Chess and checkers are ancient game that remains popular today. While commercially available chess boards are widely available in a number of forms (plastic, wood, etc.), you can also construct your own board for chess or checkers with a few materials and some tools. The convenience of building such a board is that it works with both chess and checkers, which use different pieces but share the same board structure. This procedure will yield a board with two square inch spaces, so it's best to use chess and checkers pieces whose base is less than two inches across.
Things You'll Need
Get two pieces of differently colored wood that each measure 8 inches by 8 inches. The final dimensions of the board will be 16 inches by 16 inches once assembled. Make sure the pieces of wood are flat and of equal width; cut them to the proper size and width if necessary. Cut each piece of wood into four equal strips. Use the minimum width of the boards and the blade thickness to measure how wide each slice needs to be.
Stand the pieces on end with the band saw and re-saw or slice them in half. Line up the slices in the order they were cut and number them one through four, then glue them together along their sides in that order. You will start to see the familiar checkerboard pattern emerge. After gluing, wipe off any excess glue and wait about 24 hours for the glue to dry.
Cut the squares by trimming one edge of the board to make it perpendicular to the first glued slice. Make sure the ends of the slices are flush with the board's edge. Then measure the stripes' width and insert a stop block to the crosscut sled to make the piece width uniform. Make the light stripes one through eight from right to left to establish the order.
Cut the first strip, and continue in this fashion until you have eight strips with the same dimensions. Use a ruler to ensure proper measurement or use the alignment line on the crosscut sled.
Glue the eight sets of squares together, keeping the edges flush. Make sure the edges are straight. Glue the remaining pieces one by one, aligning the black and white squares so they alternate.