Making Checker Pieces (no lathe)

[alex grams]

I am going to make a few veneered checkerboards, but have no lathe to make the checker pieces with. Suggestions? Board will probably be maple and koa, so would like to also make the pieces out of maple and koa. Traditional pieces are round with a lip so you can stack them and they hold together, but i have no lathe for this. Suggestions? There is a woodcraft I could probably get access to the lathe for a small project, but haven't asked. I figure after spending about 10k there over the last few years they would have no problem at all with me using the lathe for a little while in their shop.

Alternatives?

[Chris Padilla]

Who says they need to be round? :)

[Jim O'Dell]

Get a dowel rod the diameter you need and cut slices off of it for the checkers. Much quicker than turning them!! Jim.

[Jay Jeffery]

You could probably use hole saws. Plunge to a certain depth with say a 1 3/4" hole saw, then a little deeper with a 1 7/8" hole saw, then cut all the way through with a 2" hole saw. Just a thought, I've never tried it. If they don't overlap enough, you could get an adjustable plug cutter.

[Rick Moyer]

You could also use a circle jig and plunge router. maybe cut saw kerfs across the tops and bottoms to stack the pieces. Seems like some work though.

[Leo Graywacz]

I've made octagon pcs before. 4 saw cuts at 45 degrees and slice them off on a chopsaw after sanding.

[johnny means]

You could create the recess by doing a shallow cut with a forstner bit then cut the outside with a hole saw.

[Garrett Ellis]

Some kind of circle cutting jig on a scroll saw (assuming you have a scroll saw). Bandsaw blade is probably too wide for such a small circle.

[Tom Ewell]

Check out Eagle for small rosette cutters, perhaps profile both sides then cut through with a hole saw.

[Mike Wilkins]

Even though I have a lathe, I made a set of checkers without using the spinny machine. I simply used a Forstner bit to cut a hole into a scrap of 1/2" plywood. Then I used my inlay bushing set with a 1/8" bit to cut numerous checker pieces out of Maple and Padauk. I used a plunge router, making sure to keep the bushing tight against the rim of the hole I cut out with the Forstner bit. Don't remember the diameter of the hole, but is was probable in the 1 1/2" range, so I ended up with something like 1 1/8" diameter pieces. My stock was about 3/8" thick, and there was a sacrificial board under the stock while cutting.
Hope this makes sense.