# Random chess pieces



## Byrney (Feb 4, 2008)

Hey all,

Here's a few random chess pieces I knocked out this weekend. I don't really know any other woodturners so I thought I'd see what people on the forum think. All comments/questions welcome!


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## skewed (Jan 19, 2008)

Very nice! :cool2:


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

I think they look great. Welcome to the forum Byrney.


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## BlockHead (Dec 28, 2007)

Those are really nice. Can I ask, how did you cut the notches around the queen's crowns? That part looks to be pretty meticulous. 

Thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:


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## Byrney (Feb 4, 2008)

BlockHead said:


> Those are really nice. Can I ask, how did you cut the notches around the queen's crowns? That part looks to be pretty meticulous.
> 
> Thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:


Hey BlockHead,

Thx for the kind words. I do the crowns in several stages. First I go round the head with a junior hacksaw and make cuts where the notches will go. This is just to act as a reference. As you see, all the crowns have eight notches because that's an easy number to do "by eye" and my lathe has no indexing facility. Then I go around again roughly cutting the notches out with the hacksaw. This leaves a very rough crown with the "spikes" far too wide, and with really ragged notches. Then I smooth the bottom of each notch with a round tungsten carbide grit file. Then go around yet again cutting the sides of the spikes with the hacksaw so that they meet the round base of the notch properly. The rest is sandpaper and elbow grease. It sounds really tedious the way I've described it but actually it's really quick - the whole thing is maybe half an hour, give or take.

Probably the trickiest bit is wiping shellac into the freshly cut notches without buggering up the existing finish!


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## Bill Bolen (Jan 8, 2008)

Byrney that is a beaut of a chess set! Been looking to do one for years now. I think you inspired me to get off my Behind and do it! Are these your own design or did you find a pattern somewhere?..Great job...Bill...


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## Byrney (Feb 4, 2008)

turnertoo said:


> Byrney that is a beaut of a chess set! Been looking to do one for years now. I think you inspired me to get off my Behind and do it! Are these your own design or did you find a pattern somewhere?..Great job...Bill...


Cheers Bill! The pieces are my own design, i.e. I didn't work from a pattern, but of course as you can see they're all basically variations on the "standard" Staunton design. One of the reasons I like to make my own pieces is I find commercial staunton pieces a bit too tame - I like queens with huge, pointy crowns and enormous, solid-looking rooks and pawns with massive heads!

I made a set once but I gave it away as a birthday present to an aunt of mine. Making a full set is incredibly rewarding but trying to get 16 pawns to all look the same gets REALLY dull


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## stuart (Jan 20, 2008)

trying to get 16 pawns to all look the same gets REALLY dull 

that's why the boxed ones are tame, Byrney.

Welcome to the club.


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## Jens Reinholdt (Oct 31, 2007)

Your chessmen look ready to use, and the finish look good.
I have made 1 set of chessmen and learned that the copying of 16 pawns is the hard part.

After I made my chessmen, I read Mike Darolws book - Turned Chessmen - and found, that I ought to have read it before I went to the lathe.

This book covers the history of chess and the developing of the chessmen design from Adam & Eve via Staunton to the wild designs of the 20' century. 
Darlow also shows how you might think, if you wish to develop your own, new design.
Finaly he shows you how to do the proces in steps in order to replicate the pieces.

(Forgive my spelling and language. This is how danish woodturners do .)


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## littlebuddha (Aug 25, 2007)

Nice pieces, like the design, i like large chessmen something you can feel, have never enjoyed a game if plastic or small pieces daft but thats me, be nice to see a full set if you have done one yet.
Not made one myself as yet have messed with pieces and designs but never come up with one that i really liked enough to spend the time on to do full set, i want something different. But nice work..LB:thumbsup:


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## Dave B (Jan 26, 2008)

Great looking pieces. I have thought of doing a set in the past but never have. 

Some very fine work.

Dave


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