How to Build Your Own Wooden Chess Set
- By Katie
- April 02, 2020
I'm a huge fan of art and crafts, personally I don't think there's anything more rewarding than creating something yourself. Unfortunately, I feel like many people are afraid of making mistakes or that they simply don't have the interest in building things.
That's why I came up with the idea of combining hobbies to double the chance of someone giving it a shot. My husband is a massive chess fan, but has no interest in making things, so... I told him he should make a wooden chess set from scratch! He loved the idea! But it still took a while to get him to do it because it took us ages to find a decent how to guide on the internet.
So, I decided to put together a page on my website for him which lists some of the easiest ways for how to build your own chess set out of wood.
Design #1
This one is a nice and simple design from FamilyHandyman.com. I really like how they've done the two different colours, simply using two different types of wood. They used a table saw, a miter saw, a router, a nailgun, glue, nails, clamps, and of course, wood.
They also include a youtube video too walk you through it step-by-step. You can see it here.
Design #2
This one is a nice and simple design from a Reddit.com user called benjaab123. This one includes the pieces as well and looks so simple, yet it's laced with genius. If you look closely, you can see that the pieces themselves indicate the directions they move in! It actually helps teach someone how to play chess!
Design #3
This one is a cool design that's not just a chess set, but a chess box too. It was made by the guys at Jay's Custom Creations. They don't include the pieces in this one but that's fine as you could use the method from Design #2.
Design #4
This one was built by a guy called Adam Fleisch. I couldn't find a website for him but he has a great youtube video where he breaks down each step of the process, and shows you exactly what he uses. Again, he doesn't include making the pieces, but you guys have a way around that now. It's fairly similiar to Design #1, but I think it helps to have a couple of the same styles on here as some people do prefer different explanations.
After I was done creating this list I thought...isn't this a great idea. So I've started thinking of other ways we could combine woodworking with other hobbies, I'll link to them from here once I've finished putting them together.
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