Please excuse the off topic nature of this posting but it has traditional craft elements within so perhaps you'll forgive this indulgence. Besides we've got no one else to show it to, except our wives etc and you lot are an appreciative bunch. 
Earlier in the year my best mate Paul laid down a challenge to my brother Matthew and I to make a chessboard. We'd already done a few crafty types challenges before like, making a trinket box and to "Steampunk" something .
So the deadline was set for the end of July this year and the gauntlet picked up. We were given completely free reign for how we went about it. So each of us got busy in our own little hideaways workshops basements and kitchen (My brother lacked a workshop at the time).
So I thought you might like to see the end results.
Firstly my brother's. He's a big fan of the Steampunk genre and went for something that looked Victorain as well as "Gentlemanly" with a slight slant on normality. The pieces are made out of lead. The brief was to just make the board not the pieces but he thought it best to have a go and do something. All the parts that made this cost less than a tenner.
Rather than go with a simple chessboard he went for a world map too.
The board hinges up flat for easier storage.
Next up is mine.
I too was influenced by the Steampunk genre a bit but mostly wanted a Gentleman's a travel case type chess set. The leather's a bit battered and stained in places which adds to the worn aspect of it.
I had a beech burl drying out in the garage so that got sliced up to make the ends
Undo the buckels and it unrolls and the board is revealed.
The pieces I bought for it let it down, £3 on ebay. Just couldn't be ar$ed to make all those fiddly little pieces.
6mm saddle leather was soaked and rolled around a dowel and left to dry to form the tube case that holes the pieces. A shaped piece of spalted beech is the lid.
The "board" is part of an old leather case, 2mm thick and measures 200mm x 200mm In total my effort cost under a tenner as well... just.
Lastly here's Paul's mediocre effort. Somehow I think his heart just wasn't in it. I know he could have done better but he kept rattling on about time limitiations etc. so please excuse the shoddiness of his workmanship. He's getting a bit better at it now.
Made entirely from Padauk and Beech and measures 410mms x 410mms x 100mm.
Each side facing the players has a drawer containing the pieces that he'd turned on his lathe and then shaped to the individual chessmen. The knights were the hardest he said.
Yes the padauk wood is really that red, but ultra-violet light makes it darken down to a deep brown in only a few days. Paul has kept this under wraps since making it to preserve the red.
Lastly and please excuse the sheer audacity of this, but Paul's offering up this chessboard for sale on ebay:
There's hours and hours of work, blood sweat and tears that went into that board hence the asking price. I think it's worth it for a one-off hand made item like that.
Thanks for reading. You can see more of Paul's workmanship HERE
Earlier in the year my best mate Paul laid down a challenge to my brother Matthew and I to make a chessboard. We'd already done a few crafty types challenges before like, making a trinket box and to "Steampunk" something .
So the deadline was set for the end of July this year and the gauntlet picked up. We were given completely free reign for how we went about it. So each of us got busy in our own little hideaways workshops basements and kitchen (My brother lacked a workshop at the time).
So I thought you might like to see the end results.
Firstly my brother's. He's a big fan of the Steampunk genre and went for something that looked Victorain as well as "Gentlemanly" with a slight slant on normality. The pieces are made out of lead. The brief was to just make the board not the pieces but he thought it best to have a go and do something. All the parts that made this cost less than a tenner.
Rather than go with a simple chessboard he went for a world map too.
The board hinges up flat for easier storage.
Next up is mine.
I too was influenced by the Steampunk genre a bit but mostly wanted a Gentleman's a travel case type chess set. The leather's a bit battered and stained in places which adds to the worn aspect of it.
I had a beech burl drying out in the garage so that got sliced up to make the ends
Undo the buckels and it unrolls and the board is revealed.
The pieces I bought for it let it down, £3 on ebay. Just couldn't be ar$ed to make all those fiddly little pieces.
6mm saddle leather was soaked and rolled around a dowel and left to dry to form the tube case that holes the pieces. A shaped piece of spalted beech is the lid.
The "board" is part of an old leather case, 2mm thick and measures 200mm x 200mm In total my effort cost under a tenner as well... just.
Lastly here's Paul's mediocre effort. Somehow I think his heart just wasn't in it. I know he could have done better but he kept rattling on about time limitiations etc. so please excuse the shoddiness of his workmanship. He's getting a bit better at it now.
Made entirely from Padauk and Beech and measures 410mms x 410mms x 100mm.
Each side facing the players has a drawer containing the pieces that he'd turned on his lathe and then shaped to the individual chessmen. The knights were the hardest he said.
Yes the padauk wood is really that red, but ultra-violet light makes it darken down to a deep brown in only a few days. Paul has kept this under wraps since making it to preserve the red.
Lastly and please excuse the sheer audacity of this, but Paul's offering up this chessboard for sale on ebay:
There's hours and hours of work, blood sweat and tears that went into that board hence the asking price. I think it's worth it for a one-off hand made item like that.
Thanks for reading. You can see more of Paul's workmanship HERE
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