chess set timber selection

[woodwormer]

Hi all.
I was given an old lathe a couple of months ago and have been having a bit of a play with pen turning. I have found this to be alot of fun and i have now been thinkig about making a chess set. I would like to hear some suggestions of what types of timber to use (preferably hardwoods, contrasting colors and not too expensive) and where to get them? Due to health problems i can't drive very far at the minute so anything available from mitre 10 or bunnings would be preferable( i have both within about 10 minutes of home)
and i know i could get it cut to size to fit in the back of my car

thanks for any suggestions

[brendan stemp]

Let me know what sizes you want and I will post some timber down to you. All you will need to pay for is the post. I have plenty of suitable timber. Probably buloke and yellow box would be best. Good colour contrast. Or you could use red gum and stain it or ebonize to get the darker/black colour.

[bellyup]

Good on you Brendan :2tsup:

[munruben]

Well done Brendan, that's what this forum is all about, helping each other. :2tsup:

[woodwormer]

Thanks for the offer mate,
that would be a great help. Im waiting on a book about turning chess pieces at the minute and when iv worked out what i need ill let ya know.
Im also interested in hearing what other people have made chess sets out of and any advice they can offer. Like any problems youv had with certain pieces or materials and how you overcame them. As I said in my previous post im still pretty new to turning and i think I will be using this forum alot in the future

[Ironwood]

Thats a great gesture to a new member Brendon, good on you !!

Welcome to the forum Woodwormer, I have turned a couple of replacement pieces for a friends set.
They were just easy ones, bishop and pawns.

I have always wanted to make a full set and board for myself, but have never got around to it.
Carving the horses heads for the knights has daunted me a bit, I would need to do a bit of practice first.

[Dalboy]

Here is a chest set made by a British turner chess challenge | Get Woodworking (http://www.getwoodworking.com/forums/postings.asp?th=54632)
Hope it is OK to post this Link

[turnerted]

Somewhere I have seen a method for turning the Knight . It is turned as a ring and when a small section is cut out of the ring it has the profile of the knight side on. You'd want to be doing a lot of chess sets to make it worthwhile though.
Ted

[wheelinround]

:2tsup::2tsup: Greenie on its way Brendon

[Dalboy]

Somewhere I have seen a method for turning the Knight . It is turned as a ring and when a small section is cut out of the ring it has the profile of the knight side on. You'd want to be doing a lot of chess sets to make it worthwhile though.
Ted


I have seen this also in a book by David Springett "Adventures in woodturning" he shows how to make the set. I was fortunate to pick it up with another 12 book on woodturning for £25 GBP.

[brendan stemp]

:2tsup::2tsup: Greenie on its way Brendon
"Greenie" ????? Are you sending me some $100 notes? I call them cucumbers.

[joe greiner]

The tricky part is uniformity of sizes. Templates will help, but beyond that, make a lot of copies, and select the ones that match each other best. Sad Sam, in the link, says he made 7 knights to get 4 reasonably matched.

According to Richard Raffan (I think), the first 2000 are the hardest.

Cheers,
Joe

[wheelinround]

"Greenie" ????? Are you sending me some $100 notes? I call them cucumbers.


LOL yeh right Brendan top right of each post is a set of scales (http://www.woodworkforums.com/reputation.php?p=1368887) click on this of a member issues a Greenie, to see how many Greenies you have check our User CP (http://www.woodworkforums.com/usercp.php) top left

[woodwormer]

Thanks for all the great suggestions guys. I got my copy of Turned Chessmen by Mike Darloe today. Iv only had a flick through it it shows a multitude of different turning techniqes and styles. it looks like im gunna have to fire my lathe up and have a play arround and see what i come up with.

P.S please excuse my spelling its always sucked.