Made my own chess set and chess board

I like to play chess but I'm not very good.  I have found I am better at making chess sets than I am playing with them.  This is my first attempt.  The King stands 4.25" high and has a brass cross on top and probably will never break off.  The base is 1.5".  The pieces are made of poplar and cherry.  The entire set weighs around 54 oz. as all pieces are weighted with lead and the bottoms covered with green felt.  The knights are mostly hand carved and the other pieces are made on my lathe.  The board is made of plywood and padauk with laser engraved square designators.  The squares are 2.25".  I have started making another set that will be made out of maple and padauk and will have a similar but slightly different design than these pieces and more contrast between the "white" and "black".   The base will also be a bit larger at 1.75".  

Bro that's amazing! I can't believe this isn't blowing up!

Looking good. Great knight detail. And those inlaid letters must have been painful!

I've stayed away from making the board - I've been told there's a good chance they warp. But turning chessmen turned out (pun pun) to be very addictive stuff.

I've got an unfinished Soviet-style set (aka Botvinnik II) in olive & black chakate - my daughter's been using it every day for the last 2 months and is not allowing me to finish carving the knights. Very easy to turn (I've never turned anything bar chisel handles and bowls).

I've started slowly making a Bobby Fischer's Dubrovnik minceta style set from chackte vega and indian rosewood in the meantime. Got some bubinga and satinwood for another set.

I'd be interested to make the original Dubrovnik set once I'm done with the minceta version, unless I find another set style to turn.

I haven't seen this before, I admire people who can make pieces and boards. Well done!

@kelamigo

Fantastic! Keep creating and sharing your work.

Love that knights mane. Did you cut that out with something like a dovetail saw? Or is it chisel work?

Letters and numbers, are they hand cut? or CNC? Wood or resin?

Very nice work, man! I like you made your own design. You have been brave turning poplar! I tried once but it is a very low density wood and to have a fine finish was quite dificult so I never used it again. 

M_Chavez: I  will be very pleased to watch your sets I hope you are going to post them here, specially the Dubrovnik (I'm currently making my own). There is a Dubrovnik fever on the forum

That is great work indeed! They say practice makes perfect, in your case practice will make for more creativeness and perhaps even more beautifu pieces. You should put them up on Etsy and sell them and continue your development as a chess piece artist and master. Good Job!

I agree. This is very nice for a first try. I also can't believe the woodworkers and members who like woodworking didn't blow up this thread.

Wow. Really beautiful

Wait till mr Jacmater decided to sell his Dub set, I think Internet will having black out.

Haha! I agree. It is a very nice design.

That is very impressive, dude! I've been thinking about making my own, and you have inspired me. Thank you for sharing!

I also can't believe more people aren't reading and commenting on this amazing work.

Amazing set kelamigo! Love the knight design, enjoy your beautiful work.

I don't want to highjack another man's thread, but since there's a dub fever and we're doing a show & tell, I hope the OP will forgive me. Here's a king & two minceta-style queens than just came off the lathe this afternoon (still need to cut the crown). The Soviet/Botvinnik II equivalents behind them. I'll create a thread when the set is finished, but it might be a while.

The board is not my work by the way - I'm not as brave as kelamigo to undertake such a project!

wow man, that looks great! sure the final set looks super good! i just saw that the thread was started 30 days ago! so TheCatAce you got it blown up!

@M_Chavez That's super nice!

Well done @kelamigo! Well done indeed.

Very nice. Most people don't realize what it takes to hand turn and duplicate pieces by hand.  Especially chess pieces.