Weighting chess pieces

I hate the standard sets that are usually sold in bulk for clubs and schools that are unweighted. Even a slight bump to a table can send the pieces scurrying off of their squares.

I get an uneasy sense that the OP is attempting to make the point that weighted pieces might somehow be unnecessary, while the obvious conclusion is exactly the opposite. 

I'm not exactly sure where you arrived to have this "uneasy sense", bud. All I was 'attempting' to do was understand the facts regarding functionality of weightedness in chess pieces.

Sorry, your attempts at humor and statements that it seemed weighted pieces would be a lot more expensive didn't make much sense if you'd done any research at all.

If I misunderstood these statements, I apologize.

No intention of humour. I simply didn't know how much metallurging steal cylinders/cones (or are they cylinders/cones?) to the interior of the base component would cost; which is why I inquired whether it would be as much as $100 (from what I learned online elsewhere, that's ludicrous! =P) or something cheaper.

No worries on apology. ^-^

Typically the metal used has been lead, although recent environmental sensitivities may be changing that. It's usually just a flat coin shaped plug at the bottom.

In one of my lighter sets the plug is a cylinder of steel. Had to recently replace felt and glue in some loose ones.

Plabuk wrote:

Re #1

This link gives a good explanation.

http://www.wholesalechess.com/pieces-and-weights.html

interesting link, likes this - thx

I've never really noticed weight to be a significant cost driver when it comes to chess sets.  Sure, it adds some cost, but lead and steel are relatively cheap and other factors tend to overshadow it, such as piece size, material, finish, complexity of piece design and detailing, and so on.  I'd guess they're buying their weights in bulk from a wholesale metal supplier, and I doubt there is more than a few dollars worth of metal in a complete set.  (FWIW, I'm an engineer, but I'm in no way involved in chess manufacturing so I don't know anyone's actual costs.)

As far as what weight is ideal, it really comes down to player preference.  IME, triple-weighted sets are the most common, but Fischer, for example, was known to prefer unweighted wooden pieces.

Interesting about Fischer. I guess because I'm a big guy (~2m@110kg) with big hands I don't like pieces that fly across the board when I accidentally tap one while moving another.

I have an old plastic set with magnets. Don't have a problem with pieces flying off the board. Had to replace two magnets. The new ones are so strong, it's hard to move the pieces. Mainly use the set for reviewing a game or position in a chess book. Works great.

Magnets. That's sounds very interesting.

Maybe I'd like to include that too. haha

I'd wonder how a wooden board with a magnet in the center of every square, and sets with metal in the base would function. It would be nice to have the chessmen snap to the center when carelessly placed within a squqre.

One of the concerns about this is that the magnets in the board will repel each other. (All magnets in the board being positive or negative will push them away from one another.)

Perhaps there can be one big magnet to fit the entire board. Though, that will have to be an extremely large magnet.

I'm suprised that no-one has pointed out that the main purpose of weighting pieces is the extra heft it gives them for throwing.

 The good thing about weighting pieces is when you lose you can trow your weighted 4.4 inch King right in your opponent's face.

yawn

I've heard that one several of times before, and I think many people have too; that's probably the reason why "no one has pointed it out".

Actually, there is no such thing as a magnetic monopole. All magnets have both positive and negative poles in them. The easiest way to do this will be to have a simple non-magnetized sheet of ferrous metal under the squares and strong magnets inside the chess pieces.

Folks, I was wondering: is there a place where I can request customized metal plugs/bolts/shape figures? I was thinking: a flat little piece of metal bolt may not be enough. I'm inspired to create a kind of shape that may add extra power in base-stability.

(I know people will point out that google-search is a keypad touch away. My response: I don't know what search terms to type in for this very specific kind of subject matter. I tried "metallurgy". Didn't turn out the most suitable search term.)

Probably the easiest thing to do would be to search for metal rods and cut them to desired lengths to try out things: Metal Rods at Alibaba

It could be done, you would just have to pay attention to the polarity of the magnets during assembly.  If, for example, each board square had a magnet with north facing up, and the pieces all had the south polarity facing the bottom, then they would snap to the center of the squares no problem.