Mid Century Modern DIY Chess Pieces
47,274
Published 2019-07-26
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...
~ 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...
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
imamaker.ca/2019/07/mid-century-modern-chess-piece…
imamaker.ca/2019/09/maple-and-walnut-modern-chessb…
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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
All Comments (21)
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Thanks ❤️ -
Oh my god. I thought this was cool from the start, but when they stacked together like that... next level. I love this.
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Love this design, cannot think anything more minimalistic, elegant and functional!
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Nicee ! I would love to see also some box for the pieces.. ❤
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first i was like: this makes a really cool chess set. then you stacked them together in a perfect rectangle and it blew my mind. absolutely beautiful, man!
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Next level of coolness. Great job.
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this is amazing, just one small detail only nerds like me will see: Since we are looking from the hites perspective tge left white rook is on A1 that means that the King is on D1 when its supposed to be on E1 and the Queen on D1 but its still amazing keep it up!
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Excellent work. Thank you for sharing your talents 👏👏🌈🇭🇲😀♟👏👏👏
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Beauty chess board
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this is fantastic! inspired to make something like this! i've been hella caught up on how to make simple-ish pieces
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Oh! When that gorgeous rotring makes an appearance! 😍
No but really great video and phenomenal chess set!! The stacking! Absolutely brilliant! It floored me! So so good! -
Parabéns excelente trabalho! Very Good!
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I love this (even though I suck at chess) I like how you did all the proportions and how it stacks together. It's really clean looking. Great job!! 👍🍻
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Very cool project! Just a note on safety: Gloves should never be worn when using the table saw. Cheers
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Elegence in simplicity. I very much like this.
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Dunking the pieces in the can to finish them was brilliant!! I would have been trying to rub it on each piece!!
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Two games in one Chess and a puzzle when you put the game away. Love the design!
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Les choses les plus simples,sont les meilleures.
Bravo jolie travail 👍 -
Wow this video is awesome, I love that they all stack so neatly together
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Holy moly that's next level chess. Love that they stack together!
