How common is hairline cracks in boxwood and do any of you simply ignore it ?

I'm beginning to think that weighted pieces,regardless of mfgr is very prone to hairline cracks.Regardless of how careful one is regarding humidity or handling.......I know many folks feel Chessbazaar is not too hot with regards to quality woods,but I did buy quite a few very nice sets from them.Now,after very careful maintenance and room humidity,I see my 1849 Staunton set,of 4 months, had 2 pieces develop a good size split at the base! I've not used this set much and am very careful and knowledgeable regarding humidity(I collect acoustic guitars and the sets are in the same well controlled room)....OK,so my web search finds an article stating that this condition is very common......Sheesh! My 40 year old French Lardy/unweighted set looks literally new! I'll send a message to CB,but am wondering if many folks simply ignore these cracks?

     Is it the fact that the pieces are weighted that is causing the cracks? 

Crikey! I've just ordered the 1849 with the version 2 knight - said it was in stock but after I ordered I was informed there was a 6 week wait because they are on back order.

Anyway, Skinnyhorse could be right. Any turned wood with a hollow section is prone to cracking, particularly if the wall thickness is minimal. 

Perhaps the wood CB use isn't seasoned properly, (they should be working on a rule of thumb for 1 year air drying per inch of plank thickness - they should be air drying wood for a king of 50mm base diameter for 3 years, given the final profile is 50mm after turning, starting out as perhaps a 75mm/3" rough sawn board).

Nothing beats air drying, when the rough sawn freshly-cut boards are 'filleted' by way of placing sticks between them to allow gentle air movement around and through the stack. I won't go into too much detail now but, interestingly, I cut a lot of big old growth Hawthorn out of my hedge last year and left it 'in the round', that is whole, unprocessed limbs 1 -2 metres long. I looked up Hawthorn and found out it was often used as a substitute for boxwood. I thought 'Oh well, I'll turn a few chess pieces - when I learn to turn'.

I stacked them carefully ensuring no unwanted gales would race through drying them out unnecessarily, I even coated the cut ends with Mobil cur - a water based wax emulsion favoured by turners, and then covered the stack with a plywood sheet out of direct sunlight.

I checked on them a few days ago and they had blown apart deluxe! 2 years they've been there, protected to the max! It's firewood!

I think it's species related, do they use actual boxwood? Also, India can be as humid as hell, If the pieces never get below 20% and we place them in our homes which are around 14% the shock to the thin walls created to place weights in is catastrophic!

There isn't much we can do after this has happened. They won't 'heal' up over time.

My old battered sets have cracks and I tend to use shoe polish on the black pieces, buffing them like shoes. The polish gradually builds up in any fissures. What to do with white pieces? Kitchen manufacturers have big sets of wax sticks, often used to repair scratches. Someone near where you live will have a set, they can melt or rub the right colour into your pieces and trim off excess before buffing. If the crack gets worse repeat until it stops moving.

Hope that helps

There's a few colours here - should cover off just about every chess set ever made, except that graffiti thing CB are doing!

Good luck

http://www.konigtouchup.com/buynow/softwax.html

How to vid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzwgCmA3R6M

When it comes to cracks, there are many variables and most are out of our control as consumers, but there are some things we can do.

Purchasing sets from retailers who offer at least a one-year warranty against cracking is also important. With 34 handmade pieces in a set, the probability of having one or more issues is pretty high (especially for ebony and blood rosewood sets). Additionally, I have found that many problems can be caught early if a detailed visual inspection is done upon receipt of a set. 

My vintage Chavet ref.212 with 4" plus kings has some hairlines. Yes I ignored them. Glad I did too. I found out after getting this set that it was the same type used in the Kasparov vs. Kramnik 2000 W.C.C.   

Very good replies.....Thanks folks!!!

in general, properly aged boxwood would be less prone to cracks than other woods like ebony. I have many vintage Jaques sets that are 100-150+ years old, and while a lot of the boxwood pieces have chips, it's really only the ebony pieces that have developed cracks.

That being said, a lot of sets nowadays are produced cheap w/ improper wood, and weights have increased on many sets (another factor) and another recent feature that can lead to pieces cracking is antiquing the boxwood (if improperly done).

In general, I'd rather live w/ it than getting obsessive about humidity etc. Chess pieces should be utilitarian objects, not fragile art objects, so they should show signs of wear and tear, including chips and cracks. I think of them as battle scars.

I'm beginning to agree with you Frank.I think,though,if I bought an expensive set and it developed cracking,I'd be a bit more peeved than if I bought a less expensive set which had those issues.