My latest chess set

[Gonzo]

This is the third chess set I have made using the scroll saw. Black Walnut and soft maple. Chess pieces were cut on my Hegner with Pegas #5 MGT. I went through 43 blades. It took me roughly 50-60 hours to make.
Finish for board and box is shellac/alcohol, 50/50 split, applied using French polish method. Same finish was applied to chess pieces using a rag and tiny brush.  A shout out to Dave Monk the master of chess sets for his input.

 

Edited March 19 by Gonzo

[Scrappile]

Absolutely beautiful. I have been wanting to make one.  I'm not sure how much wood to buy to make the pieces.  I have to add how much I mastered Chess.  Years ago, my grandson went with me and my wife to see Mount Rushmore.  It was one of our greatest vacations, not only to see Mount Rushmore but to have him go with us.  Anyway, on the trip, I taught him how to play chess.  He beat me every game!

Edited Wednesday at 07:20 PM by Scrappile

[MarieC]

Excellent!  I too would like to make one as well.  Hopefully this year...  Where did you get your pattern for this one?

Edited March 19 by MarieC

[barb.j.enders]

Beautiful.

[daveww1]

awesome job

[jerry walters]

Nicely done.

Jerry

[rjweb]

Excellent craftsmanship, RJ

[Gonzo]

15 hours ago, Scrappile said:

Absolutely beautiful. I have been wanting to make one.  Not sure how much wood to buy to make the pieces. 

Thanks Paul!  I too was worried about how much lumber I needed. I sat down and did the math and then doubled my numbers. The last thing I wanted was to not have enough and then buy more and have it not match. 
if you make a set, I’d suggest minimum of 2” squares on the board. 1 1/2” is too small in my opinion 

[Gonzo]

14 hours ago, MarieC said:

Excellent!  I too would like to make one as well.  Hopefully this year...  Where did you get your pattern for this one?

Thank you Marie. This is the book that has the patterns. Dave Monk recommended it to me. It is out of print, so I bought used on line. Like I told Scrappile, I suggest 2” squares for chess board. 1 1/2” is too small. 
The reason I went 1 1/2” is my planer can only go up to 13” wide. However, on this board, I didn’t have to plane it, as I glued it up the correct way using cauls. Believe it or not, I had .010 flatness after sanding it only.  It did end up cupping just a smidge though, but not enough to care. 

Edited Wednesday at 05:27 PM by Gonzo

[Peter N White]

Excellent cutting.

[MarieC]

2 hours ago, Gonzo said:

Thank you Marie. This is the book that has the patterns. Dave Monk recommended it to me. It is out of print, so I bought used on line. Like I told Scrappile, I suggest 2” squares for chess board. 1 1/2” is too small. 
The reason I went 1 1/2” is my planer can only go up to 13” wide. However, on this board, I didn’t have to plane it, as I glued it up the correct way using cauls. Believe it or not, I had .010 flatness after sanding it only.  It did end up cupping just a smidge though, but not enough to care. 

Thank you!  great glue up!  When I make it I can put it in my drum sander which usually works pretty good on flattening as well because my glue ups usually do not turn out as well as yours! 

[Allen levine]

beautiful

 

[rdatelle]

Great looking set. You did a great job on those pieces.

[Denny Knappen]

That is very impressive, Matt.  Nice clean cuts.

[Dave Monk]

I really like you design. How hard is it to grab onto the board and lift it out?  Making it bigger with 2" squares I would be worried about warpage. 

[Gonzo]

7 hours ago, Dave Monk said:

I really like you design. How hard is it to grab onto the board and lift it out?  Making it bigger with 2" squares I would be worried about warpage. 

Thank you. It’s very easy to lift out the board. I was concerned about that, so I made it so that the board is set in only an 1/8” or so. The board is 13/16” thick. (I was expecting to have to plane it. )
Good point about warpage. 

[heppnerguy]

What a great chess set and board. I ply chess almost every day with my neighbor. I also made a chess set but I have yet to make a board. Looks like a great Christmas gift idea.

You did a splendid job on yours.

Dick

heppnerguy

[Charlie E]

Add me to the ones who want to do that some day. Beautiful job!