I'm thinking of getting some 12x12 basswood from Amazon to make a chess board, but I've noticed that it's quite thin and seems to snap easily in videos I've seen. How durable is it for just painting squares for play? Also, what's the lifespan of basswood?
2 Answers
Basswood definitely isn't the best option since it scratches and dents easily, especially for something you'll be using often like a chess board. If you want something more durable, you might want to look into MDF instead.
Basswood is really soft, which is why people often carve it. That softness means it can get dented and scratched easily, so even just moving game pieces might leave marks on it. Also, the sheets you're looking at could be plywood, which is just thin layers glued together—you'll get slightly more durability than using poster board but it's still pretty fragile overall.