Hey Paul
Good point. I was planning to carve by hand. I'm no good on a lathe, and don't own one. I like the staunton pieces, but since I'll be doing this by hand I will probably want to have a non-traditional pawn piece. Rounding those off would be a pain. Most of the layouts I've found are lathes and use Staunton style pieces. I was hoping to find some non traditional pieces. By Layout I mean something similar to this: http://www.shopsmith.com/ownersite/proj_articles/chess/images/90080-3.jpg
My wife is going to help me carve a chess set by hand. I know they are normally turned but I think wood can also look good with tool marks left in instead of sanded out. Especially if you're the one who put the marks there because you carved it yourself. She's never carved chess pieces but she's been going to carving class for a few years now and she thinks the chess pieces should be doable. I have a large set I bought from a store in Berkeley many years ago that I like very much and she thinks it's a good size for carving by hand. The king is 6" tall and the pawns are 3" tall. It might take a year to carve the whole set but from what I've seen it's a very relaxing enjoyable thing so may as well relax and enjoy it. Since I have a set I'm using for reference I can just hold the piece up to the wood block and trace around it but if someone else wants to try just let me know and I'll find a way to post an outline or plans for the pieces. I'm trying with basswood for the white pieces because it's very easy to carve. Here's a link to a short video showing the first pawn being started: http://qik.com/video/46739751
i will show you how to make a knight; watch this http://youtu.be/tlJ7tB04_E0
would love to see pictures of the finished pieces!
here are pictures of the finished pieces http://www.chess.com/photos/view_album/Hanky-Hat/my-home-made-chess-pieces?page=4
Wondering if anyone has, or has seen on the net, any plans for carving out chess pieces. I saw some in a woodcarving book a number of years ago, and figured someone might know of some on the internet. I could probably mock some up myself, but am looking for an easy solution.
Andrew