Flattening a chess board?

SpookyPistolero

SpookyPistolero

Joined
Dec 13, 2005
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6,105
This is kind of an odd question, but it's still about toys!

I lost my last chess set in a move (but it was just a pretty soulless plastic one) so I went out today and bought a ten dollar wooden set at Target. Got home and the dang chess board is warped! Like fairly severely warped. If you press the corners too hard it'll just plain tip some pieces over.

So does anyone know a way (without any specialized equipment) that a person could go about flattening a warped wooden board? I figure it'd involve heat, pressure, and steam: maybe steaming it over a pot on the stove, then letting it rest in the sun between a couple of books? Not sure if that's 'potent' enough.

Thoughts?
 
I'd try to return it. But yeah, steam and pressure would be the idea if you wanted to try it yourself.
 
I'd return it as well. I would think that getting it wet and warm enough to reshape would destroy any finish on the board, not to mention the time it takes to cure wood...
 
I'd bet once warped, forever warped. Any fix will be temporary. My only thought would be find a couple of flat pieced of some decent 1 by stock (oak or maple) and glue the new board down to some kind of base. For the effort, it doesn't sound worth it.
 
Meh, not worth the effort. Y'all are right! Especially considering it may not be permanent. The search for a cheap wood set will continue!
 
I remember when I first started workin' for a livin' (18) but bein' in the maintenance, (as a mechanic) we always managed to make our own chess sets outta nuts, bolts and washers.

We'd make our own checker pieces outta 1 gallon black and white bottle caps, hell we even made our own dominoes, now the boards were a different story those we always made with markers and different kinds of tape, we even ha a Back Gammon board carved into the picnic table out back behind the Court House when I worked there.

But I digress, unless it's way outta your way, I'd take it back to Target and check the next one in the store before ya leave.

Seriously though, consider makin' yer own games, its easy and fun.

Consider this, Mancala(sp), one of the oldest games out there is nothing more than a bunch of rocks and circles drawn in the dirt.
 
T. Erdelyi said:
Consider this, Mancala(sp), one of the oldest games out there is nothing more than a bunch of rocks and circles drawn in the dirt.
Click to expand...

I had not even heard of that game until I ran across it on a computer in the late 90's...

Fun game, though.
 
I got a pretty cheap and functional chessboard- from Target I think, it has lasted many years now- it is a folding box held shut with magnets and lined with felt, with the outside being the board. Pieces are stored inside. Not warped, bigger than the crappy cheapest set, and perfectly functional after being tossed around for years. I think it was under $20
 
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