New felt on chess pieces

I wanted to share how I placed new felt on some DGT Timeless Electronic chess pieces. I received them about 3-weeks ago and the felt-job is really bad, poorly cut and and only covering about 3/4 of the diameter. The pieces wobbled when I moved them (image #4). Some pieces looked considerably worse than this example, this one was "centered".

1) I sourced 1mm, (green) Holland Felt, 100% Merino Wool (20x30cm) from Amazon

2) I sourced Elmer's Craft Tacky Glue from Amazon

3) Since the felt came in 20x30cm pieces, I made a 20x30 cm piece of paper and calculated how to cut all the pieces needed from one sheet (I ordered 2) with a 1/8" overlap (image #3). For example, a 1" base diameter would have a 1.125 x 1.125 square piece of felt.

4) I used felt tip green marker to create the same pattern on the felt and then cut out the squares

5) I removed the old felt by pulling up as much as I could I then further clearned the surface by scraping with a razor blade and using a bit of sandpaper on a block.

6) I glued (using a 3/8' acid brush to spread the glue) the felt squares to the chess pieces and after they dried (@15 minutes), I used the base as a guide to cut the excess material off.  I suggest holding the scissors at a 45 degree angle to achieve a slight bevel on the cut (image #2). Note, use a moderate amount of glue, but not so much that it soaks through the wool. Make sure glue spreads to edges. A damp rag will clean up any over-spread, and the reason you want to use 'water-soluble' glue.

The entire process took me about 4 hours from start to finish once I had the materials.

Now the pieces have a solid feeling when moved - Less tip-overs and no wobble. 

... I could get into how I had to removed the electronic resonator core from a Plastic piece (black king) and installed it in the Timeless piece (involved a hacksaw and punch) but that's another story. 

After replacing the felt on the Classic pieces with wine-red felt, I replaced it a second time with the green and don't recommend using red. It is just to distracting on the black pieces, dark green will blend in with the black and not show. 

Check out my chess videos on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHUEzo475jhE5crIbJI8Mbg

#1 - Completed, with felt now covering 100% of the base surface

#2 - Felt squares glued to the chess pieces ready for trimming

1mm, (green) Holland Felt, 100% Merino Wool (20x30cm)

#3 - Test pattern for cutting out the felt squares efficiently

#4 - Original poorly done felt - Compare the shreading of threads to what I show in image #5 - Buy good wool!

#5 Close up

#6 Needlework, embroidery scissors. 4.33" - stole them from my wife :-)

I did a similar job on my pieces, but since I was also adding Certabo chips on some pieces I was adding a ring around the chip and on others I had two layers of felt, one a ring around the chip and one full piece:

https://goneill.co.nz/chess-pieces.php

Note that if you are short of felt, rather than mark the squares and cut them first you can glue the pieces to the corner of the whole sheet (or a small section of it) and then cut it out after it's dried. Cutting into squares first loses quite a bit of material.

Thanks for the instructions. I may use it if I ever get off my lazy behind to fix my Chavet set.

Well, the story gets a bit stranger now.... If this explanation is too long read the *3rd paragraph.

I actually did fill out a return on Amazon for the pieces, stating that one piece did not read correctly and the felt was poorly done and a pawn was received with a cracked base (I've replaced it).  Then, I made this YouTube video: https://youtu.be/9hLjnvOaQ5A and the black pieces looked so nice, I canceled the return (look at the rook and king markings at 4:37). I also really wanted a "tournament" set. Additionally, I was shipped a new black king (that also didn't work) in two-days to my door from Slovenia and I didn't want to burn the vendor (they offered to ship yet another replacement king).  Actually, in the video, there are a couple of times, I had trouble reading the pieces, but it was due to the metal construction of the table. 

* Then Amazon refunded my purchase in full - $243 (i.e., cost, tax, expediated shipping from Europe). I contacted them and said, I was not entitled to the refund because I canceled the return and they said I could keep both the refund and the chess pieces.  

As a side note to this, I have learned from DGT documentation that the electronic cores were to be installed .5 to 1mm deep and the ones in the black king were considerably outside this tolerance lending to the issue.  I notified DGT that they had "quality" issues. 

With me trashing my Plastic set, buying materials for re-felt and buying a new pawn, I didn't feel too bad about the refund. The happy ending to this story is; I'm now pleased with the Timeless set, it's working correctly and it cost me very little. I essentially, "upgraded" my Plastic set to a Timeless (wooden) set for a total cost of $37.20 (i.e., pawn, wool, glue, brushes).  Plus, I'm one resonator (replace the black plastic king) from having a full set of electronics that I may one day install in my own custom chess pieces (12 x 14 mm and 12 x 27 mm holes [king, queen rook]), resonator core is installed .5 - 1mm deep from surface of base and encapsulated with silicon).

Great job! I've done some re-felting myself (with "acceptable" results) but I tend to botch the cutting part.

I cut at a 90° angle to base and as close to the base as possible the first pass. I then cut a second time at a 45 degree angle to bevel the outside corner. It makes the felt less apparent when the pieces are setting on the board and hides the start/stops in your cuts. Additionally, using high grade wool felt virtually eliminates threading of the cut surfaces. 

It's also worth investing in a good pair of dress-maker's scissors

I use a little, very sharp scissor for paper art e.g. silhouettes.

Nicely done! 

pre-cut felt circles...

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=felt+circles+for+crafts&i=arts-crafts&crid=1JLOT1WWO8WTT&sprefix=felt+circles%2Carts-crafts%2C140&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_4_12

An instructive thread with a good outcome! Thanks for posting it. 👍

Hi @Hamilton53, I was wondering if you've also tried to add weight to an existing set of non weighted wooden chess pieces. I would like to do so, and make my pieces heavier.

Thank-you beforehand in case you have some ideas or how-to, to share.

AG

Adding weight has been discussed here, for example:

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/adding-weight-to-pieces2

I've added weight by putting old pennies into a plastic set once, glued with marine silicone glue/sealer stuff. Only worked because all of the pieces were of the same base diameter and exactly the right size to fit a stack of pennies.

Another alternative is tungsten putty (good but expensive). One method that I've considered but never tried is to mix lead shot pellets with silicone glue.

The traditional method would be to fill holes in the bases with molten lead. Lead can be melted readily with a blow torch. The problem with this approach is that if there is any moisture there will be an explosion causing molten lead to move rapidly in all directions, so you need to plan carefully with regards to safety.

Hi, and thank-you for taking  the time to respond.

Will the methods you cite, good also for the DGT electronic wooden pieces? I did not mention it, but as the OP was speaking about DGT electronic pieces, I gave it for grant - my bad.

The problem with DGT pieces, is that they work as "electronic pieces" because of a renator inside the pieces. This "resonates" at a given frequency, which allows the board to recognize when a piece (and what kind of piece) is on what square.

I've heard that using pure lead to weight the DGT pieces would interfere with the resonators. Hence my question if anybody had tried it.

Thanks

AG

Hmm tricky. Do you know what sort of device these resonators are, and where they are situated?

I've found this thread that talks about it.

https://www.chess.com/forum/view/chess-equipment/diy-dgt-compatible-pieces

Reading through that thread it looks like your best bet is to message havb1961 and see if they will email you their PDF.

From the pics it looks like the resonators sit in the middle of the base of each piece, exactly where you'd want a weight to go. It may still be possible though.