A HANDCRAFTED, NUTS-AND-BOLTS

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CHESS SET

Last year at this time I found myself in the frustrating position of needing (very badly) to come up with a Christmas gift that was both charming and cheap. At first, those two goals seemed mutually exclusive . . . but then I recalled an attractive and modernistic chess set that an inventive friend had once put together. That memory inspired me to get down to dealing with the nuts and bolts of my gift-giving problem, and after investing only three hours (including the time I spent shopping for the necessary ingredients) and $10, I'd fashioned an attractive and durable chess set similar to the one pictured here.

If you can thread a nut onto a bolt, squeeze a drop of glue from a tube, and point the nozzle of a can of spray paint in the right direction, you have all the skills necessary to duplicate my chess pieces-or to come up with an original set of your own design. (You don't even need to know how to play the game in order to manufacture one!)

What's more, that $10 cost I mentioned assumes that you'll run out-as I did-and buy everything you need at your local retail hardware store. But by shopping around for the best prices, raiding your toolbox or workshop for any usable materials you might already have on hand (or by redesigning the chess pieces to accommodate the materials you have), you should be able to complete this unique little craft project for a fraction of what I spent on mine.

The chess pieces pictured here were assembled from common 1/4"-diameter nuts, bolts, and washers (available at all hardware stores, most discount department stores, and some supermarkets). Other than the hardware, all you'll need is a tube of fast-drying, Supertype glue and two cans of spray paint in contrasting colors.

The actual assembly of the chess set requires only about an hour, but you'll have to allow time for the glue to cure thoroughly before applying the paint. Therefore, if you're not in too much of a hurry to come up with a gift, it's a good idea to assemble the pieces one day, allow them to rest overnight, and apply the paint the following morning.

We'll begin by fabricating the most common chess piece, then work our way up the ladder of royalty from there.

PAWNS IN THE GAME

You'll need to make 16 pawns, each identical to the other. But take heart, because they're a breeze to assemble. Each piece consists of an inch-long carriage bolt (the kind with threads all the way to the rounded head), a hex nut (it has six sides), and a flat washer.

To turn that hardware into a pawn, simply thread the hex nut onto the end of the bolt just far enough to allow a flat washer to rest against the nut and lie flush with the end of the bolt. (The washer will form a stable base for the piece.) Now remove the washer and drop a spot of glue onto the bolt's threads just above the nut, glue the washer in place—and you're on the road to having a custom chess set.

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