Eldrbarry's Daydream: Turning my own Chess Pieces

A picture of a chess set turned out of a piece of 13th Century Oak by an English turner on pages 30, 31 of Gareth Williams' Master Pieces: The Architecture of Chess planted the thought in my mind "Why couldn't I make a chess set.myself?" So I started to "day dream" about turning my own chess pieces. What would I need? Who could teach me?

Since I don't have a garage or a shop - turning wood generates plenty of shavings - and dust, for the time being, I will just have to "day dream." But since I haven't found a site devoted to the subject of turning your own chess pieces, I thought I would put together one with information and links.

Wood Turning:

Ancient/ Medieval Woodturning: A Foundation Course by Keith Rowley

  • Turning Wood With Richard Raffan by Richard Raffan
  • The Principles and Practice of Ornamental or Complex Turning by John Jacob Hotzapffel: Dover Publications, 1973 (ISBN )
  • The Lathe Book: A Complete Guide to the Machine and Its Accessories by Ernie Conover
  • Lathes and Turning Techniques: The Best of Fine Woodworking (Best of Fine Woodworking) by Fine Woodworking
  • How to Carve Wood: A Book of Projects and Techniques by Richard Butz Finding hands on instruction or Classes http://www.woodworking.co.uk/Technical/Beginners/beginners.html http://www.turningtools.co.uk/wtintro/wtintro.html e-book Mini Lathes - A variety of Mini Lathes can be found for around $100 and up on Ebay. Wood Turners Web Ring Woodturning
  • Woodturning Web Ring Woodturning info
  • Wood Turning Information Web Ring