Upcycle Project Update: Chess Piece

In the past week, I did a lot of research into the feasibility of creating a rustic style chess board for my upcycle project. I ultimately came to the conclusion that the time it would take in order to make something like this to the quality that I would like to see would be too much for the time constraints I have for both this project, as well as overall in my schedule. Because of this, I am deciding to shift my focus from a board in its entirety, to hand carving one piece. The piece I am looking to create is a queen, as I think it will give me the most creative freedom to embrace the rustic aesthetic. In order to execute this vision, my plan is to carve the piece from a natural stick. I have already found the piece of wood I’m planning on using, which is a short stick a little over 4 inches in length and a little over an inch in diameter. I hope to make the final piece around 3 and a half inches tall. My plan for carving the piece is to use my pocket knife and slowly whittle away the wood to my desired shape.

Figure (1): Design inspiration (chessonlineshop.com)

Above is an image of the style of queen I am hoping to base my design off of. I plan on mimicking the general shape of the above pieces, however, I intend on intentionally leaving some corners shaper and curves rougher. I think that the above pieces look manufactured and too clean and consistent, and I believe that having some sharper angles, and slight inconstancies will enhance the rustic feel of the piece. This will help embrace the rustic aesthetic as large components of it are being worn, natural, or looking hand made. Having it be mostly symmetrical with a few deviations will help enhance that feel and make the piece feel much more real, and cared for, as compared to one made on a lathe or other machinery. The final look ought to have features similar to the image below.

Figure (2): Example of another whittled chess piece (Woodcrafter’s Corner)

I plan on using whittling to make this piece, which involves slowly chipping away at the piece of wood with a small knife. I will be using my pocket knife for this, and expect it to take a quite a few hours of carving. I plan on breaking this carving up into multiple different sessions, and hope to have the carving finished within the next 2 weeks. I am really looking forward to this project, especially now that I have sized it down to something that is reasonably achievable for myself, given bot my time and abilities.

(1) https://chessonlineshop.com/replacment-queens2

(2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpCVhskx8NU&ab_channel=Woodcrafter%27sCorner