Making Wooden Chess Sets E-Book

Jim Kape

• Herausgeber: Fox Chapel Publishing
• Kategorie: Lebensstil
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Seitenzahl: 108

Beschreibung

Chess is played by millions of people worldwide. It holds a certain status to those who play it, often displaying their game boards as part of their décor. Woodworker and author Jim Kape takes this competitive mind sport to the next level, with 15 classic and modern designs of chess sets that are true conversation starters. Making Wooden Chess Sets includes patterns to create sets inspired by Paris, San Francisco, Henry VIII, and Neo-Classic design. The Berlin chess set will give chess enthusiasts and woodworkers a new viewpoint of the game with its vertical board that mounts on the wall. Also included - all the information needed to construct a handsome chess board, a travel chess set, and a range of storage boxes. With his use of beautiful exotic woods, and a high level of craftsmanship, Kape will have everyone from chess set collectors, to scrollers and woodworkers, interested in creating unique, heirloom-quality sets with this interesting book.

Leseprobe

Making

WOODENCHESS SETS

Making

WOODENCHESS SETS

15 One-of-a-Kind Projectsfor the Scroll Saw

Jim Kape

Dedication

This book is dedicated to my father. He passed away before he could see the things I’m most proud of in my life: my children and my own legacy. This book and the work involved in putting it together are a labor of love that he would have been proud of. I love you Dad.

Contents

Introduction

About Chess

Chapter 1: Getting Started

Chapter 2: The Chess Sets

Classic Chess Set

Making the Classic Set

Neo-Classic

Neo-Classic II

King Henry VIII

Trojan

Peter the Great

Canterbury

Paris

Roman Glory

San Francisco

Venice

Chapter 3: Projects

Making a Chessboard

Simple Storage Box

Travel Chess Set

Vertical Chess Set

Pattern Appendix

About this Book

You’ll take a tour through the world and history when you make one of these chess sets. No matter what your interest, there is a unique chess design here for you. Step-by-step instructions are included for the Classic Set, as well as a chessboard, simple storage box, travel chess set, and vertical chess set. The complete pattern appendix contains every pattern you need to make the projects in this book—thanks to multiple patterns of the pieces that require them, you’ll need to copy only three pages to make each set.

Classic: A classic chess set for those who prefer the traditional look. Page 25.

King Henry VIII: A rotund design with nice heft. Page 40.

Trojan: A Greek-inspired set that will transport your chessboard to the Mediterranean. Page 43.

Paris: Explore the romantic motifs of Paris in this miniature monument to France’s handsome capital. Page 52.

Roman Glory: Recall the Roman history you learned in school while battling gladiator-style on the chessboard. Page 55.

Neo-Classic: A twist on the classic chess set that features curves and points. Page 34.

Neo-Classic II: A curvy, soft-cornered alternative design. Page 37.

Peter the Great: An epic design that invokes the beautiful historic architecture of Russia. Page 46.

Canterbury: A bevy of interior cuts highlights the grandness of this English-inspired set. Page 49.

San Francisco: This creative design represents San Francisco’s most notable landmarks in chess form—including the streetcar. Page 58.

Venice: A regal design focusing on Venice’s diverse architectural wonders. Page 61.

Introduction

The Henry VIII set in the Castle at Ashley Manor, Chandler, Arizona.

Imagine yourself in my shoes for a moment. It was winter in Arizona, a crisp 65° outside. The grass was green and the desert was resting before bursting forth in another blast-furnace summer. I had just finished a beautiful cherry jewelry box as a Christmas present for my niece, and it came out even better than imagined. After this success, my passion for woodworking was growing exponentially. I was at a crossroads: what was going to be the next project? Something in the back of my mind whispered “chess set.” As I puzzled it over, I realized it would be something elegant and refined. This was something I had wanted to build since high school, when a friend of mine brought one home from wood shop.

Building the board was fairly easy. There were multiple plans online, so I ordered the lumber. I selected maple and walnut. This would turn out to be a great combination for a chessboard. The woods have similar characteristics, and contrast each other very well. I built the board using a cheap portable table saw, wood glue, and clamps. After sanding and finishing, it looked fantastic.

I had a picture in my mind of what the pieces should look like, but no idea how to bring them to life. I glued some scrap walnut and maple together to make a composite chess piece. My first attempt was to sand them into shape with a bench belt sander. I made a lot of sawdust, but no chess pieces. Then I pulled out my old rotary tool and tried to power carve them. Again, I made a big mess, but no chess pieces. I then thought it might be easier to just carve them by hand. I didn’t make a big mess this time, but it didn’t take long for me to figure out that maple and walnut are hard to carve by hand. I was still without any chess pieces. I was stumped. I knew I could use a lathe to turn the pieces, but I had never used a lathe and did not have the funds to invest in one. I then thought of a scroll saw. I had had one many years before, but had very little success with it. In reading online, I figured out the mistakes I had made with my first saw, so I decided to invest in another one. Luckily, I found a scroll saw online for $30.

Next I had to figure out the patterns for the pieces. After about 3 hours of intense work on the computer, I had a design. This design would evolve into the Classic Set that is in this book. I took that pattern and cut my first piece.

The piece was rough, but came out much better than I had anticipated. So I kept designing and building. I designed several chess pieces that would never see the light of day because the design was so bad. Some of the designs turned out very well and are also found in this book. As I grew more comfortable with designing, I became more daring in my designs, including inside cuts, complex curves, different bases, and many other things. I shared one design, based on the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, with a scroll saw friend, and he turned that into an award-winning chess set. It took prizes in both his county and state fairs. I took that same design and entered it in a local woodworking competition and came away with a blue ribbon. I was hooked. I would go to sleep thinking about designs, draw them during the day, and cut them in the evening.

The first chess piece cut by the author.

This book has been a labor of love. It has taken my sawdust therapy and turned it into something I hope will last and be useful for many years to come. This book has been put together to provide you, the reader, with designs, descriptions, pictures, and ideas. For every woodworker I’ve ever met, that’s enough to get the juices flowing. If you are just starting out, take your time and think through what you are going to do. If you are unsure, find an online forum and ask questions. There is not a woodworker out there who has not needed a question answered. If you are an experienced craftsman, you probably have jumped ahead to the designs and changed them already. I hope I’ve provided enough food for thought for every person who picks up this book. I hope you enjoy building your chess set or sets as much as I have putting this together.

Happy cutting!

About Chess

Why are we so drawn to this game? I think it has something to do with the history of chess. It is a game that blended life in the middle ages and the Renaissance into a board game of infinite possibilities that all fit on 64 little colored squares. The game is elegant, as are the sets. Owners of fine chess sets get an implied 20 extra IQ points for having one around, even if the only player is the house cat.

History of Chess

The game can be traced back to a sixth-century game in India. This game featured the four major pieces of a then-modern army: the infantry, cavalry, elephant, and chariot. These have turned into the pawn, knight, bishop, and rook, respectively. The game found its way to Europe via traders, merchants, and conquerors from the east starting in the ninth century. The game further evolved until around 1475, when most of the rules we use today were adopted. Strategy and tactics for the game were first published in the fifteenth century and have continued through the present day.

The first modern chess tournament was held in 1851 in London, and was won by German player Adolf Anderssen. This was the beginning of the game as a sport. Individual games and players were featured in newspaper columns and periodicals dedicated to the game. In 1849, Howard Staunton, considered the best player in the world, wrote about a chess set designed by Nathaniel Cook and manufactured by Jaques of London. In this article, he praised the design for being easily identifiable and sturdy. Staunton lent his name to the set and actually signed the box for each set that left the factory. This is the basic chess set we know today.

San Francisco chess set.

Rules of the Game

For a game to not only survive, but thrive, for as long as chess has in the same basic form, you would think the rules would need to be simple and obvious. That is not necessarily the case. A game of chess is a ballet of deep thought in which each player seeks to place the other in a position of jeopardy from which he or she cannot escape. The game involves strategy and tactics, thinking many moves ahead, trickery, bluffs, attack, and defense. Chess is one of the world’s most popular games, transcending language, race, and nationality.

This is a very rudimentary set of rules, and much more complete descriptions and diagrams for the game are found online and in books. If chess gets in your blood and you can’t get enough of it, check your local community for chess clubs and competitions.

The board

The board the game is played on is 64 squares, alternating in light and dark colors. The squares are arranged in an 8-by-8 grid. Traditionally, the game is begun with a light square on each player’s right hand.

The players

There are two players in a game of chess—one person using the light-colored pieces, the other using the dark-colored pieces. The player using the light-colored pieces is called White, while the player using the dark-colored pieces is called Black.

The pieces

There are six different pieces in a chess set: the king, queen, bishop, knight, rook, and pawn.

■King: Taking this piece is the objective for each player. While it is usually the largest piece on the board, it is not the most powerful, and is limited to moving a single square in any direction.

■Queen: This is the most powerful piece on the board for each player. The queen is able to move in any single direction as far as possible, without jumping over any pieces.

■Bishop: There are two bishops per side. Each player has a bishop that starts the game on a light square and another on a dark square. Since the bishop moves only diagonally, the light bishop will rest only on light-colored squares, and the dark bishop will rest only on dark-colored squares. This piece also needs a clear lane of movement and cannot jump other pieces. Each bishop can move multiple squares in a single direction per turn.

■Knight: Unlike the other pieces on the board, the knight does not move in a straight line, and can jump over other pieces. The knight’s move is two squares vertically or horizontally, and one square to the side. The move will look like a large letter L every time. Each player starts the game with two knights.

■Rook: This castle piece moves in a straight line horizontally or vertically as far as possible without jumping other pieces. It can also move in conjunction with the king in what is called castling. This is moving the king toward the rook two squares, and putting the rook on the adjoining square on the opposite side of the king. Each player also begins the game with two rooks.

■Pawn: Seemingly the least powerful pieces on the board, the pawns are very important. Their move is one or two squares forward on the first move, and one move forward thereafter. If the pawn is attacking another piece, it will take the piece one diagonal square forward in either direction. If a player’s pawn moves to the end row of the board, it can be exchanged for any other piece, usually a queen. There are eight pawns for each side.

Paris chess set.

Starting positions