SPEED CHESS . How long does it really take to make a hand crafted wooden chess set?

Chess sets are Amazing objects and a luxury chess set that has been custom designed and hand made out of beautiful woods can cost several hundred and sometimes thousands of dollars. But many who could make a chess set are afraid of the challenge because of the time and care required in the process. In this video I show just how long it takes to make a pawn for a large Staunton chess set that I designed. Wood turning and carving chess pieces is a fun and rewarding process. I hope you enjoy this video and perhaps gain a bit of understanding from this project... and who knows... maybe some of you will finally be brave enough to do it yourself!
Regards,
Conrad Craft - The Omnicraft.

[@anthonyw5841]

watching this is therapeutic

[@wacamac1006]

It's called a wood lathe

[@edwardcharles9764]

Anthony W apart from the noise! That lathe is noisy and it shouldn't be.

[@sthao7167]

agreed, post edit, it should've been toned down.

[@mrtwister9002]

I was gonna comment the same exact thing! Then saw you had already posted it.

[@ohsact]

This comment was "pinned" haha

[@sr-qk4md]

I would like to see you make the knight for the set

[@PatriceStoessel]

see : kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZWrn6KLmbmiatE and : kzbin.info/www/bejne/jWi9oZV5eJigrNU whole serie is here : kzbin.info/aero/PLLuzLX_bcNjoH56XJChl1_1PDZPCQm4Kf

[@Huarkson22]

I was thinking that too. It would seem the most difficult but at least there are only four.

[@joep1551]

Definitely some hand carving for those pieces, actually a lot.

[@santu64]

Me too, I want to see you make a knight

[@robg521]

Me too. The knights is the piece that makes or breaks it. I hand carved my own chess set without a lathe and knights took a full day each to carve with about 2 hrs of hand sanding each on top. A want to make a set with a lathe but need to save up to finance the set. Videos like this are inspiring.

[@simoprdev3517]

poor guy! he can't even ctrl+z if he messes a thing up

[@scoutiano4441]

u talking about ctrl z? how about ctrl c then ctrl v? boom, saved you 13 hrs

[@erikhjortsater5461]

Even if he had ctrl z he’d probably ant ctrl y to undo his accidental ctrl z’s.

[@Someone-ig7we]

Whenever I do something irl I want to ctrl+z all the time but realize it isn't a thing.. Especially when writing, I want to just create a space to write more in a previous area but I can't...

[@TN_HondaDad]

About ctrl a, then ctrl c! Boom, how 'bout them apples

[@erikhjortsater5461]

Rabbit, erasers.

[@ConradCraft]

Wow! This vid just passed 10,000 views! I'm kinda blown away by the support you guys are giving to my projects. Thanks everyone!

[@AaqibMHassan]

It now passed 100,000 views!

[@gordonchapman222]

Now it's 182,888. I came here because you came up in a search I out in for Making Chess Sets. Thats probably a very popular search so your view count will still grow over time. Anyways, I loved the vidio Conrad, subbed, I'm looking forward to seeing some more of your stuff

[@deadlyopponent6656]

its 191k views now

[@ammarassi7095]

248K now

[@royothebuzz]

@@ammarassi7095 250, 252 just 19 hours after your count

[@TheGeezzer]

Super Skills: W💥W! Thats a BIG Chess Set! I wouldn't mind playing a game on such a mammoth set as that, it would add a lot of character to the game. Beautiful pieces too btw, classic Staunton!

[@elshisu]

You have made me appreciate my wooden chess set a lot more, knowing what it takes to made them! Thanks for sharing!

[@antonioalvarez4780]

There´s something terapeutic about this videos I can't explain.

[@dutchweeks1]

I made a chess set withsome carving knives and sand paper a few years back... having never carved anything before. Once all was said and done I estimated it took me about 1500 hours.

[@ConradCraft]

dutchweeks1 wow! a labor of love.... But a labor none the less for sure.

[@flamingas]

Danilo Pablo 1500/24=62.5

[@MrQhuin]

Reminds me of Shawshank Redemption, Dufrense carve it from stone and took 19 years

[@carlbell5698]

@@MrQhuin lol

[@jennhoff03]

Wow!! I bought some wood and carving knives and have been toying with the idea of doing a nativity for a few years. Your experience certainly gives me pause! I'm impressed that you finished the project.

[@alexubillus77]

Awesome skills my friend! Enjoyed this video in its entirety!

[@kasurusak5168]

U put so much effort on every piece. U are the untold hero behind every beautiful chess set in the world. I apreciate your hard work so much. Thank you thank you.

[@lesliecarver6001]

Wow awesome man! You make it all look easy but i now realise the extreme skill necessary to produce such good work! More please

[@kennethcaine3402]

Great video with great tool control.

[@Darren_Barclay]

Hey man I’ve been planning on making a chess set for a while and your channel thus far ( 2 videos in ) has been a great help. Great channel man and great work. Subbed.

[@VinayKumar-jr8kg]

It's amazing, thanks for this video my brother.

[@cdblues2000]

Thanks Conrad. You truly talented.

[@momentswiththeandersons1486]

Great video! Loved to see you make the rest of it!

[@ConradCraft]

Thanks!

[@koceilakabyle3297]

Soooo satisfying ...hell yeahh!!

[@Oudfreak]

Very interesting and inspiring to see such skillful craftsmanship in this fast-paced, digital day and age! Keep it up, man!

[@ConradCraft]

Thank you!

[@mikescollectiblemadness9498]

Amazing video and amazing channel and amazing job friend 😀😎👍🔥❤

[@MrAlbertuslie]

Amazing, good job 👍👍👍

[@cassimmdoka]

Awesome!

[@exoplanet11]

Great work.

[@jeremiahlyleseditor437]

Great Job

[@wddrhemachandra2003]

Great job

[@marcosantiago681]

Que bacana!!! Muito legal! 👏👏👏👏

[@pablojosegaleotti4145]

gracias totales !!! Master of the universe...

[@danielfarias4525]

Excelente!!!!

[@rakeshswain7345]

Love your work and you brother as well Nice man

[@GulfCoastGuitarist]

You are a true artist Sir. And I am so amazed I don’t even know what to say...

[@febbyfebby1774]

Excellent👍👍

[@oscargonzalez8126]

Awesome!!

[@adiyamnerri1816]

Thanks man. That was somehow very relaxing.

[@kannu2720]

Andy dufrene took 20 years.

[@kenta9112]

The shawshank redemption

[@picklerick8420]

beta tester yeah well done. Fucking idiot

[@mr.avid-watcher7454]

Cause he don't have any tool/machine

[@kenta9112]

@@picklerick8420 shut up simp

[@cactusmann5542]

@@mr.avid-watcher7454 He was busy digging a hole.... Realistically it would take him anything for a couple of months to a couple of years..depending on luck and time(w/o digging) It would take weeks/months to hand carve a set without a wood turner and power saw.... only files, sandpaper, chisels, knifes ..maybe slightly faster if you have a multi tool drill...

[@jadel704]

that's wonderful , amazing

[@alimaleki217]

Very nice job!

[@shahjohnsarwari1978]

Awesome job

[@classicart7084]

Thank you very much this video!

[@crazycanuck1533]

You really made it look easy although it isn’t, that friendly and easygoing attitude will bring you lots of subscribers. I wish I had your knowledge and skills to make my own chess set. Great work!

[@ConradCraft]

Thanks for the kind words. Yeah, I truly believe we often make things harder on ourselves than they really need to be. My chess set for instance does not have perfect symmetry between the pieces nor the pawns... They just have a very close relative symmetry with insignificant differences . It"s truly hand made and that is a part of what makes hand made items special... you get to see the failures of the craftsman. If I start off telling myself that every piece must resemble its counterparts perfectly... I am setting myself up to fail, get discouraged, and probably give up........ unless I spend the money for the equipment to perfectly duplicate pieces, basically removing myself entirely from the art and craft of the process. So I think its important to think practically. To make an acceptable, usable chess set, you only need to make a set that you can quickly tell what the pieces on the board are supposed to be. If you accomplish that, everything else is gravy(or icing on the cake or however that phrase goes). Anyway, thanks so much for the encouragement and quality comments. Best regards! Conrad Craft

[@crazycanuck1533]

Totally agree. That’s the star element of the hand made component. I believe that the “asymmetrical” aspect of the pieces adds value to the art produced at the end. Art, like in this case, isn’t something that can be produced in bulk and that’s the value of it. Keep it up!

[@VikasSharma-bu6pk]

Nice sir .

[@7676wahoo]

Very Cool, Love the chess pieces. You got my subscription.

[@ConradCraft]

T.M. McDaniel hey thanks!

[@Huarkson22]

Nice video man. I'm thinking of making my own chess board as well and this really helped.

[@gnusndn301]

I'm an older fellow now. I made a chess set about 49 years ago. As a learner I did most of my turning by scraping rather than cutting. However it turned out just fine and it was quite a long drawn-out project for me. Interesting ly enough it was a lathe in the vintage of your lathe. I think the wood was Ash. Thanks for the video

[@ottarornbergmann6947]

Do you play chess

[@jimn.weison3683]

The chess pieces look beautiful. 👌 👈

[@nicholasgranat2999]

Nice job!

[@bichoutzed9691]

Nice work

[@babinbullo3222]

Amazing.....

[@miguelreyes7880]

As a Chess fan i find this very beautiful :D

[@singaravelanc8663]

Very nice brother

[@artlupinacci6759]

WOW! You are awesome.

[@franckferrante7164]

Impressive !

[@dennysabry5582]

Good job

[@cachhomevideo1546]

I love chess playing nice vid

[@josealejandrotorrejon6586]

Wow a lot of work

[@babukothandaraman984]

Wow! Amazing to see that it takes about 30 minutes to (hand) turn a pawn; that too, for a woodturning expert like yourselves. (I've to add that 'hand' as it's definitely, an extravagant art! Not some mass produced commercial venture. I've seen through the comments about the cost of the wood; however, still you haven't mentioned about the 'finishing' when you had talked about the cost. It also takes quite a bit of time + efforts + cost Keep the videos coming! :) Thanks!

[@ConradCraft]

Babu Kothandaraman thanks for the comments. Yes you are right about the finishing process, and of course the Knight carving does not fall into the 30min time frame per piece. I'll be uploading a Knight carving video next so you can all see the process for that piece. Best regards!

[@samirlima1554]

Hello Conrad,I'm already doing the first Pieces of chess,but I need a video showing how the horas is made

[@arkt5644]

Super wyszło , pozazdrościć zdolności manualnych 💪

[@ismanismun5736]

Wonderfull job!😱🇮🇩

[@smexyapman]

wow this is satisfying.

[@yemenibritishculturalforum1744]

Amazing

[@samirlima1554]

Understand friend,valeu thank you.

[@jackmaravola2496]

New subscriber. Very nice. I thoroughly enjoyed your video show....!

[@ConradCraft]

Hey thanks Jack, and thank you for the sub!

[@jackmaravola2496]

Your more than welcome.

[@Noiseofblue]

Its looking very good. love chees

[@therootsfizzshow1191]

Awesome job!

[@ConradCraft]

Thank You! I'm Going to post the whole project as soon as I get the time to edit it down.

[@manjumanl5279]

Hi there ,your work is wonder .

[@arturleperoke3205]

Nice wood crafting! Your vid thought me 2 things: 1. Hand crafted figures are worth their price cause they need much talent and time 2. I cancelled my plans on doing it myself xD

[@user-ic6nm4ol4r]

Can't wait for the KZbin algorithm to make this explode after 3 years

[@srisabariraja3876]

Awesome

[@vaevictusnet]

@conrad, have you considered using a Galbert Caliper for the measurements? seems like it might save you tons of time for this kind of thing.

[@gh.n6340]

Bravo , un meșter formidabil

[@Justin-qe6gj]

you are very skilled

[@sureshbadiger5783]

Very nice

[@clashwithx3037]

osm work

[@andrescosta2992]

My only experience in a lathe is, my Dad had a metal lathe...& I used to watch him....'til I was 20. That's it. I guess, I need a wood lathe + grab a few pcs of wood & play a couple of days..'til I learn the carving ways. U finished this piece & I realized we have to be very cautious @ end when we finally do the last cuts on top & bottom I mean all the time working for 1 piece & not to screw up @ end. Thnks so much....an excellent Video. & Thnks for your time..!

[@the_random_gamer3404]

New definition to speed chess

[@SaantyDraw]

Nice work!!

[@ConradCraft]

SaantyDraw Thanks! Likewise my friend, you are a talented artist!

[@SaantyDraw]

Thanks you very much! :)

[@ThisIsWilliamPhelps]

I've never turned wood before but I have a suggestion that might save you time. Since you never move your rest/guard, When you get done with your first piece make marks with a marker to detail where your transitions are to duplicate them on the next piece ( Or to get you close). Maybe also make multiple marks on your preferred tool for the depth of the transitions. That should save you time with starting/stopping the machine to measure as much, at least till you get to the fine tuning measurements. I would think that would save you a ton of time with the pawns alone. Thank you for the video regardless!

[@Aliensarethinking]

Cool stuff Bro

[@ConradCraft]

Thanks man!

[@humdrummed]

That's big chess set!

[@daadams2000]

Great Video Conrad. Quick question: Where do you get your blanks from? What is the approximate cost? Thanks

[@njs8750]

I really like to watch a craftsmen working with a lathe and making something unique. Yes, there will be countless views on how long it could take to make and how large or how small should the pieces be? ... Well, my view is that beauty is in the eye of the beholder 🙂 ... Each piece of a hand made chess set presents a different challenge 'even down to just making them match' ... I certainly discovered this after making my own set that took over 60 hours to hand craft ! ... ( And included countless mishaps and rejects along the way 🤣 ) ... You can't really place an accurate value on something individually hand crafted as a 'one off' and that has taken many hours to make ... If you sell, I guess it's what a collector is prepared to pay ... I really enjoyed your video. 🙂👍

[@asgharrezaei0138]

my dear you are doing perfect and nice job , excellent work , it was only suggest for equal size .thank you and good luck

[@ConradCraft]

asghar rezaei my pleasure.

[@dimcepetkovski7967]

Great viedo!!! Bravo!! How much cost this machine ? ty !

[@everythingbobbywolfe]

If most people actually knew how difficult that was, especially given how easy he made it look.

[@lucacorona6681]

Before seeing this video i was going to make my own chessboard with pawns and i was so excited about that...but now i will DEFINITELY buy a commercial set of pawns. Shit... Great work and amazing skills btw!

[@numba1jebac]

Good stuff

[@ConradCraft]

amir avdi thanks Amir!

[@kirigwi]

This was like some therapy to the mind, haha

[@KennethScharf]

If you have a duplicating rig set up on your lathe to copy previously turned items you can cut the time to at least rough turn the pieces in half or more.

[@FrankieGRAI]

That is awesome. Do you sell the set and/or the board? Where may I buy them?

[@joepeter4512]

I learned from an old guy for the pawns just use a pipe diameter that you want for the pawn head , say 3/4 pipe , give her a sharpen and it will make perfect circles with little thought !

[@ConradCraft]

I've seen that. Great trick!

[@ConradCraft]

This was done on an antique Lathe... have any of you used antique tools for a project before?

[@nline2blast722]

You doing a great job brother dont let peeps negative or positive comments get to you your a child of the maker, you have one audience and He love you! Be lead in what you do and not by the waves of this world.

[@picklerick8420]

No

[@prabhureubenthomas6052]

I used fax cards which are 20 years old to build a card house Does that count as antique

[@kimrudi5783]

sy suka sekali ...

[@S.Lander]

I'm not sure what's more amazing: that you can do this at all, or that you can make 16 pawns as nearly identical to this as possible. Craftsmen/artists make this happen on a lathe--chessmasters make it happen on the board entirely in their minds. No wonder they go insane.

[@richardtsutsa6172]

Makes me value my set more

[@genco294]

good video

[@samirlima1554]

I am braziliam.I dont understand the inglish,but liked,very good.

[@ConradCraft]

samir Lima sorry about the first message, it had mistakes in it that I didn't notice at first. I have corrected it. Perhaps you may understand it better now my friend. A big hello to all of Brazil!

[@jjforeal2]

I wanted to do this, now I’m thinking I might spend an hour to sharpen a piece of tool steel in the shape of a pawn to save time on the 16 pieces

[@elneutrino90]

This would be the intelligent approach and the added benefit is consistency

[@luisdent]

At $1000 that's about $60/hr earnings. Now, since you work for yourself, take out taxes. Most states are roughly 15-20%. That's $48/hr. Next, take out insurance, since your non-existent company doesn't provide that. Average monthly single coverage is $400, family is $1000+. Let's go with half way between. That's $600. Assuming 80 hours typical work week, that's $7.5 less - $40.5/hr. You need to buy your tools, equipment, shop electric costs, insurance for all the equipment, etc. Then factor in the percentage of items you make they may fail, come out bad, be returned, etc. You buy the wood yourself to make these. Before you know it, you're literally making $20/hr. Which isn't bad, but you could make that in practically any field. But this is a lot of work put into getting to the point of sustaining your own business. If you do quality work, it may not be accessible to some people who can't afford $1k chess pieces, but that doesn't mean they still aren't worth that. Just my opinion. And this goes for anything people make. Unfortunately, we've grown used to affordable Chinese mass production type situations. While not all bad, it has almost eliminated many hand crafted arts...

[@citizensoftheworld5233]

wow thanks bro

[@puravida7474]

excelente chess pawn

[@joseyesidsoto9265]

Maestro que buen video , la pregunta es si juega ajedrez ?

[@lionguysai]

Have you seen a thousand dollar chess set? The wood is high end and it's hand carved. Plus the piece he made is rather large and I'm sure if you made it a normal sized piece, it would take a lot more time and attention to detail. Still a pretty cool video, though :)