How chess sets are made

The horse head on a Staunton knight is carved by hand, and it can account for half the cost of a wooden set.

stations: 9
things upstream: 41
raw sources: 13
steps from the ground: 8

The short version

A classic wooden chess set is turned on a lathe. Light pieces are cut from boxwood, dark pieces from ebony or rosewood. Each piece spins against a blade that carves its profile, and bases are weighted and covered in felt. The knights' horse heads and the queens' crowns get carving by hand.

Cut the turning blanks

Wood is chosen by color and cut to size for each piece. Boxwood is the usual pick for light pieces, and ebony or rosewood for dark ones.

Goes in
Lumber
Turn the shapes

Each blank spins on a lathe while a blade shaves it to profile. The Staunton design suits this: pawns are entirely lathe-turned, and so are the bases of the other pieces.
Carve the knights by hand

Knights are made in two parts, a turned base and a hand-carved horse head on top. The carving can account for half the cost of a wooden set.
Fit the king's cross

A king's finial is made apart from the body and fits into a hole on top. The queen's crown is the one other part that gets hand carving, with its spurs individually cut.

Goes in
Adhesive
Sand the raw pieces

Pieces go through several rounds of sanding until the surface is smooth enough to take a finish.
Wax or lacquer

Natural waxes give a matte finish, and lacquers a high gloss.

Goes in
Lacquer
Weight the bases

Metal inserts go into each base for stability and heft. A jolt to the board can slide weighted pieces out of place, but they rarely fall over.

Goes in
Lead
Felt the undersides

Soft felt, or sometimes leather, covers each base so the pieces do not scratch the board.

Goes in
Adhesive
Check and wrap

Pieces are checked for size, smooth finish and even color, then individually wrapped for shipping.

End of the lineChess set

Worth repeating

Staunton pieces are sized by the height of the king, which should sit between 3.35 and 4.13 inches in the pieces used for tournament play.
An expert may spend as long as four days on a set of four knights.
The tapered base molding makes each piece seem to float a few millimeters above the board.