Home >> Games & Cards >> Chess & Checkers

How to Make an Outdoor Chess Table

The only thing better than playing the time-honored contest of the minds, chess, is playing the game outside. However, it can be a pain to bring out the board, set up the pieces, take in the board, bring out the board....you get the idea. There has to be a better way, right?

A simple solution is to just build an outdoor chess table. With a trip to the lumberyard and the hardware store, \\you can take your intellectual battles into the great outdoors whenever you'd like.

Things You'll Need

Four 3-inch wide, 2-inch thick, 3-foot long wooden beams
3-inch thick, 2-foot square wooden panel
Wood screws
Power drill
Ruler
Pencil
Wood-burning tool
Sandpaper
Weather-proof sealant

Instructions

- 1
  Screw the four wooden beams to the sides of the wooden panel to create legs. Make the beams all the same distance from the ground, or your table will be uneven.
- 2
  Draw a chess board that is equidistant from all sides on the top of the panel using the ruler and the pencil. Remember, a chess board has 64 squares, eight squares to a side.
- 3
  Burn the traced chessboard into the wood using the wood-burning tool, being careful to stay on the lines. Remember to alternate between squares colored in and squares left blank, to simulate the classic black and white of a traditional board.
- 4
  Sand the wooden edges down to a smooth finish, to avoid any splinters or sharp surfaces.
- 5
  Treat the whole project with the weather-proof sealer, to ensure that your chess table will remain clean and attractive in all kinds of conditions.

Chess & Checkers