Yes, interesting indeed. Just when @M_Chavez has almost lured me into buying another lathe, this!😉 somebody stop me….please.
Machine carving 3-second wood Queens
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Wits-end wrote:
Yes, interesting indeed. Just when @M_Chavez has almost lured me into buying another lathe, this!😉 somebody stop me….please.
@Wits-end,
There are people who go online and buy a ready-made, mass produced, white t-shirt, delivered to your home in 3 days.
There are people who buy a sewing machine, scissors, cloth, thread and MAKE their own white t-shirt from scratch. It takes time to develop the skill. There will be a lot of errors in the learning process. I'm sure that white t-shirt made from scratch will be quite amazing.
No one outside of the VERY SMALL niche home tailoring community, will know the difference between the two white t-shirts. Similar to chess pieces, no one outside of a VERY SMALL niche chess piece community will know the difference between a $100 wood set, a $500 wood set, and a handmade wood chess set made by you with your own hands.
But YOU will know the satisfying difference. And isn't that what's most important? Go for that wood lathe and get carving! Hah! 
Having spent most of the day turning 4 pawns for my new dub set, watching this video almost made me sick 
Feb 20, 2022
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#5
Oh, so now i need to buy a sewing machine too? The horror, the inhumanity of it all… 😉
You’re spot on however. There is an inherent satisfaction in feeling the material and crafting something special, if to no one else then to one’s self.
I just read your post out loud and my wife said “woohoo, we’re getting a lathe!”
Now, where is my old, thread worn, tie-dyed t-shirt?
Feb 20, 2022
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#6
M_Chavez wrote:
Having spent most of the day turning 4 pawns for my new dub set, watching this video almost made me sick
Not to fret @M_Chavez, your new pawns are hands down, thumbs up, and rightfully so, works of art.
Feb 20, 2022
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#7
Pawnerai wrote:
No one outside of the VERY SMALL niche home tailoring community, will know the difference between the two white t-shirts. Similar to chess pieces, no one outside of a VERY SMALL niche chess piece community will know the difference between a $100 wood set, a $500 wood set, and a handmade wood chess set made by you with your own hands.
But YOU will know the satisfying difference.
Ha! If I were to cross-post this to r/sewing the flood of agreement would last DAYS. That teensy, ever-so-subtle, probably-no-one-will-notice difference is indescribably satisfying.
It's such a weird and unpredictable balance between skill, experience, and available tooling. I have an older sewing machine that wasn't even close to top-of-the-line when I got it, but I've made some very fine garments on it of which I am immensely proud. I could, on the other hand, buy much finer tooling than @M_Chavez has on hand, and all I would end up with would be a lot of expensive sawdust.
Haha, I've made a fair share of expensive sawdust myself, you know. 
And still working on it.
Not sure about works of art, but I am quite sure that I'm getting tons more satisfaction from playing my own sets, than I'd ever get from the most expensive mass-produced jobs money can buy.
1200 queens per hour... From just one machine in one factory. It won't take many days to make a set for every man on this planet and get everyone playing chess instead of lying, stealing, fighting and killing each other, huh.
M_Chavez wrote:
Having spent most of the day turning 4 pawns for my new dub set, watching this video almost made me sick
Chin up. It's the not the destination — it's the journey.
Feb 20, 2022
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#10
How do you make knights though? Also, are you ever gonna glaze the pieces?
Pawner - a very addictive journey I must add.
I'm already planning the next set. I think it's going to be the so-called "Tal" from the famous book cover. I quite like the one from Flohr-Botvinnik match too though.
akbolon - knights are a challenge, especially that my figure carving skill is a lot worse than my turning. I'll probably post some photos in the "rook is born" thread, but the idea is to turn the base with a cylinder, and then simply carve away the extra material.
If by glaze you mean finish - I get a mirror polish on the lathe, then apply the lightest coat of shellac. Any other wood finishes (perhaps apart from oil) result in a plastic look and feel.
That video is so cool. Now if they can just do that with knights. That will be something. Haha!
I prefer handmade with all quirks and defects
Machine carving 3-second wood Queens
20 Queens a minute
1200 Queens an hour
There is still a lot of detail work to be done such as: Weighting, felting, stain, clearcoat. Bishop mitre cuts. Rook battlement cuts. Queen crown details. King Finial. Knights to be made from scratch.
I imagine this makes the Pawn making process a breeze. Not having to make 16 identical, small, low-detail, Pawns one right after the other per set. Hour after hour. Day after day.
Notice how the machine cuts the first piece off and extrudes the next piece of wood like toothpaste. Hah! Just thought it was interesting to see on this Sunday morning.