Turning Chess Pieces #4: Bishops

Hi there welcome back for another installment of the chess corner. Today’s topic is turning bishops for a chess set. It’s very satisfying to be able to be in a position when creating your own chess set to put your own style on the pieces. For instance let’s look at a few bishops I cooked up in the chess corner. These look very close to a standard bishop except for the very top. Instead of the tiny little tip on most I flared it to give it a little bit of a different look but at the same time simplistic. When designing your set try to keep in mind if a person looked at the pieces, can they easily distinguish between them, is there a nice contrast between the two wood colors. Bishop dimensions tend to be 1.5” diameter base and usually about just over 3” in height to give you a feel for the finished turning. The first one working left to right is of the caragana shrub that comes from the pea family. The second is unfinished curly maple, the third is finished cherry, the fourth is finished crotch maple. These were all prototypes for a chess set and I was experimenting with different heights, base profiles, rings and tops to get me closer to the final style. I hope you liked these pieces, until next time happy turning and may this be an inspiration.

-- Mike, Airdrie Alberta