General "Stonewall" Jackson Prayer Tree Chess Set

[Dale Winburn]

I've had in mind for some time to try making a chess set, finally got around to it.

All visible wood of this chess set is made from the wood of the "stonewall" Jackson Prayer Tree (350 +/- year old white oak).

The dark pieces and the dark squares and trim on the board were colored using ammonia fuming. “Fuming” is a method of coloring wood by exposing it to ammonia fumes. The wood and ammonia are sealed into a fuming chamber where the concentrated fumes react with the tannin in the wood and causes it to turn a rich brown to almost black.

I made a home built duplicator and used a set of templates from PSI to make the pieces. I drilled and taped the blanks with a 3/8" tap and used a bottle stopper chuck to turn the pieces. After finishing each piece I hollowed out the bottom of the taped hole then filled the piece with molten lead for weight. I then put felt on the bottom of each piece. The pieces and the board are finished with thin CA glue.

Thanks for looking, C & C welcomed.

Dale

[charlie knighton]

well done Dale, personally, i like the castle and rook

[Bernie Weishapl]

Beautiful set Dale and well done.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Nicely done Sir!

[Dan Forman]

Very well done, first I've seen, but you have set the bar quite high. Is this for you or for sale at some point?

Dan

[Keith Outten]

Stunning work Dale!

You should contact his great grandson to see if he wants to purchase the chess set. He is living in Stonewall Jackson's mansion in Richmond and I understand he is quite wealthy :)
.

[Roger Chandler]

Dale.......as usual, your work is first rate!!! I hope you bring this to the meeting on Saturday........there are going to be lots of ooohs and aaahs, for sure! That should fetch a pretty pricetag as well.........I know Kirk M. makes some sets, but yours looks better to me.......more detail in the pieces.

[Nathan Hawkes]

WOW!! Dale, this is stellar work!! I really like the ammonia fuming. I was talking to someone about fuming at Fred's demo the other day. I might have to give it another try after seeing your results!!

[Greg Ketell]

Beautiful set!

[Michael Stafford]

Quite a lovely piece of woodturning! The results are stunning.

[Dale Winburn]

Thanks everyone for your comments.

Dan - Yes, I will probable sell the set some day.

Keith - Thanks for the tip, I may look into contacting his great grandson.

Nathan - Yes, you and I were discussing ammonia fuming at Fred demo, I can give you info on my process if you want to try it.

Dale

[Michael Tucker]

That is absolutely stunning! Not only is it superb craftsmanship it is made from wood with a great story... it doesn't get much better than that!

Congratulations on a fantastic job!
Mike

[James Combs]

Thanks everyone for your comments.
Dan - Yes, I will probable sell the set some day.
Keith - Thanks for the tip, I may look into contacting his great grandson.
Nathan - Yes, you and I were discussing ammonia fuming at Fred demo, I can give you info on my process if you want to try it.
Dale
Very very nice Dale. I too would be interested in the ammonia fuming process. Perhaps you could write it up as a tutorial and post it in our library(the "Authors" forum).

[David DeCristoforo]

I've made tons of chess boards but never pieces. This is a great looking set of pieces. There is one thing I would like to offer you and anyone else who ever thinks about making a set. The most common mistake is to make the bases too small. I have a set that is a copy of the original Cook pattern Staunton set and the bases range from 1.25" in diameter (pawns) up to 1.375 (king). This not only looks better but adds a ton of stability to the pieces in play, something that can become a real issue if one plays speed chess! It also allows more room for weight in the bases. The "standard" tournament board has 2.25" squares so there is plenty of "air" between the pieces even with the larger bases. The most difficult piece to make is the knight. Your's is simple but very "clean" and stylized. BTW, a "rook" and a "castle" are the same thing, just different names for the same piece.....

[Michael Tucker]

That is absolutely stunning! Not only is it superb craftsmanship it is made from wood with a great story... it doesn't get much better than that!

Congratulations on a fantastic job!
Mike

[David C. Roseman]

Very nice, Dale! Question about the fuming process. How close to finished dimension does the oak have to be when you fume it? Unless the fuming penetrates very deeply, seems like there might be risk of a sand-through, or color change, if much finish sanding is required.

David

[Dale Winburn]

The pieces were sanded to 400 grit before the fuming, then sanded again to 400 - 800 then 0000 steel wool prior to finishing.

The board strips were approximately 1/8" thick and the color went completely through the wood, I have read that the color will go 1/8" deep.

I will write up my process with photos and post it in the near future.

Thanks,
Dale

[Doug W Swanson]

Wow! That is gorgeous!

[David C. Roseman]

The pieces were sanded to 400 grit before the fuming, then sanded again to 400 - 800 then 0000 steel wool prior to finishing.

The board strips were approximately 1/8" thick and the color went completely through the wood, I have read that the color will go 1/8" deep.

I will write up my process with photos and post it in the near future.

Thanks,
Dale

Thanks!

David

[Scott Hackler]

Very nice indeed!

How were you able to apply a CA finish to carved pieces that aren't perfectly round (i.e., cant spin them on the lathe real fast)?

[Joe Hillmann]

Not counting the board, just the pieces, how long did it take to make the full set? I have wanted to turn a chess set for the last 10 years or so but the idea of making 16 identical pawns and 2 or 4 of everything else has prevented me from going any further than thinking about it.

[Dale Winburn]

Scott, I applied the CA in very thin layers then wipe it off. The knights and rooks required some extra work with the 0000 steel wool and micro-mesh but it wasn't bad.

[Dale Winburn]

Joe, I made the set over several weeks and I didn't keep count of the time it took. I do plan to make some more sets, maybe not out of the Stonewall Jackson Prayer Tree.

[Tim Rinehart]

Excellent work Dale. A chess set is probably high on a lot of turners lists of "would like to do", but it's a real challenge with the amount of duplication skills required. I think your decision to make a duplicator for this was prudent. The fuming to darken the 'black' pieces is a good move, in being able to keep the entire set from the SJPT. Look forward to hearing if it stays in the Jackson family, I'm sure it would be a treasured item by whoever acquires this.

[Baxter Smith]

Wonderful work Dale. You have created something very special!

[Ray Bell]

Beautiful work Dale. Makes me ashamed of some of the pieces I turn out. Can you provide information on the tree for this set, or is it something I should do a search for.

[Roger Chandler]

Beautiful work Dale. Makes me ashamed of some of the pieces I turn out. Can you provide information on the tree for this set, or is it something I should do a search for.

Ray...........do a search for the Stonewall Jackson Prayer Tree. This was a tree in our area that was present in the civil war era, where General Jackson and his troops camped between the Middle and South rivers, here in the Shenandoah Valley during his offensive campaign in 1862. The troops and Jackson held prayer meetings under this giant white oak. It came down in May of 2011 during a wind storm, and was estimated to be approximately 350 years old.

I am the guy who got the ball rolling for our turning clubs to utilize this wood.........the owner of the land where this tree stood accepted the vision of making things that would be keepsakes from this historic wood. There are articles and photos of the tree that were in newspapers and some of the TV stations in our area..........

Dale is a member of our club.........he does really nice work!

[Ray Bell]

Thank you Roger, interesting story, and good job convincing the land owner that keepsakes were the optimum option. I will do a search on the tree.

[Dave Fritz]

Just beautiful and really well done. I would be interested in some pictures of your fuming process if you'd be so kind. I'm curious, how deep does the staining go?

Thanks,

Dave F.

[Roger Chandler]

I saw this in person this morning........let me tell you.........it looks better in person than in the pics! Dale has done absolutely stellar work on this chess set!

[Jim Watkins]

Dale, really awesome looking set. Been wanting to do set someday.

Roger, can anyone join in the fun or only those from your club?

[Roger Chandler]

Dale, really awesome looking set. Been wanting to do set someday.

Roger, can anyone join in the fun or only those from your club?

The agreement we had with the owner was for our two clubs.......back several years ago, the tree was trimmed to try to help save it, and some of that wood did go to other places than our two clubs here in the area.........that being said........most of the wood is gone now [already processed] and our members are working on it.......

So this project has been going since May of 2011..........I don't think there will be any to be had outside the clubs.

[Brian Finney]

Congrats to both Dale & Roger on a nice job - you both did good!!

Dale, could we have more details on the home built duplicator.

Brian

[Jim Watkins]

Thanks for the reply Roger. Do you have some pictures you can post of some of the other projects? I love the Civil War Era and this is really interesting.

[Dale Winburn]

Congrats to both Dale & Roger on a nice job - you both did good!!

Dale, could we have more details on the home built duplicator.

Brian

Brian, I'll post some info on my home built duplicator in the near future. I also plan to post info on my ammonia fuming process.

Regards,
Dale

[Dale Winburn]

Thanks for the reply Roger. Do you have some pictures you can post of some of the other projects? I love the Civil War Era and this is really interesting.

Jim, I've made several items with the SJPT wood, you can see some of them on my home page, go to my profile.

Thanks,
Dale

[Ronald Blue]

I am not a chess player but I can certainly appreciate the craftsmanship you put into these Dale. I think they are superbly done and the fact that the wood has historical significance just makes them more special. Thanks for sharing with us.