My Most Challenging and Frustrating Project | Xiangqi Pieces
In this video I show how I made a set of weighted Xiangqi pieces, otherwise known as Chinese Chess pieces. Making the pieces was challenging due to a variety of reasons, including a big mistake that I made right at the start of the project. The carving of the inlays and engravings were so fine and detailed that it was a challenge to do it so that the wood would not break.
I also made a box with a sliding top to hold the pieces, but that was relatively simple in comparison to making the pieces.
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Other things I used for this project:
TotalBoat Epoxy: amzn.to/3tzuhrD
Amana 45611-K 15-degree engraving tip: amzn.to/3QobN9d
Amana 30 degree v-bit: amzn.to/3Py4dYO
Grizzly G1023RLWX Table Saw amzn.to/2AGvqVV
INCRA Miter Gauge: amzn.to/2HTzvef
Freud 24T Rip Blade with Flat Grind: amzn.to/2rQl9EY
Freud Ultimate Cut-Off Blade: amzn.to/2OAwRMU
Laguna Resaw King bandsaw blade: amzn.to/38Dst7u
SuperMax 19-38 Drum Sander: amzn.to/2DOWJzX
email: woodumakeit@gmail.com
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Chapters
00:00 Intro
00:54 Preparing the Walnut for Inlays
02:29 Preparing the Maple Inlays
03:41 First Mistake
04:33 Carving the Padauk and Wenge Chinese Character Male Inlays
05:00 Challenge with Inlay Breaking Away
06:46 Carving the Chinese Character Female Inlays
07:16 Challenge with Female Inlay Breaking Away
08:08 Gluing in the Inlay with Dyed Glue
10:32 Preparing the Walnut for the Checkers Inlays
10:49 Preparing the Padauk and Maple Checkers Inlays
11:14 Adding the Lead Weights with Epoxy
14:03 Engraving the Checkers
16:05 Engraving the Names of the Chinese Pieces
18:33 Cutting Out the Pieces
21:05 Fixing Voids with CA Glue
22:02 Finishing the Pieces
22:17 Making the Interior Compartment for the Box
26:03 Making the Sliding Top for the Box
28:16 Making the Sides of the Box
33:51 Gluing Up the Box
35:35 Flocking the Interior of the Box
36:39 Applying the Finishing Touches
39:52 Photo Shoot
Music in this video is from Epidemic Sound
00:54 Forest Life - William Benckert
03:08 Towards Silence - Kasper Schill
06:21 Wind Spirit - William Claeson
09:57 Stepping Stones - Megan Wofford
13:05 In a French Bar in Stockholm - Franz Gordon
15:32 One Must Go - Alex Slayne
17:18 Once Before - Franz Gordon
20:31 Comfort in the Dark - Atlas Kind
22:18 Spirit Garden - Gavin Luke
26:03 Stepping on Glass - Eneide
28:03 Faded Silhouette - Helmut Schenker
32:05 Mr. Oakbranch - Christophe Gorman
35:34 Nod - Lo Mimieux
#xiangqi #chinesechess #xiangqipieces
Wow, Mike, the frustration level for this project is astronomical! The fine engraving is testing the limits of CNC in wood. The results are fantastic.
I understand better when you say you were frustrated.... It's amazing the precision work you did. You have all my admiration. I love following you and you motivate me to continue to improve my woodworking skills. Thank you to share !
Truly outstanding work, Mike! Keep the greatness up! :)
Definitely No... Amazing effort, skill, and tooling to accomplish this feat. Kudos to you! Thanks for sharing the process, I always learn something from your videos!
It ended up turning out so great! Beautiful work!!!
amazing work 👌🏻
Mike, came home today and what a surprise, a video for our chess pieces. Thank you for all your efforts on this build. Brilliant work my friend.
Thank you, Hanh!
I hope the client appreciates your quest for excellence.
'It's easy, it's CNC' ...not if your standards are elevated in proportion to the sophistication of your tools! A few years back I mage a sanguoqi (basically three-player xiangqi) set by hand, and even though the results were relatively crude, it still took a few months of working away at it during time off.
Wow. Just seeing the thumbnail to this video was exciting. Always wanted a nice board set for Chinese chess.
Thank you.
She's a stunner no doubt 👌
What a beautiful project! Great attention to detail! The answer to your question is: I would make it if the price was right, but it would have to be way up there.
Just amazing !!! Could you imaging making that by hand. If possible .
Yeah, crazy. I imagine this would have been done in the olden days by painting all the characters onto the wood. I can't imagine someone trying to carve all that inlay by hand. It would take a lot more time and patience than I have.
Man that’s a ton of engraving! I’m lazy so I think if I were doing this the characters would be etched in the maple and I’d use epoxy to fill.
Hi Mike. How did you gain your cnc skills? Any particular online resources or youtube channels you recommend?
coolest dude on youtube
Great video keep up the good work (is this old footage?)
It's a little old. I finished this project in October 2021, but it usually takes me a while to get the video edited and released. Thanks for watching!
I'm Vietnamese and I'm very happy to see Vietnamese on the channel
Hey, Mike. I have found that for small and intricate inlay, gluing up strips in to a ~1/2" panel (end grain up), then carving produces far fewer "blow outs" of the material. Like you, I also use a 15 degree v-bit FIRST, then hog out the rest of the material with clearing bits. By running the v-bit first, you have all of the material around the cut for stability. Make shallower depth passes helps as well. Takes a little longer but sure saves on frustration in the end. :) Just my two cents. Love your chess board work! Thanks to your inspitation. I'll be attempting a few of these in over the course of '23. -Gunny T
Thanks for the tip! I'll definitely try that the next time I'm carving something with fine details. I had success recently when I carved a quotation with maple. I struggled at first, but I changed the orientation to carve into the edge of the board instead of the face and that made all the difference. Maybe it was just that piece of maple, but it surprised me how much it improved.
It’s seem like you make this chessboard for Vietnamese. Glad to know your chanel
i would kill to get some of the offcuts you have at the end of your videos
Xiangqi is better than chess. Could you make some with the pictorial pieces like on the Xiangqi Learn Chess KZhead channel and website?
Would i make it...nope. Too much for my skills. The amount of thought and the precision it takes is beyond my simple skills. Nonetheless, it is an amazing piece of work that anyone who owns it will be proud to display and use.
awesome! one recommendation, please don't move the camera so much. when you do move it please go slower. thanks for the awesome project
Just a lil tidbit of information. The characters on the chess pieces are Chinese while the romanized names are, I think Vietnamese.
That's correct. We were originally going to engrave English, Vietnamese, and Chinese (romanized) but it was a little too busy. The client is Vietnamese, so he decided to simplify it and use Vietnamese only.
I wouldn't even try 😁 This is a masterpiece 👏
I want to buy a hand made chess board I am ready to pay 💰 please reply 🙏
Yo, thanks for using vietnamese language!
Those fingers though.... So close every time.
I can understand why you used the lead weights since they were the most affordable and easy to get or find at a local sporting good/hobby stores. But did you think about using Neodemium Magnets inside of the pieces and place small ferus metal disks underneath the surface of the board? Now I would understand as to why you didn't go with the neodemium magnets and small metal disks since the magnets might not be available in your local hardware/hobby stores near where you live. And having to buy them online would mean that you would have to add more time on the project while waiting for the magnets to arrive. But this is still an amazing build
"Xiang Qi" is pronounced more like "Shiang Chee", just so you know.
No I wood not make that. Don't have the skills the patience nor the brains.