Creating a repeated square pattern made from tiles – resembling a chess board is the goal for this bedside table – eventually there will be pieces and a rule book to play on the surface of this table.
I started this process very wary as I have never done anything like this before. So I reached out to the 3D workshop sending them the images above explaining my idea and asking how I could go about this. So I went in and had the wood cut with metered edges so they fit together perfectly without losing length on the box. I then lied 4 pieces of 6mm MDF one next to the other on the workbench and taped where they each met with each other. Once I did each intersection and stood the pieces up, they easily folded into a box. Once the box had taken form, we applied glue along each of the intersections, which we later did to the lid of the box as well. The box was then sanded to get rid of any of the glue that had leaked through.
Seeing as I already had the tiles and measured the wood according, I wanted to make sure that my calculations were correct, so I drew a grid and placed the tiles on top – thankfully it was all going according to plan. Next I needed to seal the wood so that when it came to applying the grout, the wood would have a barrier preventing the wood to soak any water the grout held. The mixture I used to seal the wood, was made from PVA glue and water, of which I applied 3 coats over the entire box.
I then applied the grout onto a quarter of one side, so that I had time to apply tiles before it dried out. I then used a grout applicator – with the flat side I evened out the grout and with the other grooved side I pulled it through the brought in wave-like motion so that the tiles could have something with friction to stick to. I then applied grout on the back of the tile and cataclysm it to the box. To ensure even spacing between the tiles along the entire box, I used 3mm tile spacers. 320 tiles each individually applied later I was finished. Next was onto painting. I mixed two different colours of tile paint to create the colour I wanted. Thinking about the aesthetic of the room and what colours would be in there I decided to go for a burnt orange colour. I lightly sanded down the tiles and washed over them getting rid of any left over grout, allowing for an even application.
Onto grout…
My surreal world 