Mid Century Modern DIY Chess Pieces

My son loves to play chess and I have no idea how to play. So I decided to build a chess set! I originally thought of turning these on the lathe but quickly gave up on that plan, as I lack the skills to do so. But I am a huge fan of modern art and minimalist objects. And started to do some research and eventually came across a set created by Lanier Graham in 1966 and fell in love with its simplicity and really enjoyed how all of the pieces fit in a tiny little box. This build is Part 1 of 2 and may likely contain an optional Part 3 which would be a box to hold the chess pieces. What I really like about this set is that the dimensions are not terribly specific. In my case, I chose to go with chess pieces that were 20mm by 20mm, so a Pawn would end up being 20mm cubed. I will give the dimensions of each piece in terms of blocks, allowing you to adjust the piece size if you wish. Checkout the Chessboard build here:    • How to Make a Modern Chess Board from Recy...   ~ Sizing and Dimensions ~ Because I started with the chess pieces I wasn't concerned too much about the size of the pieces, but make sure to check and confirm the official rules of Chess. I think your pieces are supposed to be about 25% smaller than the squares they go on. 1” square would be a ¾” piece. Pawn - 1x1 block Rook - 1x2 block Knight - 1x2 block Bishop - 1x2 block Queen & King - 1x6 block, plus the kerf of your bandsaw or hand saw blade ~ Now we will need to do some layout ~ The Pawns are simple, create a cube The Rook is also super simple, create a block 1x2 For the Knight, I made a mark in the middle and divided the width essentially creating a lap joint. The Bishop is a 45-degree angle starting at one end and should end in the middle of the piece. The King and Queen are a bit different, find the middle and draw a 45-degree line on both sides of the half so that you have a V. ~ Final Steps ~ Once everything has been cut out and obviously for each colour of the wood ( I chose maple and walnut, but you could use any contrasting woods ) it was time for a lot of sanding. Because this chess set is “Modern” we want to maintain the sharp edges so break the edges but do not round them. I applied a few coats of Tung oil, it was rather daunting applying then cleaning off the excess oil but it turned out amazing! Keep an eye out for Part 2 where I build the Chessboard!    • How to Make a Modern Chess Board from Recy...   I hope you enjoyed this one, and please if you haven’t already, please like 👍 and subscribe 😁 You can also check this out on the blog https://imamaker.ca/2019/07/mid-centu... https://imamaker.ca/2019/09/maple-and... Share, Like, and Subscribe: https://bit.ly/subMaker Lend a hand! Buy me a coffee - https://bit.ly/helpMaker Amazon Store - https://bit.ly/shopMaker Follow: Instagram -   / heyimamaker   Facebook -   / heyimamaker   Twitter -   / heyimamaker   Website - https://imamaker.ca/ Tools Used: Thickness Planer Band Saw Table Saw 80 Tooth crosscut blade Sand Paper Tung oil Rotring 800 Pencil Square Ruler Chapters 0:00 - Intro 2:13 - Chess piece layout 7:56 - Sanding… 8:12 - Applying finish 9:00 - Chess piece layout 9:58 - Cleaning up the pieces #maker #woodworking #diy #reclaimed #scrap wood #chess Thank you Jordan for helping out with the camera work 😄