HEY EVERYONE!
Chess sets are Amazing objects and a luxury chess set that has been custom designed and hand made out of beautiful woods can cost several hundred and sometimes thousands of dollars. But many who could make a chess set are afraid of the challenge because of the time and care required in the process. In this video I show the process of making the Rooks for a large Staunton chess set that I designed. Wood turning and carving chess pieces is a fun and rewarding process. I hope you enjoy this video and perhaps gain a bit of understanding from this project... and who knows... maybe some of you will finally be brave enough to do it yourself!
best regards!
Conrad Craft




Further Description:
Hi guys! Conrad Craft here.
Making a Giant Chess set has always been a project I knew I would do some day. You all know about Some Day right? Its going to be a pretty busy day whenever it gets here... anyway.........
...When a client in New York Contacted me requesting a giant custom chess board and set of pieces, suddenly Someday was here.
This Large set will have a chess board that is 26 inches X 26 inches (including the border). The checker board playing surface will measure 24 inches X 24 inches... making the individual squares equal 3 inches X 3 Inches. The Chessmen will be based on my own slight modification of the traditional Staunton Chess set shapes. Obviously, Since I am hand turning and hand carving these chess pieces, perfect uniformity will not be possible (I'm not that skilled yet) but I will be using wood turning techniques and Carving techniques that increase the chances of getting as close to uniform as I can.
The Woods I am using are African Mahogany for the dark squares on the game board and for the dark game pieces, and Maple For the light Game board squares and light game pieces. For the price, these woods work down exceedingly well with basic shop tools and are relatively easy to carve and shape with hand tools... not to mention how beautiful they are as woods in general and how well they seem to work together for this project. I highly recommend using these two species on your next Makers Project or DIY.

In this Video I show the processes of turning the rooks and cutting the notches in the rook castle battlements.

Making this Luxury, Giant, Outdoor Chess Set has been an exceedingly fun project and I am so glad to get the opportunity to share it with you now.
Enjoy Video 3!!!