# Chess pieces and board



## skywalker01 (May 19, 2009)

*Pawns and working out the kinks*

I decided to make a 4.75" chess set and board. I knew it would take a while and it has taken me about 30 minutes per pawn to turn them not including 5 coats of wipe on poly with dry time between. So far I've turned all of the white pawns, which are curly maple. This is the first one I turned and it's looking pretty rough, but I've gotten much better since I started.









It all started with these turning templates that I made. I found the design for the pieces on the web somewhere and really liked the simple turning yet complex look that they will create. I am a bit nervous about the knight but I have a plan and feel with some practice/jigs I can get them looking correct and uniform. I added the white lines to the actual photo on my computer and printed them out then glued them to 1/4" plywood for longevity. Especially the pawn template will get tossed around quite a bit and needs to last through 16 of them. 









When I first started to turn the pawns I just chucked up the piece of maple and started turning it down with the base towards the tail stock. I did the entire turning, including drilling the hole in the bottom for the weights with a forstener bit, without moving the chunk of wood. This proved difficult to keep the wood from wobbling and parting off the end was also a challenge.








So I decided to make a jig that would allow me to first chuck the rough wood and drill the hole in the bottom and part it flat. Then that gets inserted over a tenon turned on the jig and screwed in from below right through and into the bottom of the piece. Then I marked the jig for alignment with the numbers on the chuck so it would come out centered and round the same every time. This jig saved on wood considerably which makes a big difference on my darks - ro$ewood. I didn't have to account for the waste that went into the chuck.








Once turned it was on to 5 coats of wipe on semi-gloss poly per piece which takes about 4 days total. I could make a system to do this part faster off of the lathe but I hardly get time to turn anyways so I just run out to the shop every day and put on another coat while it's still mounted on the lathe. So as it is I'm finishing at most 1 piece every 5 days or so but I've actually been working on them for a couple of months now.









The next step is the weights to give them that heavy quality feel. I toyed with the idea of buying washers, lead weight melts, lead shot mixed with silicone, bb's and silicone or some other method. Everything seemed difficult and way more costly than what I ended up with. They will be hidden by felt and eight of these comes out to a really nice weight. Just an FYI, you can drill a hole in one of these and you have a washer that costs a penny. Currently at home centers the same sized washer runs about 7-10 times that amount. No wonder we have problems… This may not be legal…









Here is a pic of the dark wood I bought from Carlton McClendon down in Atlanta GA. It came covered in wax so I scraped that off. What a mess but the wood is Really nice. Also a pic of the first dark pawn I made just today. This rosewood turns like butter and it's just about, if not more oily, than cocobolo.



























Anyways, more to come.
Just a quick preview of the board I think I'm going to make. I will most likely be doing a veneered board. It needs to have 2.25" squares to fit my pieces.


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## j1212t (Dec 7, 2013)

skywalker01 said:


> *Pawns and working out the kinks*
> 
> I decided to make a 4.75" chess set and board. I knew it would take a while and it has taken me about 30 minutes per pawn to turn them not including 5 coats of wipe on poly with dry time between. So far I've turned all of the white pawns, which are curly maple. This is the first one I turned and it's looking pretty rough, but I've gotten much better since I started.
> 
> ...


That is extremely nice. Very well done!


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## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

skywalker01 said:


> *Pawns and working out the kinks*
> 
> I decided to make a 4.75" chess set and board. I knew it would take a while and it has taken me about 30 minutes per pawn to turn them not including 5 coats of wipe on poly with dry time between. So far I've turned all of the white pawns, which are curly maple. This is the first one I turned and it's looking pretty rough, but I've gotten much better since I started.
> 
> ...


You're off to a great start! I'm already looking forward to the next posting.


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## BTimmons (Aug 6, 2011)

skywalker01 said:


> *Pawns and working out the kinks*
> 
> I decided to make a 4.75" chess set and board. I knew it would take a while and it has taken me about 30 minutes per pawn to turn them not including 5 coats of wipe on poly with dry time between. So far I've turned all of the white pawns, which are curly maple. This is the first one I turned and it's looking pretty rough, but I've gotten much better since I started.
> 
> ...


That board's going to be enormous! This looks like it'll be fun to follow.


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## oldnovice (Mar 7, 2009)

skywalker01 said:


> *Pawns and working out the kinks*
> 
> I decided to make a 4.75" chess set and board. I knew it would take a while and it has taken me about 30 minutes per pawn to turn them not including 5 coats of wipe on poly with dry time between. So far I've turned all of the white pawns, which are curly maple. This is the first one I turned and it's looking pretty rough, but I've gotten much better since I started.
> 
> ...


Gorgeous looking classic set and a good choice of colors/wood!


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## CurleyJoe (Jun 5, 2015)

skywalker01 said:


> *Pawns and working out the kinks*
> 
> I decided to make a 4.75" chess set and board. I knew it would take a while and it has taken me about 30 minutes per pawn to turn them not including 5 coats of wipe on poly with dry time between. So far I've turned all of the white pawns, which are curly maple. This is the first one I turned and it's looking pretty rough, but I've gotten much better since I started.
> 
> ...


What a great tutorial on the pawn. Your photography adds so much to showing your skill. Going to give it a try soon. Will be going over all your pieces in detail. Thanks for doing such a great job and thanks for sharing, Joe


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## skywalker01 (May 19, 2009)

*How to turn a pawn chess piece*

Here is a time lapse I made of how I turn the pieces. Keep in mind I have only turned the pawns and haven't gotten to the more complicated pieces. Because I must be crazy I am turning the pawns first, then the rooks/castles, then knights, then bishop, queen, then king…. We'll see if that's how it turns out. In order of power in the game. Although the king may be the weakest. This is my second dark pawn. Six more to go then on to the back row. Thanks for looking


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## skywalker01 (May 19, 2009)

*Finishing Off Lathe*

I usually just finish the chess pieces one at a time. I wanted to be able to get a good smooth finish on them like you do on the lathe but still be able to turn another piece without having to wait for them to dry in between coats.
This is what I came up with. I drilled a 1/4" hole into 3/4" dowel and inserted a 1/4" dowel to chuck in the drill. I drilled a 3/4" hole in the holder and used a round file to ream it out so there is enough play to let it spin freely. After finishing, the dowels just fit in my bench dog holes until I'm ready for the next coat. I made several dowels so I can do a few at a time. A great time saver. Find the link to the video below.


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## skywalker01 (May 19, 2009)

*Turning the Castle*

Here is a quick video of turning the Castle. Thanks for watching.


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## helluvawreck (Jul 21, 2010)

skywalker01 said:


> *Turning the Castle*
> 
> Here is a quick video of turning the Castle. Thanks for watching.


You did a nice job of turning that. The whole set is going to look great. Congratulations.

helluvawreck aka Charles
http://woodworkingexpo.wordpress.com


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## BTimmons (Aug 6, 2011)

skywalker01 said:


> *Turning the Castle*
> 
> Here is a quick video of turning the Castle. Thanks for watching.


Nice looking rook. The way you filed the crenelations at the top was clever.


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## skywalker01 (May 19, 2009)

skywalker01 said:


> *Turning the Castle*
> 
> Here is a quick video of turning the Castle. Thanks for watching.


Thanks Brian and Charles. I'm enjoying it.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

skywalker01 said:


> *Turning the Castle*
> 
> Here is a quick video of turning the Castle. Thanks for watching.


Fantastic Luke. Gonna be an heirloom chess set.


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## skywalker01 (May 19, 2009)

*The Knight*

I've made a prototype of the knight, finally. It's not perfect, but a good start. I'll have to remake this one as I made a critical error in centering the cut on the front/rear view of the piece. I probably won't post a video on this one as one piece takes me about an hour to make. I'll post pictures as I get them done though. The eyes were made with a 1/4" forstner bit. The grooves for the hair were made with a v-groove carving chisel. All partial relief edges were filed down with an fine cut Auriou Rasp. All surfaces sanded to 600 grit thereafter.

Thanks for looking.


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## Makarov (Jun 16, 2013)

skywalker01 said:


> *The Knight*
> 
> I've made a prototype of the knight, finally. It's not perfect, but a good start. I'll have to remake this one as I made a critical error in centering the cut on the front/rear view of the piece. I probably won't post a video on this one as one piece takes me about an hour to make. I'll post pictures as I get them done though. The eyes were made with a 1/4" forstner bit. The grooves for the hair were made with a v-groove carving chisel. All partial relief edges were filed down with an fine cut Auriou Rasp. All surfaces sanded to 600 grit thereafter.
> 
> Thanks for looking.


Nice, I have always wanted to carve a chess set. I got the pawns roughed out then stopped.

Eric


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## skywalker01 (May 19, 2009)

skywalker01 said:


> *The Knight*
> 
> I've made a prototype of the knight, finally. It's not perfect, but a good start. I'll have to remake this one as I made a critical error in centering the cut on the front/rear view of the piece. I probably won't post a video on this one as one piece takes me about an hour to make. I'll post pictures as I get them done though. The eyes were made with a 1/4" forstner bit. The grooves for the hair were made with a v-groove carving chisel. All partial relief edges were filed down with an fine cut Auriou Rasp. All surfaces sanded to 600 grit thereafter.
> 
> Thanks for looking.


Sorry to hear you never finished it. Is it still around where you can work on it again? It's much fun.
Thanks,


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## skywalker01 (May 19, 2009)

*Knights done, and all pieces so far*

I have finished with the knights. This took some doing. Mostly cuts in transverse directions on the scroll saw. Then hand carved, fluted, eyes drilled and all sanded to 600 grit. Several layers of finish with sanding between. Next stop the bishops!


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## FatherHooligan (Mar 27, 2008)

skywalker01 said:


> *Knights done, and all pieces so far*
> 
> I have finished with the knights. This took some doing. Mostly cuts in transverse directions on the scroll saw. Then hand carved, fluted, eyes drilled and all sanded to 600 grit. Several layers of finish with sanding between. Next stop the bishops!


Good looking pieces, you'll have a great set when you're done.


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## skywalker01 (May 19, 2009)

*Turning the Bishop*

Here is the latest video I've made in my series on chess piece making. This time it's the bishop. This one has been the most fun to make so far. The knights were fun but so much work went into each one and they were difficult. This was a nice easy turning job with a little break to put the kerf in the top.

Thanks for watching!


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## skywalker01 (May 19, 2009)

skywalker01 said:


> *Turning the Bishop*
> 
> Here is the latest video I've made in my series on chess piece making. This time it's the bishop. This one has been the most fun to make so far. The knights were fun but so much work went into each one and they were difficult. This was a nice easy turning job with a little break to put the kerf in the top.
> 
> Thanks for watching!


I guess embedding just doesn't work, oh well follow the link.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

skywalker01 said:


> *Turning the Bishop*
> 
> Here is the latest video I've made in my series on chess piece making. This time it's the bishop. This one has been the most fun to make so far. The knights were fun but so much work went into each one and they were difficult. This was a nice easy turning job with a little break to put the kerf in the top.
> 
> Thanks for watching!


I didn't have a problem with the link. Gr8 stuff Luke.


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## skywalker01 (May 19, 2009)

*Finished Pieces Starting on the board*

Here is the latest:
The pieces are all made. On to the board. Birds Eye Maple and Rosewood.
I got the veneer supplies ready to go and glued each piece to the 1/2" Birch Ply after cutting them to rough width, 2.25". I used the full length of each 12" piece of veneer and had a gap in the middle, which was fine because I had enough to get the eight strips out of it. Each strip is 24 inches long and I just cut what I needed out of it and skipped over the gap. I then cleaned up the veneered edge of one side of each strip and ran them all through the table saw to final width, then glued them edge to edge. After that was dry I cut them the opposite way without changing my cut setup so that everything would be square. I ended up with the checker pattern and glued them up with opposing colors as shown. Next I have to glue the extra ply around the edge and add the pattern edge strips and a little extra veneer to run up to the edge of the sides. Also included is a picture of what I'm planning on doing. This is not the actual board just my inspiration. Thanks for looking!


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

skywalker01 said:


> *Finished Pieces Starting on the board*
> 
> Here is the latest:
> The pieces are all made. On to the board. Birds Eye Maple and Rosewood.
> I got the veneer supplies ready to go and glued each piece to the 1/2" Birch Ply after cutting them to rough width, 2.25". I used the full length of each 12" piece of veneer and had a gap in the middle, which was fine because I had enough to get the eight strips out of it. Each strip is 24 inches long and I just cut what I needed out of it and skipped over the gap. I then cleaned up the veneered edge of one side of each strip and ran them all through the table saw to final width, then glued them edge to edge. After that was dry I cut them the opposite way without changing my cut setup so that everything would be square. I ended up with the checker pattern and glued them up with opposing colors as shown. Next I have to glue the extra ply around the edge and add the pattern edge strips and a little extra veneer to run up to the edge of the sides. Also included is a picture of what I'm planning on doing. This is not the actual board just my inspiration. Thanks for looking!


It's a real beauty Luke. Wonderful design and wonderful work. I love the look of the burl used for the dark squares.


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

skywalker01 said:


> *Finished Pieces Starting on the board*
> 
> Here is the latest:
> The pieces are all made. On to the board. Birds Eye Maple and Rosewood.
> I got the veneer supplies ready to go and glued each piece to the 1/2" Birch Ply after cutting them to rough width, 2.25". I used the full length of each 12" piece of veneer and had a gap in the middle, which was fine because I had enough to get the eight strips out of it. Each strip is 24 inches long and I just cut what I needed out of it and skipped over the gap. I then cleaned up the veneered edge of one side of each strip and ran them all through the table saw to final width, then glued them edge to edge. After that was dry I cut them the opposite way without changing my cut setup so that everything would be square. I ended up with the checker pattern and glued them up with opposing colors as shown. Next I have to glue the extra ply around the edge and add the pattern edge strips and a little extra veneer to run up to the edge of the sides. Also included is a picture of what I'm planning on doing. This is not the actual board just my inspiration. Thanks for looking!


Gosh, that's beautiful!


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## skywalker01 (May 19, 2009)

*Finishing out the Chess Board *

Here's a couple more pics of the progress I've made. I glued some veneer around the edges to fill in the gap between the fancy stuff and the edge where the board will transition into the sides. Then it was onto a lot of sanding. What I hadn't expected was the dust from the Rosewood to stain the maple while sanding. So I sanded it down as good as I could without going through the veneer and then used a cabinet scraper to finish it off. I think it came out really nice and I can't wait to finish it out. Also, looking for a little help. I think I want to fill the grain so that it comes out really smooth and glassy. Anyone have any suggestions on what to use?

Thanks for looking.


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## BTimmons (Aug 6, 2011)

skywalker01 said:


> *Finishing out the Chess Board *
> 
> Here's a couple more pics of the progress I've made. I glued some veneer around the edges to fill in the gap between the fancy stuff and the edge where the board will transition into the sides. Then it was onto a lot of sanding. What I hadn't expected was the dust from the Rosewood to stain the maple while sanding. So I sanded it down as good as I could without going through the veneer and then used a cabinet scraper to finish it off. I think it came out really nice and I can't wait to finish it out. Also, looking for a little help. I think I want to fill the grain so that it comes out really smooth and glassy. Anyone have any suggestions on what to use?
> 
> Thanks for looking.


It looks fantastic so far! Going to be very classy when it's done.

Board alignment-wise, each player should have a dark square to their bottom left. The shot with the pieces laid out, the board is 90 degrees off where it needs to be. So the way you see it here is correct when seen from top down.










That's probably completely inconsequential, but I figured as a player I should mention it, just in case the board is going to installed in a table or something. It would be a shame to build it facing the wrong way somehow. But then, you probably know that and you just wanted a shot with pieces on the board. In which case, never mind.

As for filling the grain for a nice smooth finish, Steve from Woodworking for Mere Mortals did a several part series on a chess board build where he used a pore filler. It's a very thorough breakdown of building a glassy finish. Look for it on YouTube.


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## skywalker01 (May 19, 2009)

skywalker01 said:


> *Finishing out the Chess Board *
> 
> Here's a couple more pics of the progress I've made. I glued some veneer around the edges to fill in the gap between the fancy stuff and the edge where the board will transition into the sides. Then it was onto a lot of sanding. What I hadn't expected was the dust from the Rosewood to stain the maple while sanding. So I sanded it down as good as I could without going through the veneer and then used a cabinet scraper to finish it off. I think it came out really nice and I can't wait to finish it out. Also, looking for a little help. I think I want to fill the grain so that it comes out really smooth and glassy. Anyone have any suggestions on what to use?
> 
> Thanks for looking.


Thanks for the tips Brian. Yes, I did know that. But believe me, I would be one to make the table and at the last minute have to knock it apart and re-orient. Thanks for the reminder because it will help me to not forget. I've seen the WWFMM board build but I can't remember so I'm going back to check it out now.

Thanks!


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

skywalker01 said:


> *Finishing out the Chess Board *
> 
> Here's a couple more pics of the progress I've made. I glued some veneer around the edges to fill in the gap between the fancy stuff and the edge where the board will transition into the sides. Then it was onto a lot of sanding. What I hadn't expected was the dust from the Rosewood to stain the maple while sanding. So I sanded it down as good as I could without going through the veneer and then used a cabinet scraper to finish it off. I think it came out really nice and I can't wait to finish it out. Also, looking for a little help. I think I want to fill the grain so that it comes out really smooth and glassy. Anyone have any suggestions on what to use?
> 
> Thanks for looking.


Looking so good!


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## skywalker01 (May 19, 2009)

*Chess board finished*

Check out the finished product here.

Thanks for following along.


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