Creating an Escher-Like Tessellated Chess Board

[@michaeldeierhoi4096]

Very inspired!! The blending of completing the images on a computer and then cutting the pieces in a laser cut device was impressive. The piecing was satisfying along with the finishing work. It's amazing to me how the work that took hours involving different skill sets was reduced to a short video.

[@Dont_Poke_The_Bear]

Great project and I dig the clamping methodology... Absolutely BRILLIANT!

[@sprobertson]

3:02 best clamp I've ever seen

[@KaliedoMania]

Thanks for the nice compliment. Seth, the webmaster of a popular tessellation website, has done tessellations of all of the chess pieces. I have thought about cutting them out as profiles and sticking them into round bases to be the playing pieces.

[@bnmlvrh20]

Hello Professor!

[@KaliedoMania]

Thanks. I don't know how brilliant it is. It is a Minnesota tradition to use your car for all kinds of things not in the manual. Pulling stumps, pressing tortillas, cooking on the engine, etc.

[@ChessNetwork]

Very cool! *Shared*

[@kieraconnelly7265]

Most beautiful chess board I have ever seen! Would you be willing to share the laser cutter PDF file for others to recreate?

[@KaliedoMania]

Universal Versa-Laser 3.60 with the 60 watt laser cartridge. It has the optional honeycomb cutting table and air assist.

[@patd.3368]

Absolutely wonderful!! Will put this on our woodworking list! We howled at the auto weights!

[@KaliedoMania]

Thanks for the nice compliment. It was fun for me to combine my love of math, computer science, woodworking and video production into one project.

[@jonnveranzza7174]

very creative. you really think outside the box. great job

[@Hereson]

Could someone tell me what kind of spray he's using to get the effect at 3:33?

[@KaliedoMania]

It is just lacquer which is used to put a finish on the wood. It looks cool since it is the first coat on bare wood.

[@floridablackbear7318]

This was a great fun watch !!!

[@martintox223]

Just INCRRDIBLE I would like to make one of them, so beautiful

[@KaliedoMania]

A development version of TesselManiac!, I hope to release it with in the next 6 months. More information can be found at the TeselManiac! web site.

[@KaliedoMania]

You helped me figure out why Black was playing so badly, he must have been disoriented by the turtle squares! Thanks for the compliment.

[@MichaelGoldenberg]

Not too sure I would want to play chess on that board (I have enough problems "seeing" the game on a regular board). And WHAT was that defense Black was playing? Other than that, this is lovely to watch with a beautiful finished product. Kudos.

[@mexwatchman]

like your press!

[@KaliedoMania]

Thanks. As you can see I had a lot of fun with the laser cutting.

[@KaliedoMania]

The sea turtle design is by Jos Leys and you would need to get his permission to use it. The lizard design is based on a design by M.C. Escher, Cordon Art holds the copyright to everything Escher.

[@seanigo5847]

The lizard keys on the Escher side are inspired.

[@theRethalaSystem]

Maybe I'm just being cheap about the materials, but wouldn't it have been more efficient to have the tiles tessellated in the laser cutter's pattern? If they're already exact enough to fit together perfectly, it shouldn't matter if all the ones cut from the same colour are placed touching, right? Or is this simply a matter of me not understanding the intricacies of a laser cutter?

[@KaliedoMania]

That should be the beauty of cutting a tessellation! But the laser cut has a kerf (width) of about 0.007" that needs to be accounted for. I need to offset the tile outline to account for the kerf.

[@theRethalaSystem]

Ahhh, and if the pieces are supposed to fit together exactly, you'd be creating a 0.007" gap between them on the actual board. Makes sense to me ^_^ I had just forgotten that lasers have width =P

[@Parithia]

Selling yet? This was fantastic.

[@KaliedoMania]

Thanks for the compliment. I am not selling the chessboards for a number of reasons, one is that I am concentrating on selling my tessellation software, TesselManiac!

[@nightloner7009]

where can i find the autocad file for it

[@ronziechaffins7977]

Do you do any ariginle art work? You have very nice tools, I bet you can make just about anything. I love Escher, I have too copied his work. And I did learn from it. I'm sure you may have as well, but would like to see some ariginle work.

[@cheesetodd]

What program did you use to make the Escher-like lizards?

[@NotQuiteFirst]

The turtles looked much better than the lizards, but nice job on both boards!

[@RickarooCarew]

WoW... I probably better try that

[@higmeister]

Do you sell these? If so, how much for the turtle one?

[@merlin671]

That's amazing!!!

[@KaliedoMania]

I am not sure what you want to copy?

[@jenniferbethparishwhite688]

It's been 10 years. Are you selling the chessboards yet?

[@DJALIPETITA]

are u based in nl? if so can i contact you?

[@davidgagnon1961]

While the idea is amazing it would cause me severe headaches with all the adjusting my eyesight would have to do just to look at the board. That being said is there a pattern for the Escher board squares?

[@pogue75]

What brand and model is your laser cutter

[@mexwatchman]

can i copy it?

[@gildejesus3714]

E agora? Como é que jogaaaaa???!!!!😱😱😱😱😱

[@Bestietvcute]

I am wondering how you made the animation when you started with squares and then started couple symmetrical bending to the edges to get the final beautiful shape ?

[@KaliedoMania]

It is part of my program, TesselManiac, for creating tessellations. TesselManiac knows the geometric rules to let you bend the edges an still have a shape that tiles.

[@KaliedoMania]

Thanks! It was great fun.

[@AeolisticFury]

That is amazing.

[@gabesepoch]

when he fills the checkerboard; **ocd quota fulfilled**

[@morgandavid7412]

drawing want software 。 what name？Which software need to be？

[@hotmakmaniak]

i like to have the turtle eps pattern to laser cut it myself... is it possible ?

[@KaliedoMania]

I got permission from the artist Jos Leys to recreate his tessellation in my program. You would have to contact him directly if you want to use his design.

[@marie-roses.4289]

trop beau !!!

[@SuperDreamliner787]

Very nice! :)

[@KaliedoMania]

At this point I am not selling the chessboards. I am trying to get my tessellation software done so I can start selling it.

[@mexwatchman]

the design

[@Fern1e_]

subscribed

[@hannalee1954]

능력자다

[@danielkunkler7293]

His fabrication approach is the same as that of his teaching. Meticulous and painstaking forethought and construction, then park a 2 ton vehicle on it and hope for the best.

[@mexwatchman]

mm, ok, thank you