Introduction: Stone Chess Board Build From Scrap

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About: I am a civil engineer and a full-time maker and YouTuber. I love doing innovation and making unique things that can entertain, inspire, and educate you. checkout my youtube channel for more awesome builds &…

In this Instructables, I am going to show you how I build this Marble chessboard. This build is completely made out of leftover pieces of marble. Past year we have renovated our home and for the flooring, we use the different colour of marbles. But there are few pieces in that lot which are no longer usable because of cracks in them.

When trash to Treasure challenge came then this idea came to my mind. For the challenge, I decided to build a Marble chess board. I wanted to make the board slightly bigger than usual and the overall dimension I decided is 30 inches by 30 inches. In my build, I decided to use three different coloureds of marbles Black White and Brown. I also decided to use some epoxy resin in my build to give it my custom touch. The overall build procedure is similar to the wooden construction build but since the stone is harder than the wood that's why this took a lot more time then the wooden chess board build. I completely aware of the difficulties comes in this build but even then I decided to go to construct a chess board out of stone. After seeing the overall result I am extremely happy with the outcome. Along with this build, I also wanted to make custom chess sets but since I don't have wood turning lathe that's why that build still in the queue. But I definitely Wanted to tell you once that build completed it will blow everybody's mind. In the pictures, I give a shot of 1 peace I made with turning jig.Since this procedure is taking too much long time that's why I decided not to go for this and once I get the proper tools for the turning I give this build a shot. In the picture, I show you a demo that how my pieces are going to look like.

So if you like this overall project then don't forget to vote and comment down below. Also, make sure to leave your valuable feedback in the comment section down below because I am extremely happy to read those comments and happy to reply you back.

Step 1: ​Material and Tools Needed.

Materials required:-

Following is the list of material required to build this project.

1. Marble pieces

2. Epoxy resin

3. Pearl powder

Tools required:-

Following are the list of tools required to build this project:-

1. Stone cutting saw

2. Angle grinder

3. Diamond sanding pad

4. Buffing wheel

5. Polishing compound

6.CNC

7. Clamps

8. Sanding belt

Step 2: ​Getting the Material &​Straightening the Pieces and Cut Down the Strips

Before starting this project I choose the right size of material which I needed for this build. Since I have a bunch of different types of Marbles laying on my terrace I choose the bigger size of pieces whose length is more than 2 feet. For my build, I choose three different colour of stones black brown and white. For the build, my plan was to use brown and white marble to build a chequerboard and the black one is used for making outer boundaries.

Before cutting down the main strips I need to straighten the edge of the marble pieces because they have uneven edges. To straighten those pieces I I use a square piece of ply whose width is equal to the bottom plate of the marble cutter. Then I place the marble on some pieces of scrap wood to raise it slightly above from the floor so that blade will not hit the floor. Then with the help of the straight guide, I straighten the edges of my material.

Once I straighten all the pieces I cut down the strips 3 inches wide. For the cutting, I use plenty of water to keep my blade cool during this process. During the cutting process, I also keep a support underneath the cutting strip so that it will not fall off and break down into pieces because it's quite fragile. By repeating this process I cut down 8 pieces of strips in which 4 are brown in colour and four of them are white in colour.

Step 3: ​Sanding and Straightening the Strips

Since cutting of Marble onto table saw is extremely difficult that's why the only method left is using the straight edge process and sometimes during this process, there is slight undulation occurs and because of that, the age might be slightly be formed. That's why to straighten those edges I decided to clamps 60 grit sanding belt on to a piece of MDF sheet. Then I coloured the edges of the strips with the help of permanent marker and start the sanding process. By this process, I am able to sand the strip quiet precisely. With this marking method when I am sanding the strip on to the sanding belt the area which is slightly raised is going to sand down first than that of the area which is slightly low. By this method I I am able to send down all my pieces up to some extent. Always make sure to clean off your sanding belt to get the better result in the sending process.

Step 4: ​Cutting Down the Pieces.

After sending down all my pieces I move on to the next step. Since I cut down these strips from different marble pieces that's why they have the different length. And for my build, I need 24 inches long pieces. Then I mark the accurate length which I needed in my build and cut the down the excess material with the help of speed square and marble cutting saw.

Step 5: ​Gluing Down the Pieces.

After the pieces have been cut to the required length I laid a sheet of aluminium foil and then place my strips on 2 that in an alternate way. I place a white strip after every brown strip. To hide some of the Imperfection in my sending I decided to provide a slight gap between each strip and that gap has been filled out with two-part epoxy resin. That's why I decided to place all those pieces on to the piece of aluminium foil so that when I am going to all the resin into those gets the resin will not stick to the bottom base. For providing an accurate gap in between all strips I use number 12 welding electrode. Once I got my pieces equally spaced I remove all of the welding electrodes and then fold the Foil inward so that resin will stay inside that area. After double check all of the things, I mix two-part epoxy resin and add the little bit of golden pearl into them so that it will give a metallic look during finishing. But I also think that I needed to increase the quantity of that pearl into that resin so that it will highlight more like the outer boundaries. once the resin has been cured I flipped the pieces and remove the Aluminium foil and ripping down the strips so that I may create the chessboard pattern.

Step 6: ​Creating the Chess Pattern

For creating the chest pattern first I straight down my edge. For the straightening process, I use this long square. Once I straighten the one edge I cut down a Scrap piece which I am going to use as a spacer to space down my straight edge every time during the ripping process. The total width of the spacer is equal to the width of 1 square in the chess board +blade thickness +weights of the base of cutting saw. After cutting all the strips of equal width I flip the strips alternatively so that it will create a chess pattern. After cutting the slab I also cut down three-quarter inch wide strips of black granite which I am going to use as a border of my chess board. Once I have all the pieces cut out I I made the chess pattern and clean of the excess epoxy from the strips with the help of angle grinder.

After cutting down all the pieces it seems that I need to provide some strength to the overall structure because it seems to be quite fragile and the overall being is quite heavy. So that's why to provide it strength I decided to give a piece of half-inch thick sheet of ply underneath that chess pattern. To provide the uniform gap between each strip I use welding electrodes. Once I get all pieces equally space I remove all the electrodes and then close up all the perimeter with the help of masking tape. With the help of hot glue, I also sealed the bottom of the tape. After getting the double check I pour the epoxy resin into the gap. The same thing has been done with the black granite strip. For the colour in the black strip, I use copper pearl.

Step 7: ​Grinding

Once the resin has been completely cured I move on to the grinding process but before that, I apply a tape on the back side of the ply so that it will not absorb water during the grinding process. First, with the help, of course, grinding wheel I remove the excess material and make the surface as flat as possible. Once the top has been completely flat and I use series of diamond grinding wheels to grind of the scratch marks and make the board finished. For grinding the chess board I use different grits of diamond pad going from 60 grit and move up to 2000 grit. I don't do too much finishing in this process because I have to repeat this process again after pouring the resin after the CNC machining process.

Step 8: ​CNC Machining

Once I clean up but the top of the chess board I move on to my CNC where I am going to machine down some letters around the perimeter of the board where I poured the resin. To start the machining I first mark the center onto that resin area and then set the home position of the bit at that point and then start the machining process.Every time if I have to do the machining I turned down the piece at the workable position and then marked the center and start the machining. Around the perimeter, at one side I am going to write alphabets and on the other side, I am going to write down the numbers. At each corner, I machine a Celtic pattern which increases the overall beauty of this build. Once I completed the machining process I prepare it for filling the areas with epoxy resin. For the colour, I choose two different types of Pearl one is Golden Pearl and other is the silver blue pearl.

Step 9: ​Final Finishing

Once I pour the resin into the machine area I allow it to cure for a whole night. Before doing the final finishing of the chess board I decided to do paint on the backside of the board which also make the ply water resistant during the finishing process of the chessboard. First I grind the epoxy with the help of 60 grit sending pad and then with the help of the diamond wheel and water finishes of the entire board up to 2000 grit.Then with the help of buffing wheel and polishing compound buff down the entire surface and bring this mirror-like finish.

If you like this overall bill then don't forget to vote for us and also don't forget to share your valuable feedback with us we are happy to reply your questions.

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