Woodturning a Modern Chess Set

[@Thom4123]

Absolutely beautiful!!! I would make it if I can tell my wife we have to take a vacation down South ( that’s mandatory) for this chess set... Going to be tough since I don’t know how to play chess lol. Awesome work on the chessboard and all the pieces. Take care

[@Woodumakeit]

A vacation down south is definitely an integral part of the project. Don't skip that part! I'm sure you can watch a KZbin video and be an expert chess player in no time. 🙂

[@harimg9942]

I don't think ull be an expert that quick but I swear one of the easiest and most satisfying games out there... All u need is half a brain

[@Divyansh3527]

@12:13 bishop in hindi is not घोड़ा , it is actually ऊंठ and @12:54 knight in hindi is not ऊंठ it is actually घोड़ा .

[@emilyfearnley5453]

🇿🇦South Africa has no plans and no more for all things to be a game that they will have a game in game and watch it really bad game in a good way and I need some really really cool game friends

[@emilyfearnley5453]

South Australia has not really been bad in a good reason and they aren't good for all of them and not only really really cool

[@nickdavison9771]

Hats off to you for having the skill and confidence to hand turn each piece by hand and get consistent results. Most hand made wooden chess sets are made in India, and rather than using a turning chisel to shape each piece they use a custom profile tool for each different piece. The profile tool is a small piece of high carbon steel sheet with a "half silhouette" of the piece cut out of it. The profile tool is then used to shape the turning wood, creating an identical profile in one cut. The only pieces that are hand carved are the knights, which is why generally speaking, the more detailed the knights are, the more expensive the chessmen set will be.

[@murbella7]

Love the design, simple, modern and very stylish.

[@desperados986]

einverstanden.

[@ekstrapolatoraproksymujacy412]

and completely useless in practice

[@rsauve999]

@@ekstrapolatoraproksymujacy412 ??

[@ekstrapolatoraproksymujacy412]

@@rsauve999 Chess pieces have to be EASILY differentiable by shape, these are not. The fact that chess sets on tournaments are standarized and never look like that is for a reason.

[@rsauve999]

@@ekstrapolatoraproksymujacy412 ok, now I understand.

[@noelu.2382]

I really enjoyed the running comentary, including the various histories of each piece. Most of all, I appreciated the inclusion of the diagrams and measurements of each piece! Thank you!

[@woodfather]

Beautiful set. I'm beginning a chessboard and pieces for my young nephew this weekend - he can't wait to get started - and these pieces look to be simple enough that we should be able to get him making some of them on lathe himself. Many thanks!

[@davewilliams9114]

Very interesting. I made a set and counterbored the bottom for washers for weight, then poured epoxy over them to seal it. You do an amazing job on all your work. Chessboards are amazing.

[@abuwabu]

Listening to your commentary while watching you practice your craft so beautifully was a pretty hypnotic experience. Very enjoyable and informative. Thanks.

[@Green-el1dr]

I made a chess for a school project when I was in ninthed grade. Back then I used veneer for the board. the black squares and figures were made out of dark walnut wood and the white parts out of acorn. I regret that descison a little due to the fact that the acorn formed black spots while turning it. To be fair, it was my first time turning wood and I somtimes put to muche pressure on whiche burned the wood. Also I think that acorn is a fast growing wood and not as hard and sterdy as walnut, alltough I cant say that for sure. Aslo the veneer made a few problems, because I had to work very exact and every mistake would end in repeating the process. But in the end I can really reccomend to try it yourselfs. I have learned alot in the process and when somone whants to play chess I can proudly present my handmade board. Sorry for the spelling btw, I am not a nativ speaker.

[@iamcarbonandotherbits.8039]

Very informative on the history of the chess pieces, Thank you.

[@mohammadrezanedaei5236]

I watched your projects and all of them was a masterpiece and as a Persian speaker, I can say that you pronounced the word Rukh very well

[@dirttdude]

those chess pieces are elegant in their simplicity and i rather enjoyed listening to you speak of each piece as you made it.

[@G-Deepanshukaushik_]

this guy has done some real hard work making those pieces, appreciated

[@beebob1279]

During Wood Shop in 9th grade we made chess boards. Never found pieces for it and it now sits in the mountain house that my father built without power tools. He was a wood shop teacher himself. Maybe I'll finish the board with turned pieces as you did. I was in ninth grade at the time and today I'm 56. Thanks for the motivation.

[@beebob1279]

@Johnny Lee Ours were.

[@matthewharper9615]

I really love the modern lines of this design, and I think I would make this set, but I would shape the head pieces of the knights to be less angular and have more of the sweeping curves of the rest of the set. Well done! Your precision is admirable!

[@orirune3079]

I agree, I think the set is beautiful but the heads of the knights look inconsistent with the rest of the set. The knight is always a bit tricky in chess, as it's the only piece that isn't rotationally symmetrical and is clearly meant to be a model of something (it's clearly a horse, whereas the other pieces only vaguely suggest a human form or a tower).

[@reneheider3604]

In german language we have. König=king, Dame=Queen (Lady), Bishop=Läufer (runner), Rook=Turm (tower), Knight=Springer (Jumper) and a Pawn ist a Bauer (farmer or something like that). Very great work. I would buy it. :)

[@_selva_negra]

Wood Turning class,, History & Language! This has been one of the most interesting videos I've seen yet!

[@JS-rp7qb]

I’d bypass the gel stain and, like you said, either use a contrasting wood or switch to something more penetrating, oil stain or even a good wood dye. Had a maple set once whose dark colors were dyed a bright blue. Very pretty.

[@-Benedict]

That's a lovely set, and I really enjoyed the fascinating etymology lesson.

[@mykstreja8648]

I like your version over the Tanguy set. Less ambiguous while retaining the minimalist appearance. Your design has the added benefit that it could be made quick and cheap with pine, or lovingly with ash and black walnut. Well done.

[@DevanSabaratnam]

I don’t normally like modern chess pieces, but these are beautiful! Great work.

[@franksorry2653]

Fantastic! Mad skills. I want to buy a lathe now. Loved it at school and I imagine they’re a lot more compact now than the ones I remember. I’d take your advice if you offered it but I ain’t gonna bug you with “what should I do” questions. Thanks for the vid. Quality inspiring work. 🙏

[@Woodumakeit]

Happy to answer any questions. You can email me at [e-mail] if there's anything I can help with.

[@steveh8724]

Thanks very much for this video! Excellent job on the production and the project itself! I also enjoyed the commentary on the naming of the pieces. And thanks for including shots with the dimensions of the pieces. Since I clipped those out for possible future review, i'll go ahead and list the times for each in case anyone else wants an easier way to quickly find those parts: Pawn (2:39), Rook (7:03), Knight (5:35), Bishop (4:29), Queen (7:41), King (9:36).

[@Woodumakeit]

Thank you for taking the time to do that! If anyone wants a diagram with the dimensions, just email me at [e-mail] and I'll reply back with the file.

[@johnoneill6827]

Many thanks. I would love to do it. Please send dimensions etc@@Woodumakeit

[@taylorbistline3601]

I made a set years ago when I was in high school using Osage orange and black walnut two very dense woods with strikingly contrasting colors, it turned out awesome!

[@kofiringo]

Wow one of the most beautiful and relaxing videos I’ve seen, its truly great 👍🏻

[@SomeDudeOnline]

Was watching some of your other videos and realized you’re the person who made this video, so I wanted to come by this video and thank you for this video if I hadn’t already. I’m making a unique chessboard for myself and wanted the pieces to match the board but I don’t think I would’ve been able to make a nice looking set if I hadn’t found this video. It’s been about a year since I made the pieces and I still love them. Though, I did modify the knight so it looks more like a horse.

[@essinem4130]

Love that you explained the history of the pieces. I've wondered about the origins of them so this was great. Relative to the other pieces the rook makes no sense. A castle is stationary. A chariot or a boat make a lot more sense. This was great.

[@MasterKawkki]

You mixed the names of knight and bishop in hindi. A knight is called "Ghoda" and a bishop is called "oont".

[@nasifurrahman2641]

I've always known the bishop as a haati though

[@minyoongigenius6923]

@@nasifurrahman2641 haati is rook

[@phoenix4193]

​@@nasifurrahman2641 haati means elephant

[@nasifurrahman2641]

@@phoenix4193 i know haati is an elephant. Where I'm from the bishops are called haati and the rook is called kisti which either means boat or tower

[@vikramkrishnan6414]

@@nasifurrahman2641 @PHOENIX You are both right, in Chaturanga, Bishops were called Gaja, and rooks were Raths, when Chaturanga went to Persia and became Shatranj, the Persian word for chariot was Rukh. The Persian army didn't use elephants but they used camels so the Bishop was called Camel. When the Persians introduced Shatranj to the Mughals, they didn't use chariots, but had seen elephants in India, so the rook became the elephant piece. The current representation of the rook is the howdah on the elephant

[@gordonhill645]

A lovely, stylish set, I'm going to have a go at making it. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[@hari777777]

Very nice work. Loved the elegance you brought to the set. I would have liked if the felt was stuck after a small depression was made on the base so that the felt is not visible.

[@tableguy9371]

What size board are you using these on? By the way they look great

[@rpc717]

Great video! The set is growing on me the more I stare at it. At the very least it's utilitarian, which I didn't expect. I still think I'd put some kind of top on the king, probably just a small cylinder, and something to make the queen stand out, maybe a dome top. I'm also not sold on the knights at all, though they came out better than I'd expected. I think maybe something with kind of an S profile would fit the theme, and all in one piece rather than pieced together. The bishops, rooks, and pawns are great, and the etymology lesson was an especially nice touch!

[@arthurkurtz2448]

I am in awe of your patience and astonishing creativity and skill. I had one questions: Did the pieces rattle when moved? Might a few drops of silicone adhesive or sand prevented this? Magnificent, museum-worthy work!

[@Woodumakeit]

That's a good question. I was worried about that, as well, after I made the first couple of pieces, so I simply added a bit of wood glue into the hole before sealing it up, but didn't show that on the video. Sand might have been a good idea, as well, to help add even more weight. Thanks for watching!

[@jordandominy7295]

A buddy just gave me a lathe. I think I’m gonna these as one of my first projects. So yes, I wood make this. Thanks for sharing!

[@siribiriz]

Turning a chess set is definitely a bucket list item, nice video!

[@mountainstoprairies]

Fantastic, idea! Thank you for the instructions, dimensions, etc. Really enjoyed learning the history of all the different pieces. One day, I'll share with you the set that I have created! Until then.. cheers!

[@joshbenedon1164]

Wonderfully done and very finely crafted. Thanks for making these 15min enjoyable!

[@tj_enju]

firsrt time i watched this i thot elegant... this time i think those horses could be better... while staying in line wth the simplistic design

[@bencoleman1893]

This is stunning work sir I myself am currently working on a chess table. I to have waited pieces in the same fashion. My suggestion is a piece of anti slip shelf liner for holding the pieces while drilling them. Will save the skin on your fingers for sure!

[@Woodumakeit]

That's a great idea. Thanks! I'm making another set soon, so I'll definitely try that.

[@tonyennis1787]

I'm a chess set snob. I like Staunton designs. But I have to say you've got a nice design here, there's an elegant simplicity to it.

[@craigmckinney2219]

Some options for the lead fill. If you know someone who reloads his shotgun shells, lead shot is easy to drop in a small hole, or if you can find it, lead wool is very easy to use.

[@JAK_EDITS.]

Absolutely MESMERIZING video. Truly a master of the craft, this is art!!!

[@jerrystark6766]

Very nice chess set. I really like the modern design of the pieces. In response to your comment on using black stain, I offer the following: Consider using black leather dye to ebonize wood. Feibings leather dye is alcohol-based and it really penetrates into the wood. It comes in a range of colors, including black, of course. It dries fast and will take any finish. One will get a bit of transfer using shellac, which is also alcohol-based, so apply it with light coats. Further, this dye is reasonably priced, especially in the large 32-ounce containers; small 4-ounce containers are available also. In addition, it appears to last, if sealed, indefinitely. I have had my bottle of this dye for about ten years and I used it as recently as two days ago. Still perfect. (I mention Feibings dye because I have had good luck with it. Comparable products likely will yield equally good results, though I do recommend the professional-grade rather than the craft-grade dyes.) Finally, an important precaution that I ignored but once: Use gloves when applying this dye. It is meant to dye leather; leather is skin; skin takes dye very, very well. Trust me on this. And though the dye will come off with alcohol and lots of scrubbing, why would we want to make the skin on our hands feel like leather? It is an experience that can and probably should be avoided by using waterproof gloves. So... Back to the important thing: This is a great chess board and chess set. Well done! Thanks for sharing another excellent video project.

[@Woodumakeit]

Thanks, Jerry. That's a great tip. I will definitely give this a try the next time the opportunity arises.

[@llapmsp]

Very cool design. I like it alot. Thanks for showing how you made the set.

[@blueblur6447]

Great video! Will be making :) Was skeptical of the horse, but it finished and matches the set very well! Love it.

[@leavebritneyalone3345]

Thanks for the little language excursion. Very interesting! And nice work :)

[@moosemanuk]

Wonderful looking chess set, and like others I really enjoyed the history lesson too! I play a bit, so to see such a nice set created from scratch is a real treat

[@decenthardik]

What a Beautiful design! I love how sober and stylish it is 😍

[@NJS-TL1000S]

Really enjoyed this video Mike.👍 Informative and inspirational.🙂

[@palnagok1720]

...and now for the acid test...how does it play ?...do the pieces naturally fall nicely onto the squares with the lead weights?. Can you play faster without the pieces falling over ?. How heavy are the lead weights.? With the curves , the pieces look like they fit nicely into your fingers. I would incorporate the side curve profile into a more consonant design shape for the knights' head. Well done , stylish looking set. I will try a variation of the Tanguy design. The Man Ray design chess set is also an interesting one to try. Cheers.

[@gusramirez5647]

An additional bit of trivia about the rook. It was for a while also called a "castle" however, it was made confusing because of the move "castling" thus rook stuck.

[@Woodumakeit]

Very interesting! Thanks for the info.

[@planespeaking]

I think I would have used a thinner green felt as it blends better. Not sure this set would be popular with many bullet players due to similarity.

[@alainlabarre555]

hello good vidéo, i'm turning this kind of item, but could you tell me what kind of wood do you use, me i have boxwood and hollywood, i think it's better for chess pieces thank you and happy new year alain in France

[@MohamedAhmed-ok8qy]

your doing a great work... also teaching some new words... amazing video

[@ahmedelnady3704]

Wow. i'm from Damietta and if you know most of people of this city are carpenters and i would say from my experience that is well made job you are artist

[@RonLeblanc]

To add weight to some chess pieces I made, I used a large bolt in each one. Worked perfectly and added a nice heft to each piece. Looks fantastic btw!

[@Gabrielr8]

What a beautiful chess set you have there! Well done!

[@MANJITSINGH-ko2oi]

U wood turners make it look so easy. lol. one day I might b good as u guys. thanks.

[@amit_srivatsa]

You have correctly referred to Bishop being called a camel in Hindi, however, the Hindi script at 3:55 writes it as "Ghoda" which is a Horse (Knight.) And at 5:05, the Hindi script for Knight is written as "Oonth", which is in fact, the camel. So I think you got those two mixed. And interestingly, even through the Rook is called a "Hathi" (or Elephant) in Hindi, the Hindi word for chariot is "Rath" which is very close to the Persian word as well.

Mike great Video love the history lesson, cool background to pass the time well done!

[@JonFordWoodworks]

Excellent work - the pieces look great! Do you have a video showing how to make the screw chuck you used?

[@ישייהושע-ה5מ]

Well I know I’m kinda late but I just watched this video and I think it’s incredible Really interesting history lesson and linguistics lesson And also a really good wood turning and wood art lesson I really liked the final product and can’t wait to make a similar project on my own Definitely thumbs up

[@Woodumakeit]

Never too late to provide feedback! Thanks for everything and good luck with your project.

[@johnnyhuerta6416]

Verry nice work the pices look sharp and clean

[@gilbertlibiloane4649]

I love your work Sir this Chess board its beautiful

[@wakiwakr]

I've never been so disappointed with the knight's design

[@romanmechetnerful]

Really good work. Although the pieces look similar, they are smooth in form. I'm 50/50 on the pieces. Cool work.

[@doisihtfwkhw]

Just wondering, what kind of glue did you use on the felt flocking? Trying to do the same thing with my chess pieces.

[@Woodumakeit]

I just used regular wood glue. It was most likely Titebond III.

[@Abc-tx4zr]

What are all the machines needed to make a full chess set?

[@Giblet535]

Very interesting history of the design. I play a lot, and this design is great for show but not ideal for playing, especially for games where you might walk away for a time, then return to finish. Minimalist designs seldom enhance complex pattern-analysis tasks. People who buy books by the yard will really like this design, so there's a huge market for it.

[@Frank040675]

I wonder if you scorched the wood for the black pieces instead of staining would it look well?

[@Woodumakeit]

Interesting idea. I might give that a try one day when I have some time to experiment with it.

[@kenburnette1121]

Very interesting and informative, love your videos.

[@tristantale_frostbasa1049]

This is so elegant. And yes, I wood make it if ever i have the money and tools

[@PawPawsClan]

Thank you: I’ve always wanted to turn chess pieces to go with my boards, but never had an acceptable design for each piece. Now I’m inspired again. Just found your channel today- and yes, I will make it. Btw: any info on your HM screw chuck would be great.

[@Woodumakeit]

I'm happy to answer any questions you have about the screw chuck or anything else. Just let me know.

[@thomasarussellsr]

Thanks for the link. Interesting "modern" design. Everything looks fairly recognisable to what the pieces usually are, but the knights are definitely somewhat different, but cool looking all at the same time. Neat looking set. Great job. As my skin tends to stain relatively easily, I believe I would have to wear gloves while messing with the black stain, but yeah, I think I'd make those.

[@tomalealso]

interesting, yeah probably but I think I would look for a different design of the knight.

[@shaka4448]

This video is my favourite chess making video

[@ashleighlorenz6622]

How many feet of wood did this take to make? I’m thinking about doing this but I have no idea how much wood to buy

[@nevob1137]

Hi, great video! I am trying to make it myself but i ran into issues with your sizes. The proportion of the pieces aren’t related to the sizes written... So should i use the number or calculate the proportion of your drawings?

[@Ryan-yi6uu]

I didn’t realize David Wallace liked chess so much

[@chicknarmy0076]

That’s amazing! I didn’t know that that was so simple. No doubt very difficult and tedious, but simple none the less! Why the blue felt though? The colors seem to clash a bit to me. But absolutely beautiful work. 👍

[@Woodumakeit]

I guess I wanted the felt to stand out after going to all the trouble of applying it to each piece. 😂 I made another set using black felt and that may have been a better choice.

[@littlebear4264]

what a beautiful set

[@ScottHaun]

researching ideas for my own chess set, I found your channel. and you live like an hour away from me. small world! lovely design.

[@Woodumakeit]

Yes, small world! Thanks for watching.

[@lawcch]

do you sell the chessmen and chess board you made in your video? or custom order to make them?

[@krikorkouyoumdjian1031]

I know this is very late but I love your set. The pieces have such a sleek design. I was inspired to buy a lathe simply to make these chess pieces. If I could ask for some guidance as to how you made your screw chuck? Is it just a standard screw in there? Thanks so much for your beautiful work!

[@vikashkumartiwari3977]

With those pieces I donot know how many times I will check the queen and lose the game

[@alirjeff3096]

Your Persian pronunciation is perfect, as well as your artistic skills. 👍

[@dougprentice1363]

Fantastic work. So many videos on KZbin of people doing shoty work that looks nice now, but will not stand the test of time. This will be around long after all of us.

[@DaDa-kf4vp]

Beautiful. Did you also make the chess board?

[@Bitwise1024]

WOULD I make it? You bet! COULD I make it? He-e-e-eck no! Very much enjoyed the information that you wove into the video.

[@Yourixf]

Awesome looking chess set! Great job

[@michaelseamus2112]

Hey Mike thanks for the video just curious to the size of the square blanks before you turned them down thanks in advance

[@Woodumakeit]

I don't remember exactly, but they were likely 2" for the king and queen and 1.5" for everything else. That's probably a little larger than they would need to be, but it's a little safer to start with something a little larger just in case.

[@michaelseamus2112]

@@Woodumakeit thanks a bunch thats what I figured. I'm restoring a table my father in law made in high-school that has chess/checker board and backgammon routed on top so I wanted to turn some chess pieces once I'm done so we can use it!

[@sqlblindman]

The bishop was originally a war elephant. The conical tip with the bead on the end represented tusks clad in metal. Europeans had no idea what that was, so they called it a bishop since it looked like a bishop's mitre.

[@Woodumakeit]

Interesting. Thanks!

[@ragnkja]

sqlblindman Similarly, the rook was originally a chariot, which makes a lot more sense than the tower design it has in a modern European chess set.

[@mihirsahasrabuddhe154]

Considering Chess or "Shatranj" originated in India, Bishop has always meant a Camel. The pointed head refers to the hump. Also, Rook is a war Elephant and Queen, more realistically is "Wazir" which refers to a High officer in Muslim army, in this case, a commander of the army. In reality, Queens hardly took parts in wars and even more hardly played such a prominent role.

[@demmertp]

Nice job on the turnings. It isn't hard to do a single turning, but the trick is to make several pieces exactly the same, as you have done.

[@aronhegedus]

really enjoyedthe video,especially learning about how other languages change the names of the pieces!

[@lucasschell78]

This is So cool! Is there a way to do this with lesser materials, would love to make my own😀

[@khaliljelliti6751]

rook in arabic is قلعة (kalaa) = Tower not ملك which means king

[@jscustomwoodshop4717]

I don’t know if you actually respond to comments or on this video anymore but I am fairly new to the lathe and am trying to make these pieces to go with a board I made but when I try to use the make a sort of screw chuck it is either off alignment when I attach the piece or the piece will spin freely when I try to use my tools to cut it I wasn’t sure if maybe you would have some advice for how to fix this.

[@Woodumakeit]

I had some problems with the wood slipping sometimes, so I used a larger screw and that helped. It was frustrating at times, though. You might want to use a jaw chuck like I did in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/fnzSe5Vodq50fdUm47s It uses extra material, but it's much easier and can save time.

[@elroyjacobs8126]

My goodness, you're very talented.

[@sauletto1]

Very nice work !

[@samugindert3042]

Making it from dark wood would probably have fitted better with the board but still a stunning set with perfect execution. Wood love to have a set like this in the future. :)

[@beebob1279]

Walnut would look nice along with the Hickory. I agree this would look nice too.

[@trrvideopage]

Very nice. I might consider leather or suede on the bottoms rather then the felt.