idea from Richard re finding a matching piece of wood.

 

[akirk]

Yes, I am uncertain how much should be done as I don’t want to lose the patina… not sure about even cleaning it - will need to check my father’s view on that - I have zero skill as a restorer and am conscious there are lots of decisions there which is partly the reason for getting views here as we have all sorts of people who will I think bring different perspectives…

Like the idea of removing the piece to match - might be worth a trip to the local wood recycling outlet…

 

[Richard_C]

And another thing....

If you do decide to take the broken piece off and go on a quest, you could photograph a good square, print it, stick it to thin card and pop it in the gap so you can carry on making your moves until something shows up.

(It sounds like its a 'family' job, but if you were being paid you should insist on a check, you wouldn't want to be rooked on a job that might take all knight, which makes me wonder of you might find a matching piece in a pawn shop......etc etc)

 

[akirk]

(It sounds like its a 'family' job, but if you were being paid you should insist on a check, you wouldn't want to be rooked on a job that might take all knight, which makes me wonder of you might find a matching piece in a pawn shop......etc etc)

Oh dear!

 

[mrpercysnodgrass]

It looks to me as though the lighter squares are stained beech but could be sycamore. What size are the squares? I may be able to post you a few scraps to cut your replacements from.