Greg and all:
The chess board is made of American walnut and maple. I considered ebony but it was too black. To make it work right, you must mill a long piece of wood for the walnut and the maple that are EXACTLY alike. It can be done. I did it with my Craftsman table saw. Then you saw off squares from each of the long pieces. This is dangerous and must be done slowly and thoughtfully using both a fence and a slide. I took a couple of blocks in the chest before I figured it out.
The table is 29 inches wide and 45 inches long. This is a little narrower (1 and 1/2 inches) than the original table and a couple of inches longer.
The fiddles came from Windward, CA who had them made up by a company called J&D. They are not exactly like the long pieces of fiddle for the sides but I will sand them to be the same.
Everything will get coated with Epoxy with the table top getting 3/32 nds of an inch of epoxy. I will insure that the table is perfectly level in all directions, then pour the epoxy on and let it level out. The reason for this is to gain some endurance for the table top, but also to obtain a perfectly smooth top. The walnut and maple squares sand differently because maple is much softer. Thus as you run your hand over the top you can feel a dip at every maple block. The mahogony is softer still. I will also epoxy the bottom too so that all the wood is sealed. Then I will varnish everything. If the wood is not sealed with epoxy and varnish, then it will crack at some joint(s) because of the humidity affecting each different wood to a different degree after some period of time. Note, I will sand the epoxy on the top of the table to ensure it is smooth. This will cause the epoxy to become milky looking. However, the varnish will make it clear again. And it will look like it has twelve coats of varnish on it.
I tried to make the corners using my router but it was too scary and I was afraid I would get a finger or worse in it. I could have built a jig that would have worked but it would have taken a long time to construct.
I am debating whether to do the same for the galley counter and inlay a butcher block or go the plastic or granit route. Paul's counter top looks pretty good. And a lighter color would go well with the blinds that we will put in after all the leaks are repaired.
Jerry
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