Brian Lippincott wrote on Wed, Sep 11, 2002 02:11 AM UTC:Good ★★★★
It was a start for some Ideas. I travel in the offshore industry so my
board must be as collapsable as possible. I was also wanting the nicest
board I could build. I used plexi-glass for the boards, making the main
levels 7' (1 1/2' squares with a 1/2' border) allowing the attack board
holes to be drilled exactly in the corners, thus, lining up the squares
vertially on the attack boards. My support frame is made of 1/2' o.d.
steel tubing, all welded, with 1/8' thick tabs for the boards. They are
bolted on the tabs with 1/4'x20 allen head bolts, which screw into
threaded holes in the center on the boards. The same goes for the attack
boards, but instead of bolts I threaded 3 1/2' long 1/4' steel rods at one
end, and welded on a washer for a shoulder. I then machined the other ends
to precisely fit the 3/16' dia. hole in the main boards. My base is a
steel weed-wacker blade with a threaded and machined hub welded on. I
spray-painted my squares and frame black.
Yes, I am a machinist with his own lathe, mill, welder, torches, etc.
However I still believe anyone who wants to can build a tri-level chess
set with common materials. Mine were all laying around in my garage, so I
spent almost nothing. I still bought cheap chess pieces and filled them
with silicone sealer, then put a nut in the bottom of each piece for added
weight, finished filling with silicone, and finally set them right-side-up
on a sheet of felt, letting the silicone sealant glue them to itself.
Later I just 'cut them out' with scissors.
Any ideas where I might post pictures of this set? If anyone wants more
ideas how to construct a board WITHOUT special machine shop tools, e-mail
me at: brlippincott@yahoo.com