Antique Table in an Amateur's Hands: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.

Looks good Powder!

Nice box powderdigit , what some oil or wax can do spot on , The best place to find chess boxs of the antique or vintage kind is the UK , Then Brexit came & killed of the export market for likes of Us with shipping cost + vat on top ,

Cheers all. @lighthouse - I use a product called Gilly’s Beeswax Oil. If desired, I could buff it more but generally I like the matt or semi-gloss look. As you can see here, amongst an assortment of other boxes, overnight the oil seems to have dried or soaked in slightly differently across parts of the top - probably due to me not removing all the old finish - it’s a balance because I need to take care not to sand away the entire veneer! Regardless - I often need to apply 2-3 coats to start. This could do with a light sand back and re-coat. One other nice thing about this box - the lid and base fit beautifully together; a snug fit with no latch that allows me to turn the box upside with lout the lid opening…. Because one often turns a chess box upside down.🤔😉😊

Well done Mr. Powder, well done. I think there is not much more satisfying than refurbishing or what we call repurposing “old junk”. A stunning transformation. You and your walkabouts…………….👍

Fantastic looking box Powder.....Not only do you have great tastes(not sure about the beer...ha) however, I think you have the hands of a master craftsman!

Thank you powder for sharing your beautiful collections in the forum

My woodturning learning continues … here’s today’s effort. I’m getting better at beads and coves but how I’ll ever do 4 pieces the same …. Never mind 16 pawns!! These were just me mucking around with a King and a Bishop and cheap wood …. copying pieces by eye…. Good fun! 
My issue is regularity - only really getting session for a few hrs on a Sunday - and sometimes with weeks in between. A lathe at home would be ideal but alas, it not my current reality. I’ll just have to be patient with my own progress. 😊
The bishop is rubbish, the king … sort of ok. 👍

Wow! That is good work Powder.

The set of yours with the most unusual design to try out turning, super. It's like the story of the 1500 jumping through a tournament hall 'A brilliancy! I played a brilliancy' and checking the game, the jury has to admit it kind of is, just you are not jumping around Copied by eye.. amazing results. You'd get a wild card now, I'd believe.

That elusive chess set....

That's very nicely done! I'm a software dev by trade so I always have a lot of respect for people who manage to create something in the real world. Keep it up!

@Powderdigit remember that wood turning is much like chess, it’s a journey. A rather enjoyable one at that! You’re actually doing quite well on the lathe, in my humble and novice opinion. (Both chess and woodturning) Word of caution: never fail to wear all protective equipment. I ignored this (respirator/mask) while working with purple heart and spent the next four days feeling as though I was coming down with a respiratory illness. 🤦‍♂️

Thank you for updating and sharing with us. Enjoy the journey my friend!

OMG Powder! You have the hands of a vascular surgeon!

Hi all,

Thanks for the feedback. MT, I can assure you these are not a surgeon's hands and BG - I have very limited skills when it comes to wood work and other hand-made items. Just go to he start of this thread to see that!

Truly, I hardly held a hammer for the first 50 years of my life - and I am not overly proud of that and sort of sad at what I have missed out in! Alas, we cannot run back the clock.

I would say that anything I have shown in this thread is within the realms of all us amateurs because that is exactly what I am!

Wits, I will admit that I am relatively proud of the top curve of that king - there is no sanding there - that's just the result of careful work on the lathe with a Skew chisel. To that end, it's very smooth work and it made me smile (and the gent guiding me), upon review.

Very good job Mr. Powder! You have it! Just use reference lines to ensure all the measurements are the same for all the pieces and that's all, you don't need anything else, your skills are completely demonstrated!.

Btw, the lathe you are using is a piece of art! I love it!!

Powder, I wouldn’t call the bishop rubbish, I would call it angular and tumescent.

This week’s turning effort in pictures below. Once again, just by eye but today I also learned how to do a story board - so future application of a story board will help consistency. I hope!
The top of the pawns is nothing to worry about - this was me doing two pawns off one piece of wood and the top is where I ‘parted’ (in the middle - the bases held at either end of the lathe) in a rush before the wood of the session.