Welcome to part two of building a chessboard where I share my experience with resin! If you missed Building The Chessboard: A New Woodworking Skill, click here. Now, when looking at what I would make the chess pieces out of, the best solution seemed clear. Learn how to use resin.
This post contains affiliate links that I have the potential to make a profit from at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!
My Resin Learning Tools
When I first realized I was going to use resin for this project, I was really excited. Then I panicked realizing I would be using tried and true chemicals. Not to mention my complete lack of experience which can slow a person down or cause them to give up before they even start. I decided to start small though, and begin with TikTok, YouTube, and Pinterest. The creator’s three best friends.
Soon enough, I was building my confidence and my resin supplies to start this project. What I’m really glad of though, is that my mom suggested we start with an entirely different project first. So, with a quick trip to Hobby Lobby, we picked up a DIY notebook kit, and got to work. I didn’t exactly follow the instructions when it came to the liquid coloring as I already had a small collection of Mica powder and some metal flakes. Once I finished this little side project, I felt ready to tackle my chess pieces.
Breaking Out The Resin Molds
I cannot stress enough, have layers of protection underneath your resin projects. I couldn’t believe how messy it was even after I had covered the table. That being said, one thing that you need to develop for this craft, is patience. Besides the fact that it takes around 24 hours to fully solidify, the mixing and mold filling process can be very time consuming. Not to mention tedious.
The first few pieces I made came out full of bubbles and flat out missing details. In fact, the pawns usually have a ring around the top right? Well, all but one of my pawns didn’t so I just assumed that was what they were supposed to look like until I saw the properly finished piece, and then realized I had to redo almost all of the pieces. After trial and error however, I learned that if you squeeze the molds and allow the air bubbles to sneak out the top, there’s a much better result.
The Finishing Touches
After the pieces had been pried out of their impossibly stubborn cocoons, There was one last step. Sanding and polishing. Thankfully, from playing with my grandpa’s sander for the board itself, I had gained a bit of experience that helped me smooth out the bottoms of these pieces. The real trial came when we tried to figure out how to polish the pieces.
We started with different types of sandpaper. Going down from a rough to a finer grit did make a difference, but not quite the difference we were hoping for. Next, we tried a car polish. This sort of worked especially when we combined it with the previously mentioned sanding technique, but it still wasn’t quite right. Finally, my grandpa found a can of spray polish that did the trick. Changing the bottoms from a dull, scratched surface, to a nearly see through flat area.
That’s It!
This project took about two months from start to finish, however actually working on it took about a week. All in all, I am so glad I was able to do this project with my grandpa, and I can’t wait until the next time we can work together. In the mean time, I’ve got to work on my chess skills!
Thank you for reading this post on the Welcome To My Shoes blog! Click here to check out my other adventures and inspirations for writing! Interested in getting regular updates, sneak peaks, and stories delivered directly to your inbox? Drop your email below to subscribe to my newsletter!
Thank you again for reading this post! What was your favorite part? Do you have a favorite skill you’ve learned, place you’ve visited, or thing you’ve tried? Let me know in the comments below, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss a thing!
Nice job lady!