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— V · Materials & Process

Wood, brass, leather, and a great deal of patience.

A Dechamel board is six materials and seven stages of work. Each is chosen for how it ages, not how it photographs.

Materials
6
Stages
VII
Coats of oil
6 + 1
Joinery
Splined

— Materials, by hand

VI

Close-up of Dechamel board wood grain and raised chess squares
01

Walnut

Juglans nigra

American black walnut, quartersawn for stability and figure. Rested for two winters in the loft before any cut.

Dramatic oak and walnut chess board surface in low studio light
02

Oak

Quercus robur

European oak, slow-fumed in ammonia for nine days until the tannins deepen the heartwood to a warm coffee.

Studio product photograph showing light maple squares on a Dechamel board
03

Maple

Acer saccharum

Hard maple from northern stands, chosen for its closed grain and quiet, even ivory. Used for frames and light squares.

Flat lay with a Dechamel board and brass measuring calipers
04

Brass

Cu 65 / Zn 35

Sand-cast at a small foundry to our drawing, then hand-filed and burnished. It darkens, slowly, into the board.

Flat lay detail with cloth, tools and handcrafted chess board
05

Leather

Saddle, full-grain

Vegetable-tanned saddle leather from a tannery on the Loire. Cut to the rim, stitched by hand, blind-embossed.

Close-up of oiled wood finish and chess pieces on a Dechamel board
06

Oil

Aleurites fordii

Pure tung oil, applied in six thin coats, hand-rubbed between each. It cures into the wood — never on top of it.

— Seven stages

The rhythm of the atelier.

  1. I.

    Stage

    Selection

    A billet is chosen at the mill in winter, when the grain reads quietest.

  2. II.

    Stage

    Resting

    Stock is stickered in the loft for two winters, sometimes four for tournament editions.

  3. III.

    Stage

    Resawing

    Squares are cut from a single billet so the figure runs continuously across the face.

  4. IV.

    Stage

    Fitting

    Mitres are sawn, splined, pegged. Every joint is dry-fitted twice before any glue is mixed.

  5. V.

    Stage

    Inlay

    The knight medallion is cast, filed and seated into the underside. Brass corners are pinned, not screwed.

  6. VI.

    Stage

    Finish

    Six coats of pure tung oil, hand-rubbed. The board rests a week before the seventh — a light wax.

  7. VII.

    Stage

    Register

    The board is numbered, signed and recorded by hand in the leather register.

— On tools

A bench, two planes, and time.

The workshop is small. There is a single bench, a low-angle jack plane that has been with the atelier since the first board, and a shooting board cut from the offcut of board No. 001. We prefer hand tools to machinery where the difference is felt — and machinery to hand tools where the difference is only romantic.