Chess Pieces

[Ed Morgano]

Well, after building the two lighted chess tables (another thread) I sort of got talked into turning the chess pieces for them. The hardest part of turning a bunch of pieces is making them all the same...........so, I decided to try to use my CNC router to rough them out. That way they will be all the same. I bought a 1/2 HP motor, mounted it on the router table (pictures to follow), put a home made tail stock on it and I'm ready to go.

These are my first two attempts. I used a piece of oak for the first one just to see how it would cut. The second one is made from pine. I figured if I could get a good sample from pine, maple and walnut would be a lot easier because of the chipping which occurs in pine. So far, so good.

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[Jim Rimmer]

Interesting. I always wonder how you would turn the knight?:rolleyes:

[Ed Morgano]

This is the setup for the CNC router that I'm using to rough out the pieces

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[Ed Morgano]

Interesting. I always wonder how you would turn the knight?:rolleyes:

Jim,
I'm not a carver but I have a plan for the knight that I hope will work out. I will post pictures as I go.

[Van Huskey]

Very cool. How do you plan to finish them?

[Ed Morgano]

Well, after several days of messing around with the CNC router I'm giving up on making the chess pieces. On the first pawn there was a small chip out on the thin flange below the head. So, wanting to make them perfect, I tried several things to get rid of the chipping. Each thing I did made it slightly worse which was frustrating to say the least. It wasn't a total waste because I plan on using the setup for larger things like table legs. Anyway, I'm not into this hobby to be agrivated so I'm on to my next project.