Machining a Giant Chess Set on CNC
A CNC owner shows off an unusual custom project: Carving giant chess pieces based on 3D scans of small pieces. October 15, 2009
Question
I’m about ready to start machining a life size chess set. The king is 72" tall and 24" diameter at the base. We are machining 2" thick hdu in 6# and spray epoxy for the hard coat, all files are prepped, sliced and tool pathed with vectrics aspire. This software is amazing. I need to remember that I am supposed to just make cabinets with this thing!
Click here for higher quality, full size image
Forum Responses
(CNC Forum)
From contributor T:
I love the idea. What spray epoxy are you using?
From contributor K:
Nice one! Keep us posted with the finished job.
From the original questioner:
Here is a front back test with the bishop at 12" tall.
Click here for higher quality, full size image
Here is a picture of testing.
Click here for higher quality, full size image
From contributor B:
What was the cycle time for both sides of the test bishop?
From the original questioner:
Sorry I have not responded sooner, we are still testing various weights of foam and methods to achieve good optimization. I expect we will have completed this very soon. The cycle times at this point is varying. The bishop you see in the picture took about 1.5 hours.
From the original questioner:
The king is in the building!
Click here for higher quality, full size image
From contributor C:
That's a queen. A king has a cross on his head, the queen wears the crown.
From the original questioner:
As one who never played chess before this venture I would be foolish to disagree! I carved the queen of this set and we will glue slices on soon. She is quite feminine and definitely not as tall as the king. She is without the beard though!
Click here for higher quality, full size image
