Does anybody know of any web sites dealing with chess piece designs for the lathe. I would like to
make all the pieces entirely on the lathe (no carving)

Well this doesn't entirely answer your question, but have you checked out
the new chess set pieces that Woodcraft has in their new catalog. You turn
the bodies using the pen mandrel and pen barrels. I just thought it was
interesting, and there was no carving involved. I wouldn't mind doing one of
those myself someday. Peace.


On 9/5/03 6:51 PM, in article ,
"fipster" wrote:

Does anybody know of any web sites dealing with chess piece designs for the
lathe. I would like to
make all the pieces entirely on the lathe (no carving)

try this site
http://www.shopsmithhandson.com/arch...oney_maker.htm
should do what u need
Pete
On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 00:34:00 GMT, Nick Silva
wrote:

Well this doesn't entirely answer your question, but have you checked out
the new chess set pieces that Woodcraft has in their new catalog. You turn
the bodies using the pen mandrel and pen barrels. I just thought it was
interesting, and there was no carving involved. I wouldn't mind doing one of
those myself someday. Peace.


On 9/5/03 6:51 PM, in article ,
"fipster" wrote:

Does anybody know of any web sites dealing with chess piece designs for the
lathe. I would like to
make all the pieces entirely on the lathe (no carving)

In article , Peter wrote:
try this site
http://www.shopsmithhandson.com/arch...oney_maker.htm
should do what u need
Pete

Speaking as a chessplayer... the knight in that set sucks.

On Sat, 06 Sep 2003 00:34:00 GMT, Nick Silva
wrote:

Well this doesn't entirely answer your question, but have you checked out
the new chess set pieces that Woodcraft has in their new catalog. You turn
the bodies using the pen mandrel and pen barrels. I just thought it was
interesting, and there was no carving involved. I wouldn't mind doing one of
those myself someday. Peace.


On 9/5/03 6:51 PM, in article ,
"fipster" wrote:

Does anybody know of any web sites dealing with chess piece designs for the
lathe. I would like to
make all the pieces entirely on the lathe (no carving)


--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

Doug Miller wrote:

Speaking as a chessplayer... the knight in that set sucks.

When I play all of my chess pieces suck. ;-)

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA

In article nNk6b.125038$xf.21582@lakeread04, "Ali T. Borahan" wrote:
Agreed Doug. I'm certainly not a carver, but when I finish the set I'm
turning, the knight will have at least a semblence of a horse's head. I
think most chess players would agree that Staunton is the most commonly used
and recognizable set. I'm not an expert at chess either, but I do like the
familiarity of the pieces to be there when playing.

Moreover, if you're playing in a USCF-sanctioned tournament, you have the
right to refuse to play with a non-Staunton set, and insist on a Staunton. I
certainly would never agree to play with that set, in any game that meant
anything -- the knight looks *way* too much like a bishop.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

By an odd coincidence, I spent a few minutes at B&N on Thursday and browsed
through the woodworking magazines. I looked at "Popular Woodworking", and
two British pubs - one was "Practical Woodworking" and I think the other is
just "Woodworking" One of the three showed the palns for a turned-only
chess set. In deference to other posts, the knight didn't look as though it
would whinny, but it looked to be a reasonably easy set to produce.

Good luck!

Ron Williams
Minn-Dak Woodturners
Moorhead, MN

"fipster" wrote in message
...
Does anybody know of any web sites dealing with chess piece designs for
the lathe. I would like to
make all the pieces entirely on the lathe (no carving)

And I wasted my time clicking on this thread thinking I would find someone
that knew where we could find plans for turning chess pieces. I guess in
this day and age of ugly politics and ridiculous lawsuits I should be
slapped silly to think I would find an educated reply to a simple question
rather than a critical statement of someone else's attempt at craftsmanship.

Bob Darrah
West Linn, Oregon

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
y.com...
In article nNk6b.125038$xf.21582@lakeread04, "Ali T. Borahan"
wrote:
Agreed Doug. I'm certainly not a carver, but when I finish the set I'm
turning, the knight will have at least a semblence of a horse's head. I
think most chess players would agree that Staunton is the most commonly
used
and recognizable set. I'm not an expert at chess either, but I do like
the
familiarity of the pieces to be there when playing.

Moreover, if you're playing in a USCF-sanctioned tournament, you have the
right to refuse to play with a non-Staunton set, and insist on a Staunton.
I
certainly would never agree to play with that set, in any game that meant
anything -- the knight looks *way* too much like a bishop.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

I agree most are very helpful. But this wasn't. I searched and sent a few
sources directly to the fellow who asked in the first place. I looked for
about 30 minutes and found several examples. I hope the ones I chose to send
were helpful to him. He can choose whether he likes them or not. Or he can
modify what he sees and create something new. That was what he was after, I
believe. Chess sets, for me are pieces of art. Some I like and some I don't.
But I know for every one I don't appreciate there are many people that ooh
and aah for them. I personally am not enamored with the Shopsmith pieces but
it is probably a good starting place if there is nothing else to turn. I
gave up playing chess 30 years ago but I taught my children to appreciate
the game and the art. Now when they travel around the world they either
bring back a particular set or a picture or a description of what they saw.
They have become collectors as well as players. We tend to go through life
with our glasses half full. But we too sometimes find ourselves being
critical. However the real harm of criticism is to ourselves because the
criticism eats into our well-being and we become bitter people. This person
was unsuccessful in finding examples of turned chess sets for what ever
reason so he turned to the group for help. He got some. I hope he comes back
with more questions when he gets stumped again. And I hope there are people
that can answer his question when he does. There will be people that will
find a way to make comments outside of his question then, too, because that
is there "right."

Bob Darrah
West Linn, Oregon

"Ali T. Borahan" wrote in message
news:sQh7b.144589$xf.136981@lakeread04...
Yuh, and it's such a pity we live in a country where one can state one's
opinions and advice without worries of recrimination or attacks for
stating
those opinions. Also a pity that we live in a world where some people are
just too darn busy to use search engines...

I think that the reason some of us mentioned the Staunton set is because
it's the standard in chess. If you want something out of the ordinary, why
not create your own set? If you're not interested in the standard, then
there's not much that anybody can do to provide you with plans. Maybe *I*
should have mentioned that I've done weeks of search engine research, only
to find that I couldn't find a set of plans for STANDARD chess sets. So I
just picked up a standard, cheap, plastic set of Staunton's and am
creating
a set using that as the standard. I happen to be doing everything by eye,
no
duplicators here, so there's bound to be some variation. Again, if you
don't
like a standard set, I suggest you use your imagination and creativity and
come up with something unique. That, in my humble opinion, is the true
mark
of an artist.

And next time you decide to mistake others' opinions as attacks of
criticism, think twice. And don't be so defensive. I've found most of the
people on RCW to be nothing less than exceptionally helpful. When they
state
opinions without providing the help that you so desperately seek, it's
generally because they simply can't provide it.

'Nuff said.

-ali
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Bob Darrah" wrote in message
...
And I wasted my time clicking on this thread thinking I would find
someone
that knew where we could find plans for turning chess pieces. I guess in
this day and age of ugly politics and ridiculous lawsuits I should be
slapped silly to think I would find an educated reply to a simple
question
rather than a critical statement of someone else's attempt at
craftsmanship.

Bob Darrah
West Linn, Oregon

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
y.com...
In article nNk6b.125038$xf.21582@lakeread04, "Ali T. Borahan"
wrote:
Agreed Doug. I'm certainly not a carver, but when I finish the set
I'm
turning, the knight will have at least a semblence of a horse's head.
I
think most chess players would agree that Staunton is the most
commonly
used
and recognizable set. I'm not an expert at chess either, but I do
like
the
familiarity of the pieces to be there when playing.

Moreover, if you're playing in a USCF-sanctioned tournament, you have
the
right to refuse to play with a non-Staunton set, and insist on a
Staunton.
I
certainly would never agree to play with that set, in any game that
meant
anything -- the knight looks *way* too much like a bishop.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

Yuh, and it's such a pity we live in a country where one can state one's
opinions and advice without worries of recrimination or attacks for stating
those opinions. Also a pity that we live in a world where some people are
just too darn busy to use search engines...

I think that the reason some of us mentioned the Staunton set is because
it's the standard in chess. If you want something out of the ordinary, why
not create your own set? If you're not interested in the standard, then
there's not much that anybody can do to provide you with plans. Maybe *I*
should have mentioned that I've done weeks of search engine research, only
to find that I couldn't find a set of plans for STANDARD chess sets. So I
just picked up a standard, cheap, plastic set of Staunton's and am creating
a set using that as the standard. I happen to be doing everything by eye, no
duplicators here, so there's bound to be some variation. Again, if you don't
like a standard set, I suggest you use your imagination and creativity and
come up with something unique. That, in my humble opinion, is the true mark
of an artist.

And next time you decide to mistake others' opinions as attacks of
criticism, think twice. And don't be so defensive. I've found most of the
people on RCW to be nothing less than exceptionally helpful. When they state
opinions without providing the help that you so desperately seek, it's
generally because they simply can't provide it.

'Nuff said.

-ali
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"Bob Darrah" wrote in message
...
And I wasted my time clicking on this thread thinking I would find someone
that knew where we could find plans for turning chess pieces. I guess in
this day and age of ugly politics and ridiculous lawsuits I should be
slapped silly to think I would find an educated reply to a simple question
rather than a critical statement of someone else's attempt at
craftsmanship.

Bob Darrah
West Linn, Oregon

"Doug Miller" wrote in message
y.com...
In article nNk6b.125038$xf.21582@lakeread04, "Ali T. Borahan"
wrote:
Agreed Doug. I'm certainly not a carver, but when I finish the set I'm
turning, the knight will have at least a semblence of a horse's head. I
think most chess players would agree that Staunton is the most commonly
used
and recognizable set. I'm not an expert at chess either, but I do like
the
familiarity of the pieces to be there when playing.

Moreover, if you're playing in a USCF-sanctioned tournament, you have
the
right to refuse to play with a non-Staunton set, and insist on a
Staunton.
I
certainly would never agree to play with that set, in any game that
meant
anything -- the knight looks *way* too much like a bishop.

--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

In article , "Bob Darrah" wrote:
And I wasted my time clicking on this thread thinking I would find someone
that knew where we could find plans for turning chess pieces. I guess in
this day and age of ugly politics and ridiculous lawsuits I should be
slapped silly to think I would find an educated reply to a simple question
rather than a critical statement of someone else's attempt at craftsmanship.

[snip]

I certainly would never agree to play with that set, in any game that meant
anything -- the knight looks *way* too much like a bishop.

This was not a criticism of anyone's craftsmanship. Rather, it's a clear
statement that the plans are unsuitable for their intended purpose. A chess
set in which knights can easily be confused with bishops may perhaps still
have some artistic merit, but it's absolutely useless for playing chess.


--
Regards,
Doug Miller (alphageek-at-milmac-dot-com)

If I could answer the original question here, instead of joining in an
ascerbic session of mud slinging, I do have a web site with a good chess
set, i.e. with a good knight pattern. However, your library might have
one. David Springett's book, "Adventures in Woodturning, Techniques and
Projects," has such a set complete with a turned knight's head made from
a split ring. This is not a beginner's project but is certainly doable.
I believe the book is out of print but, as are all Springett's books, is
a good read.
--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS, Canada
http://www.roundthewoods.com

In article ,
says...
If I could answer the original question here, instead of joining in an
ascerbic session of mud slinging, I do have a web site with a good chess
set, i.e. with a good knight pattern. However, your library might have
one. David Springett's book, "Adventures in Woodturning, Techniques and
Projects," has such a set complete with a turned knight's head made from
a split ring. This is not a beginner's project but is certainly doable.
I believe the book is out of print but, as are all Springett's books, is
a good read.


do a google search on either split-ring or ring turning. there are a few
sites with much info about that. Seems to me that a fairly simple blank
could be setup using dark and light woods, turn the knight in the ring,
then slice them out. You may wind up with a dozen instead of just 4, so
plan on making a few extra sets for your chess-playing buddies.

Am I blind or is your set not on your web site?

Darrell Feltmate wrote:

If I could answer the original question here, instead of joining in an
ascerbic session of mud slinging, I do have a web site with a good chess
set, i.e. with a good knight pattern.

There was an adequate response at the beginning of the thread with a
ShopSmith set, although I too don't care for the knight. I've
considered turning the set and the base for the knight but cutting the
actual horses head on the scroll saw and attaching to the base. Not
sure yet though if it'll look funky. I've searched the web for hours
and only run across 2 or 3 at most but none of them inspired me.

There's a book out by Diana Thompson (I think) for cutting 3D sets on a
scroll saw that might be an alternative if you're so inclined although
no one set really inspired me either.

Bob Darrah wrote:

And I wasted my time clicking on this thread thinking I would find someone
that knew where we could find plans for turning chess pieces. I guess in
this day and age of ugly politics and ridiculous lawsuits I should be
slapped silly to think I would find an educated reply to a simple question
rather than a critical statement of someone else's attempt at craftsmanship.

In article ,
Grandpa wrote:

There was an adequate response at the beginning of the thread with a
ShopSmith set, although I too don't care for the knight. I've
considered turning the set and the base for the knight but cutting the
actual horses head on the scroll saw and attaching to the base. Not
sure yet though if it'll look funky. I've searched the web for hours
and only run across 2 or 3 at most but none of them inspired me.

More typical approach, and bound to look better than an "attached" head
is to turn what you can of the head, and then carve/saw/etc the rest of
it. Similar but more complex version of how you can turn a "tophat" on
the king and then cut off the round sides to get a cross, if you want.
Turn the rim on the rook and then cut crenellations in it, etc.

Many commercial designs (above the molded plastic level, anyway) have
done away with any non-turned details (generally excepting the horses),
presumably for speed of production. Those details, done well, can make
the set, and I speak as a dedicated turner.

BTW, I also think the Shopsmith set is an awful design.

--
Cats, Coffee, Chocolate...vices to live by

Somewhere, and I can't recall where, I saw a knight that was turned with a
tapering form and then parted flat on top. Then, the piece was cut at about
50 degrees through this taper. The cut "nose" piece was rotated 180 degrees
so that the two cut surfaces met. With the 50 degrees cut, the "nose" piece
had a 10 degrees downward tilt. So, the piece was mostly turned with a bit
of diagonal cutting and gluing. I presume a bit of hand sanding was
required to blend the two oval mating surfaces.

As for sources of ideas, I believe I have seen ideas and/or plans in Bill
Jones' books, in Mike Darlow's books and in "Woodwork" magazine, among
others.

Joe Fleming - San Diego
=========================
"fipster" wrote in message
...
Does anybody know of any web sites dealing with chess piece designs for
the lathe. I would like to
make all the pieces entirely on the lathe (no carving)

Hmmm, I like the 'idea' approach - inspiration! I've been toying with
making a nautical set on the scrollsaw. Neptune & a Mermaid (King &
Queen of course) have me stumped as I can't carve for beans and I'm
still quite new to the scrollsaw. But a 3D sailboat for a Bishop,
Seahorse for a Knight, Lighthouse for a Rook and maybe a Clam, Starfish,
Pelican, Anchor or Ships Wheel for Pawns are doable - for me anyway.
Since I want to do our 17x22 den in a nautical theme, such a set on a
ships wheel coffee table would look great methinks. Arrrggghhh Matey!

Joe Fleming wrote:

snipped

As for sources of ideas, I believe I have seen ideas and/or plans in Bill
Jones' books, in Mike Darlow's books and in "Woodwork" magazine, among
others.

In Mike Darlow's book "Woodturning Design" there is a set of chessmen called
Lopez, the knight looks like a knight.

Grandpa
You are not blind, I can not edit. I meant to say I do "not" have or
know of a web site with a good chess set but that Springett's book has
one. Sorry about the slip of a finger.
--
God bless and safe turning
Darrell Feltmate
Truro, NS, Canada
http://roundthewoods.com

On Friday, September 5, 2003 at 6:53:09 PM UTC-5, fipster wrote:
Does anybody know of any web sites dealing with chess piece designs for the lathe. I would like to
make all the pieces entirely on the lathe (no carving)

James Wegner has a few videos on turning chess pieces. I am about to turn my own also. Good Luck!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkUebt6lGNc

On Friday, September 5, 2003 at 7:53:09 PM UTC-4, fipster wrote:
Does anybody know of any web sites dealing with chess piece designs for the lathe. I would like to
make all the pieces entirely on the lathe (no carving)

Not entirely turned, but no real carving either-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlJ7tB04_E0

On 2015-04-19 00:22:26 +0000, said:

On Friday, September 5, 2003 at 6:53:09 PM UTC-5, fipster wrote:
Does anybody know of any web sites dealing with chess piece designs for
the lathe. I would like to
make all the pieces entirely on the lathe (no carving)

James Wegner has a few videos on turning chess pieces. I am about to
turn my own also. Good Luck!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkUebt6lGNc

You realize the question is from over a decade ago right?

On 2015-04-19 12:39:48 +0000, Lewis Kauffman said:

On Friday, September 5, 2003 at 7:53:09 PM UTC-4, fipster wrote:
Does anybody know of any web sites dealing with chess piece designs for
the lathe. I would like to
make all the pieces entirely on the lathe (no carving)

Not entirely turned, but no real carving either-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlJ7tB04_E0

Interesting but old, the question was from nearly 12 years ago

How about designing your own. Consider what my Dad had many years ago
that came apart and was destroyed in a flood.

All the pawn's the same - smallest. Could be a small ball with a
smaller one on top.

Then the back row.

Turrets / castles - make it a small ball with a 2/3's size of ball
cylinder coming out of the ball. It isn't tall, but then cut out of
different material (it was Bull horn ivory - green and cracked) and make
a tube that slides over the cylinder completely and in the top - saw in
the 4 corners.

Knights - small ball with long cylinder from it - slice out the head
shape with a saw centering it on the ball.

Bishops - medium ball with a small ball with a smaller cylinder on top.
The small cylinder is covered with another simple crown hat that comes
up and has four creases. Use a round file to 'saw' a cross in the hat top.

And so on - having a crown 8 sided and the King with a 8 sided and cross
- cut from an smaller cylinder...

So with a lathe, file, and saw one could do the task.

In years past, I've used files (carefully) on the wood blank on the
lathe. Be very careful if you use cloth or sand paper in the hand
and reaching around a spinning item. Grabbing can wrap you around that
wood.

Martin [ transmitting from 2015 to 2015 ]

On 4/20/2015 9:41 AM, Ralph E Lindberg wrote:
On 2015-04-19 12:39:48 +0000, Lewis Kauffman said:

On Friday, September 5, 2003 at 7:53:09 PM UTC-4, fipster wrote:
Does anybody know of any web sites dealing with chess piece designs
for the lathe. I would like to
make all the pieces entirely on the lathe (no carving)

Not entirely turned, but no real carving either-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlJ7tB04_E0

Interesting but old, the question was from nearly 12 years ago

On Friday, September 5, 2003 at 7:51:29 PM UTC-4, fipster wrote:
Does anybody know of any web sites dealing with chess piece designs for the lathe. I would like to
make all the pieces entirely on the lathe (no carving)