Chess Board
Dec 2022
GOAL: apply the fabrication and manufacturing knowledge learned in class to create an artifact
SKILLS: sand casting, sheet metal bending, laser cutting, 3D printing, sanding and polishing, design, collaboration
I made this eclectic chess set with three of my friends in 2022. We used a broad range of fabrication techniques, including sand casting, sheet metal bending, 3D printing, water and laser jet cutting, and lathing. My most major contributions were to the knights, pawns, and board.
Laser Cut Knights
For the knight, I created a 3D form through successive layers of laser cut birch wood to create a “topographical” map of a horse bust.
Sand Casted Pawns
There were a lot of interesting defects that we experienced, including opening the cast too quickly, which potentially caused one to break and under-filling of the molds (under shot). Since we had these issues and a lot of flashing, we then used the Belt Sander and the Polisher to make it so that the pawns could stand upright and remove the excess metal.
For the pawn that came out broken in half, I first used a blowtorch to heat of the metal and reattach the pieces. Then, I used a soldering iron to fill in the deformed parts and recreate the pawn shape.
Sand Casted Pawns
I cut out the shape of the board with laser cutting, and I used a shallow cut to draw out the squares. I then painted the “black” squares with brown paint for a wood stain look.
