A Homemade Nuts and Bolts Chess Set

By Kathryn Neal Dantzler
Published on November 1, 1985
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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.
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.
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Nuts and bolts chess set: knights.
Nuts and bolts chess set: knights.
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Nuts and bolts chess set: pawns.
Nuts and bolts chess set: pawns.
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Nuts and bolts chess set: rooks.
Nuts and bolts chess set: rooks.
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Nuts and bolts chess set: the king.
Nuts and bolts chess set: the king.
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Nuts and bolts chess set: bishops.
Nuts and bolts chess set: bishops.
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Nuts and bolts chess set: the queen.
Nuts and bolts chess set: the queen.

Need a low-cost Christmas gift? This homemade nuts and bolts chess set makes for a unique gift for chess lovers. (See the nuts and bolts chess set photos in the image gallery.)

A HOMEMADE NUTS AND BOLTS 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 inch-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, Super-type glue and two cans of spray paint in contrasting colors.

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