I practiced a bit more today but with different things. First, I have wanted to turn my own chess
pieces for quite a while. That is one of the reasons I wanted to begin turning. So the other day, I quickly sketched out some ideas for a pattern for chess pieces. They looked something like that (keep in mind that this drawing was done on the computer and I can draw better with a pen than with a mouse).

I had some small blanks which I thought I would practice with. They were much to small to begin with so I knew starting out that the base of the piece would be too thin. But I am just attempting to get use to turning these kind of pieces. Also, I did not sand and finish them as I should have so the pictures show chips and stuff. And I did not cut off the top and bottoms as I should of. I guess I am saying that these look bad and I know that. I am just practicing turning designs I see in my head. The pieces in the picture are too thin, and there is much to improve on but I learned a lot by turning them.

I attempted to turn a bishop and his head came off (far right). Then I "successfully" (depending on your definition) a bishop. And then I tried a king. Here is a close up of the king. Really bad looking but I will get better.

Here is what I learned about turning chess pieces. First, I need to use a larger piece of wood so the base will be as big as i want. I knew this going in but I had a lot of little blanks so i just used them. Second, soft woods just do not seem to be the best for this kind of turning. Either that, or I need to get my tools sharpened (both of which are probably true). Finally, I need some sort of small saw to cut off the parts I want to cut off. My table saw would be a bit of over kill.

After I turned some chess pieces, I attempted to turn some rings. This was inspired by this video I saw the other day. You have to watch the whole video. You can tell this guy has been turning for years.



I tried to do make those rings. Here are my attempts. The lighter one came out relatively well for my first time trying it. Again, this was probably too soft of wood to do this kind of thing. The darker ring was supposed to be part of a bigger piece. I was attempting to make something like a spool with two rings in it. In the end, the whole piece essentially blew apart in the lathe and the dark ring is the only thing left.

So begins my venture into kings and rings.