On Sat, 31 Jan 2004 23:27:12 GMT, Jim Wilson
wrote:

Tom Watson wrote...
I think that molten lead would char the wood

If you keep the thickness of the wood to 1/8" minimum and keep the pour
relatively cool, you shouldn't have a charring problem. That's how I did
mine.

I've got some ebony around here somewheres and I was thinking of using
some satinwood for the white pieces but might try to scratch up some
holly (or use some apple that I've got but I don't know how well that
turns and holds detail. See, there's another thing - the wood needs
to be able to hold some pretty fine detail without a lot of the small
stuff breaking off later.

Ebony is problematic for chess pieces. It turns beautifully, and takes
fine detail very well, but if the set will be used with any frequency,
you will break pieces. The collars of the pawns will go first. The
knights' noses and parts of the mouth (if it's open) will be right
behind. Basically any small cross-section of face grain will be weak. I
love the look of ebony, but it's just too brittle for a "player" set. For
an occasional set or decorative one, it's fine, though.

Cheers!

Jim


Thanks for the tips.

I wonder if there is any kind of treatment that would render the
pieces more resistant to this kind of damage without substantially
altering the look.

I remember back when lots of folks were using PEG
(PolyEthyleneGlycol)(sp?) to stabilize wood - not for this purpose but
the basic idea of an immersion in something that would alter the
characteristics of the wood is what I'm going at.

I'm not much for having stuff around the house that can't be used in
the hurly burly of everyday life, so this set will be a user rather
than a showpiece.


Thomas J. Watson-Cabinetmaker (ret)
Real Email is: tjwatson1ATcomcastDOTnet
Website: http://home.comcast.net/~tjwatson1