We’ll be showing you how to make a chessboard and custom chess pieces with great chess piece designs. Caring Chess Pieces yourself gives you that freedom to make them look your own way.

Carving chess pieces need not be a herculean task. With a saw and knife combined with virtues of patience and dedication, the chess pieces can be easily carved. When starting out it is usually advisable to start with the pawns as they are all of the same sizes. A 1.25” pawn size is recommended to prevent burnout from trying to cut out a longer pawn size. Carving a chess piece can be repetitive as 32 pieces would be carved out and 16 of which would be pawns.

These Are The Steps To Carve Chess Pieces;

1. Select Your Tools

The tools required are a saw and a knife. A portable chip or whittling knife is best suited for the carving. Any small sharp knife will however still deliver. A bigger knife would be required to split the wood into 4 required pieces. In the absence of a knife, a flex-cut or pfeil can be used.

2. Select The Wood

Wooden chess pieces look quite amazing. For carving chess pieces, two different colors of wood can be used. Lighter shade for one team and a darker shade for the opposing team. Sometimes one shade of wood can be used and then colored with varnish or wood sealant to create the opposing team.

3. Prepare The Wood

Greenwood can be used because this wood is soft and is suitable for beginners as there would be less exertion while trying to make a cut. For the more experienced carver, black cherry, apple, mayflower or maple trees can be used.

4. Work The Wood

This involves initial cutting the wood into blocks before the process of rough cutting. It is at this step that the height of each of the pieces is determined. This should be around 1.25” for the pawns and 3.5” for the kings and queens. The pieces to be cut include 16 pawns, 4 rooks, 4 knights, 4 bishops, 2 queens, and 2 kings.

5. Make Rough Cut

This step involves giving an initial shape to the piece of wood. This shape would be rough and would need to be fine-tuned subsequently. In this step, the required height and girth of the wood would have to be determined. It is important that a standard height measurement is noted so that the chess pieces have a uniform height and do not appear jumbled.

6. Make The Fine Cut

This cut is very important as it plays a determining role in the final outcome. Fine cuts demand diligent work and delicate carving. Fine cuts directly affect the shape, features, and cut off the chess piece in its polished and finished shape. At this stage, the small chip comes in very handy as it helps in smoothening out any rough edges thus giving the chess piece the required shape. This step requires maximum care as a careless cut can ruin the piece.

7. Finished Cut

This step involves giving smoothening and a finished look to the chess piece. It requires more details, mastery, and delicacy than any of the other steps. This step requires intense observation to check for any error. It also requires precision and accuracy. The pieces have to be uniform thus, this stage is more about perfecting the chess piece and ensuring the chess pieces align.

8. Glue The Pieces

This is for pieces that involve joining more than one piece of wood together. The glue would help stick pieces together tightly ensuring they do not fall apart or split.

9. Sand The Edges

This is to add an extra clean finish to the wood. This is done by sanding the top and bottom edges of the finished cut.

10. Color The Wood

This is to separate the two teams as discussed earlier. A wood varnish, oil, or spray can be used for the color effect and identification of teams. The darker pieces can be coated with a sanding sealant. After the pieces have been sprayed and air-dried they are ready for the gameplay.

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Author: EasyInfoBlog Editor