Project: restoring Grandpa's chess pieces

yepp, I'm thinking matte or satin, too.

I haven't seen Grandpa's board yet, so I'll probably wait with the final color decision until I know the pieces won't clash with the board.

Excellent!  Sounds like Sentimental History is in very good hands!  Looking forward to progress photos, if you have the time.

I'll keep you up to date

Sweetie, did you read the entire thread?  Time had taken its toll on the original pieces.  This is an attempt at restoration.

Personally, I’d have only buffed them up to remove the misplaced felt and enjoyed the “wounds” of many battles. However, the owner may choose whatever path so desired. We don’t know Grandpa, maybe he would have wanted them restored after many years of obscurity. 

Jail might be a bit harsh. However, a good public flogging in the town square..

What would I do? I can only dream of finding such a treasure. If only I had my Grandfather’s set and board in my hands. Wow! 

First of all: she.

Second of all: chill.

As I mentioned above, I completely understand the charm of a battle-scarred set of pieces, and I would have tried to preserve that state if it had been possible.

Here, the original varnish had gone bad.
The pieces were sticky, the varnish was runny and uneven, and the pieces had pieces of felt melted into the varnish.
Of course we can disagree about the attractiveness of this state, and whether it should have been preserved. But since the pieces were sticky, I needed to do something about that because in this state they were not usable.

Also, the imperfections were not the signs of a well-loved set (and thus worthy of being preserved), they were the signs of decades of neglect (which doesn't need celebrating IMHO).

I'll honour Grandpa's passion for chess by putting these pieces into a state where they can be played.
Will they look exactly as before? No.
Would Grandpa have enjoyed me making this set my set and using it? Hell yeah!

I found a literal blob of chess pieces:

In this state they were completely unusable. 
Gently buffing them didn't work, because they were so bloody STICKY that everything turned into an even greater mess when I tried polishing them.

==

Also, a few of you should really really think about how you talk about people here.
You're completely overreacting. 

Apologies to “she”. No harm intended by my oversight. However, you did post your ideas on a public forum, receiving a myriad of opinions would be a predictable outcome. You and only you knows what’s best and what Grandpa would want. More power to you.

Thank you for being one of the more calm voices in this thread.

There's a difference between "opinions" and a) curses, b) suggestions of sending me to jail, and c) ridiculing the idea of me working in a museum (WTF?). Even if none of this was meant seriously, this is a very strange way of expressing an opinion.

I like how you edited the post specifically to add the "snowflake"

The problem here is clearly me being a snowflake and not you being all offended in a thread that had been up to that point helpful and kind, with people politely disagreeing and offering advice.

The latest lockdown seems to have negatively affected your ability to express humor (or humour).  Or maybe your mask is too tight.  Either way, there was no indication of humor (or humour) in any of your posts, only strident bullying.  So thanks, Karen.  Didn't you say you were leaving?

My favorite part of the original post. A rather good opening sentence for novel by the way. Enjoy the journey! Time for me to leave the thread...

I lkw beat up old chess pieces.  They have stories to tell.

That's awesome. LOVE sentimental old wood sets with a story. Growing up in the 80s all I had was a cheapo plastic Pressman chess and checkers set with a taped-up black and red cardboard board. My parents and grandparents had to leave everything behind while escaping their homeland to come to the US. I'm sure you'll treasure it. Good luck with finishing the project!

PS: Try not to handle the bare wood too much. The oils from your hands may discolor the light wood pieces in its current state.

Leaving everything behind is a story my family knows, too...

I hope you have a future rooted in stability

Thank you for the tip about handling the wood.

Condition of your chessboard? 

Unknown, currently in someone else's possession.

Probably good though.

@danielkay I liked them scuffed up and was going to say you should keep them that way.  You’ve done a great job so far.  Everything you’re doing remains part of the pieces story wether you have a patina or not.  Can’t wait to see the finish (at this point I would do something to protect them now.

I instantly know everything I need to know about a person when they say/write snowflake. Just sayin'.