Introduction: Screw Chess! or Better Chess Figures Made Out of Screws

Hello World,

Ok first  instructable so forgive any newbie mistakes.

This thing I did last year in January and I actually made enough pictures to start with an instructable.
Although I think this won't come as a surprise for many.

Chess sets out of screws is not new but for me it was a fun little project.

For this I decided only to make the figures, since I already had a nice wooden chess board, so I made sure before I bought any screws how much space I had for each figure. This determined the size of screw I could get.

A small check-list

- Screws/Nuts/Washers/Couplings/Etc. (a fair few)
- two spray can's (different colour & optional)
- felt pieces (used for chairs and sofas etc.)

Some spare time... to play with the screws till you have your own kind of figures, figured out.

I suggest listening to an audio book.

Step 1: Assembly One

I have no pictures of all the iterations of my chess figures they were quite wild to begin with.

Let's say I was not totally in a chaotic mood and logically started with the pawn...

easy and a bit smaller than the other screws I bought and of course you have to make 16 of those.

One screw, two nuts, and this acorn nut thingy for the top.

1... 2 ... 3... etc.

Then after this boring task you should go for one of the fancy figures; Knight, Bishop or King and Queen

And to help me along I decided to put the finished pieces in to boxes so I won't forget a piece or make one too much.

Step 2: Assembly Two

In the end the order in which you design your figures does not matter.

But you have to keep an eye on balance, stability and your screw supply.

I also made sure that one can distinguish the importance of the pieces easily.

Mainly by using longer screws and couplings for the more important pieces.  

Queen / Tower / Bishop

Step 3: Spraying (optional)

I was not entirely happy with my spray cans and the result.

If I were to be in the same situation again I think I would spent some more time thinking over alternatives to distinguish the two sides. 

Also I have no worthy pictures of the actual act of spraying the pieces but I think, as it is quite easy, it is also not needed.

Some finished pieces instead.

Step 4: Felt?

Last step in my construction were those self-gluing felt pieces (lower right corner).

I put one beneath each figure for easy gliding, noise reduction and a better stand.

One exception, the Knight... was not really going to work with the design I chose.

I hope this gives you the push you needed to make one yourself, and maybe it even was helpful or new to you.

Thanks for reading

PB
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