"Prometheus" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 05 Aug 2005 00:54:16 GMT, "Brad Mularcik"
wrote:
I am planning to make a chess set for my son. I am a pretty decent
(IMHO) turner both for bowls, and for repetitive spindle turning.
I am thinking of buying maple burl cap from Exoticburl.com for the
"white" pieces. I am thinking of getting some mesquite eye burl for the
"black" pieces. I am planning to use birdseye maple for the while
squares,
and crotch walnut for the dark squares. I also have some cherry burl that
I
can have sawn into 2x2 square stock for the dark pieces. I am considering
that as well.
I am planning on making a chess set that is not very intricate, but I
am
concerned that the burl will be hard to turn any detail into. I obviously
will select burl pieces with little to no inclusions. I have turned some
of
both of the above mentioned words, but for bowls, nothing else.
I've turned both Maple (Tiger and Bird's Eye) and Mesquite, and both
of them take detail superbly. The Mequite looks like burl even if you
get "regular" pieces, so you may be able to save some money by just
going with a standard blank for those. Couldn't tell you much about
Maple burl (I've been looking and looking for it, but they're not that
common in my stomping grounds) but if it's anything like other figured
maple, it'll turn nicely and take as much detail as you care to put
into it. Both woods are hard, and have good tight interlocking grain.
They polish to similar glassy shines even without a finish, too.
Good choices for a set! I'd think the Cherry would be a bit of a
mismatch, but YMMV.
===============
Brad,
I'll back up Prometheus on the Mesquite, as it's about equal to most exotics
for polish and detail. Also, there's almost no shrinkage on small pieces.
It's supposed to be the most stable hard wood in N. America. The only draw
back I'm aware of is the high silica content that wears tools quicker than
most woods. In maple, there's hard and soft(er) species. The harder takes
detail better than the soft. blanks sould be pretty pretty economical since
you don't need large pieces for your pieces. You can probably use pen blanks
for the pawns, and 1-1 1/2 inch spindle blanks for the remainder.
Ken Moon
Webberville, TX.
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