My excuse for not posting a pen lately

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daledut

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I have not had time to turn a pen in weeks. Here are some photos of my excuse for that. I made the pieces, board and box from maple and cocobolo.

A man from my church came to me and said that with all the nice pens I made that he thought I could make a chess set. He wanted it for his 25 year old son for Christmas. This is the most fun I've had on the lathe. It lacks the instant gratification of making a pen, but it is fun to have a reason to do the coves and beads.

I never would have had the confidence to try this if it had not been for pen turing.


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DCBluesman

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Just beautiful! I can understand how someone with talent (read: not me) can do all of this except the Knights and the King. How did you fashion those?
 

PenWorks

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Dale, to bad you have to part with this. It is gorgeous! Good excuse for not turning pens. I used to collect chess pieces. Maybe seeing this will motivate me to make the 3 or 4 boards I was going to do 3 years ago. Great job. Anthony
 

daledut

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Thank you for the compliments. Believe me it was very hard to part with, but since it was a commissioned work I had no choice. I have already decided to make a set for my new son-in-law for next Christmas.

The King was made by turning the whole thing with a disc where the cross is. Then using a disc sander to flaten the sides. The Knight was similar. I turned the bottom portion to finished profile and left the upper portion round. I then flattened the sides on a sander and drew the horse head and cut it with a scroll saw. Then there was a lot of hand work using a dremel style tool to smooth the edges and cut in the details,
 

Daniel

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Great Job, I am a fancier of chess sets myself. I also have a mamber of my church that collects them. I will show him your pictures. i may be getting myself in for a couple of sets myself. you have done a beautiful job with it.
 

daledut

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Mark and Daniel thanks for the compliments.

Mark, This is by far the nicest thing I have ever made but I hope it is not my fianle'[;)]

Daniel, With all the pens you make I don't know how you find time for more stuff. I am sure you would do a great job on a chess set. It was indeed a blast to make. I have 30 hours (about half of that experimenting since this is my first chess set) and $75 in supplies.
 

daledut

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I don't mind. I sold it for $250. Which in my opinion did not cover my time. I did it for a very good friend and enjoyed myself greatly. I have 30+ hours in it and $50 in supplies. The supply cost would have been higher but all of the maple was free.

Unless I either got faster at making the pieces, or found people willing to pay about double what I got for this one, I would not try to do this for profit.

I plan a couple more for next year that will become family heirlooms.

If profit is what I am after, pens are easier to make and the profit is much higher.

But if you are tired of turning cylinders, make a chess set, you will love it.[:)]
 

Gary

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Beautiful...now that you have the experience factor of this one, just imagine how nice the 2nd and 3rd ones will look!
 

DCBluesman

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Wood: $50.00
Time: 30 hours
Learning value to you: Endless
Value to a close friend: Priceless
Value to our forum: Also priceless

Thanks for sharing this set with us. I can assure you, Dale, if you chose to make these and found the right venue, $500 for a set like this would be no problem. [8D]
 

daledut

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Lou,
Thanks for the encouragment. I was not sure at first that this belonged in a pen turning forum, but it has been well received.
You hit the nail on the head with your observations. The experience to me has been priceless. And my friend absolutely loved it.
I honestly don't know how to tap into the market of people that will pay for custom work. I seem to have run out of customers for pens also. I work in a factory and fancy pens are not a high priority. I have pretty much tapped out my friends and family. All attempts to market to strangers have failed.
I have become content to think of pen making (and other woodworking) as a hobby rather than a business.
Don't mean to sound like I am complaining, I have simply determined not to let money (or lack thereof) spoil my enjoyment in woodworking.
 

PenWorks

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Dale, thanks again for sharing this work of art with us. I wish you could get $1.00 every time somebody clicked on it. I still haven't started my 3 boards yet. But you have inspired me. Anthony
 

dougle40

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Dale ,
Beautiful job on the chess pieces .
If you're looking for a venue for future sales , why don't you do an internet search for "Chess Forums" and try to post a couple of pictures there! Who knows , might work!!
 

vick

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Just a thought if you made the board stand out you might be able to make it a profitable venture. I got some ideas from boards at http://www.houseofstaunton.com/ it should not increase your time or materials by very much. If you look at the prices they charge you should be able to make yours affordable.
I have a picture of a Padauk and maple borad I made to give you a rough idea what I am talking about. I am sure you could make the board better than I did. (note - only a sadist or an idiot would use Padauk in a chess board)

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daledut

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Bill,
You gave me some real good stuff to work with. I think I will avoid cocbolo glue ups in the future though. The stuff just doen't like to stick.
 

bjackman

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Dale,
The link you posted in the yahoo forum has been sitting in my inbox for a few weeks until I got a chance to click over and take a look.
Absolutely Stunning Work!!!

Please do post your dimensions.

Bill J.
 

daledut

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Thanks again for the compliments.

I have exact caliper measurements at home (I am at work right now), but I will give what I know off the top of my head.

The squares are 1 1/2 inch square, making the board 12 in. plus the border. The border is about 1 1/2 in. wide as well.

The pieces base diameter range from 3/4" for the pawns to just about 1" for the king. I don't recall the heights of everything but I seem to remember 3" for the King.

If I ever get a day off from work I intend to write everything up including blank sizes and everything.
 
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