DIY Chess Set With Fasteners

Albany County Fasteners loves having fun! And what's more fun than playing games? Well we didn't have any games so we decided to set out and make one. After some browsing we saw some pretty awesome chess sets and decided to make a set of our own. For each set, we placed the pieces in order so you can very easily make your own by following along.

We made two sets out of the parts we had available. One of stainless steel, nickel plated steel and zinc and one of Brass, Grade 8 Zinc and Silicon Bronze. Each set has multiple colors and are mostly unique in design. Come along with us as we teach you how to build your very own DIY chess pieces out of fasteners!

The Pawn

Our First DIY Chess Piece piece is the simplest: The Pawn. The pawn is the front line against your opponent. He can usually move only forward unless it is his first move. Then he can move two.

Pawn - Zinc and Nickel Plated Steel

1 3/8"-16 x 3/4" Zinc Hex Cap Screw
1 3/8"-16 Nickel Plated Steel Cap Nut

Pawn - Grade 8 Zinc and Brass

1 3/8"-16 x 3/4" Grade 8 Hex Cap Screw
1 3/8"-16 Brass Cap Nut

We simply took our hex cap screws with the head as the base and screwed on the cap screw. These pawns are stable and the most simple piece to make in out sets.

*8 of each will need to be made.

The Rook

The Rook moves in a straight line as far as they want. For our build we decided to make the sets slightly different and fun.

Rook - Zinc and Stainless Steel

1 3/8"-16 x 1" Zinc Hex Cap Screw
1 3/8" Zinc Hex Serrated Flange Nut
1 3/8" Stainless Steel External Tooth Lock Washer
1 3/8"-16 Stainless Steel Castle Nut

Rook - Silicon Bronze and Brass

1 3/8"-16 x 1" Silicon Bronze Hex Cap Screw
1 3/8"-16 Brass Knurled Head Thumb Nut
1 3/8"-16 Brass Castle Nut

Our silver Rook has a base of a hex cap screw with a serrated flange nut screwed on upside down. Then a external tooth lock washer being held on by its head, the stainless steel castle nut.

The Gold Rook also has a hex cap base but with a knurled thumb nut next followed by the castle nut for a similar but distinguishable look from its opponent.

*2 of each will need to be made.

The Knight

The Knight moves three spaces in an L Shape either forward or backward or side to side, no diagonal moves can be made.

Knight - Zinc

1 3/8"-16 x 1" Zinc Hex Cap Screw
1 3/8"-16 Zinc Wing Nut
1 3/8"-16 Zinc Nylon Insert Lock Nut

Knight - Silicon Bronze and Brass

1 3/8"-16 x 1" Silicon Bronze Hex Cap Screw
1 3/8"-16 Brass Wing Nut
1 3/8"-16 Brass Nylon Insert Lock Nut

The Knights took us a while to decide that we had the piece right and once we did, we wanted to keep them uniform. So both are made the same way. Using a hex cap screw as the base and adding a wing nut about half way down. We then put a Nylon lock nut on top to finish it off.

*2 of each will need to be made.

The Bishop

The Bishop can move only diagonally in any direction as long as no other piece blocks his path.

Bishop - Zinc

1 3/8"-16 Zinc T Nut
1 3/8"-16 Zinc Hex Serrated Flange Nut
1 3/8"-16 Zinc Coupling Nut
1 3/8"-16 x 1-1/2" Zinc Carriage Bolt

Bishop - Silicon Bronze and Brass

1 3/8"-16 x 1-1/2" Silicon Bronze Hex Cap Screw
3 3/8"-16 Silicon Bronze Jam Nuts
1 3/8"-16 Brass Flat Washer (Large)
1 3/8"-16 Brass Threaded Insert

Our Silver Bishop starts with a T nut base. We then added a serrated flange nut and coupling nut. This piece is easier to assemble upside down due to the head of the carriage bolt not being the base of the piece.

The Gold Bishop starts with a hex cap screw, then a jam nut is screwed on towards the bottom. Next a washer is added and held on by another jam nut. We added another jam nut and topped it off with a threaded insert for a head.

*2 of each will need to be made.

The Queen

The Queen by far the most powerful player in the game. She can move in any direction for as many tiles as long as it is a straight line.

Queen - Zinc and Stainless Steel

1 3/8"-16 x 3" Zinc Flat Head Plow Bolt
2 3/8"-16 Zinc Jam Nuts
1 3/8"-16 Stainless Steel External Tooth Lock Washer
1 3/8"-16 Zinc Wing Nut
1 3/8"-16 Zinc Keps K Lock Nut

Queen - Silicon Bronze and Brass

1 3/8"-16 x 3" Silicon Bronze Flat Head Slotted Screw
2 3/8"-16 Silicon Bronze Jam Nuts
1 3/8" Brass Flat Washer
1 3/8"-16 Brass Wing Nut
1 3/8"-16 Brass Knurled Head Thumb Nut

To make a silver queen, first take the plow bolt and place it flat head down. Then screw a jam nut on about half way. Add an external tooth lock washer and another jam nut on top of that. Then screw on a wing nut (upside down) and a Keps K lock nut on last (also upside down) to make the head.

Now onto the gold queen. First we placed the screw flat head down, then following the same format as the silver queen added a jam nut then a washer and held it with another jam nut. Now install a wing nut (upside down) and finish it off with a knurled head thumb screw.

*Only one of each of these needs to be made.

The King

The king is the most important piece on the board to pay attention to. If the king gets caught you will be put into checkmate and lose. He can move one space in any direction around him.

King - Zinc

1 3/8"-16 x 3" Zinc Flat Head Plow Bolt
1 3/8"-16 Zinc Hex Serrated Flange Nut
2 3/8"-16 Zinc Jam Nuts
1 3/8" Stainless Steel External Tooth Lock Washer
1 3/8"-16 Zinc Wing Nut
1 3/8"-16 Zinc Keps K Lock Nut

King - Silicon Bronze and Brass

1 3/8"-16 x 3" Silicon Bronze Flat Head Slotted Machine Screw
2 3/8"-16 Silicon Bronze Jam Nuts
1 3/8" Brass Flat Washer
2 3/8"-16 Brass Knurled Head Thumb Nuts
1 3/8"-16 Brass Wing Nut

The silver king starts with a serrated flange nut being screwed onto the plow bolt. Then a Jam Nut-External Tooth Lock Washer-Jam Nut Combination (same as the queen) is added. Finally, we screwed on a wing nut the right way and added a Keps K nut upside down for the crown.

The gold king begins with a Jam Nut-Washer-Jam Nut combo being screwed onto the Slotted Flat Head Screw. Then screw on a knurled thumb nut followed by a wing nut and finished off, again, with another knurled thumb nut.

*Only one of each need to be made.

Our Finished DIY Chess Set Made of Fasteners

Now that you've made all the parts and understand the basics of how chess pieces move all you need is a board and you'll be ready to start playing! But we think that's a project for another time.

The Full Product List | Tips

TIP

After making this we realized a couple of things.

Make sure you have a board ready to play with XD - After you first make these pieces your going to want to sit down for a game and without a board it's going to be very hard to play.
Use Threadlocker to keep your pieces in place - Since we used pieces that hand screw easily onto bolts and have no tension to hold them in place, its a good idea to lock them in place. Simply get everything where you want it and apply a thin layer of this high strength threadlocker solution to all the pieces. Then screw them back on and let it cure. This will make sure your pieces don't shift around and feel cheap.

PRODUCT LIST

Pawn - Zinc and Nickel Plated Steel

Pawn - Grade 8 Zinc and Brass

Rook - Zinc and Stainless Steel

Rook - Silicon Bronze and Brass

Knight - Zinc

Knight - Silicon Bronze and Brass

Bishop - Zinc

Bishop - Silicon Bronze and Brass

Queen - Zinc and Stainless Steel

Queen - Silicon Bronze and Brass

King - Zinc

King - Silicon Bronze and Brass