Lindsey and I were recently commissioned to do a custom rustic deer and bear theme checker and chess board. We used a slab of a dried Redwood live edge and created this 15×20 inch oak inlay checkerboard and custom pieces.
We used the Glowforge and the X carve to create the precision cuts, or as Lindsey says “It’s magic time.”
Lindsey starts by creating custom drawings of the deer and bear that will be engraved into the wood as storage pockets for the game pieces and on the individual checkers.
While she’s on that task, I’m working on creating the individual squares that make up the checkerboard. I’ll shape them and work on the staining, too.
We’ve kept the theme throughout the game board, including the storage pockets. On the exterior, you’ll see the engraved deer and bear, but look inside the pockets too.
“The project was supposed to be fairly simple but we tend to overdo things a bit,” Lindsey shares. “Of course, we had to add cute little leather-lined compartments for the game pieces complete with bear and deer engraved lids. We loved the finished result and kinda wanted to keep it.”
We had a great time building the gaming board. We thought about the physical experience of the board, so that every element, from the bear and deer pieces game pieces, to the individual square tiles of the board, to the pockets that they’re stored in, every part of the board was considered. We want to have the players enjoy the craftsmanship as much as they enjoy playing a game of checkers.