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Wooden Chess Sets



Wooden Chess Set

Wood, The natural building material we all love. From houses to carriages, from pianos to ukuleles, from rocking horses to chess sets, this extremely versatile raw material has such a range of strengths, densities, colours and finishes, it is small wonder that it remains such a popular medium to work with. Consider the world of chess. Despite the wide range of materials from which chess pieces and boards are made the dominant material of choice is for the wooden chess set.

Camel Bone Chess piecesSome of the earliest chess pieces were made from the bone and tusks of animals. These have now entered the realm of the more exclusive ranges of pieces whereas wood, in its many varieties: dark, light. Hardwood, softwood and numerous tree types, by far holds the greatest appeal.
Each wood chess set has its own unique wood grain effects. No two pieces are exactly the same when examined carefully, and we all instinctively know that wood is preferable to plastic, for quality, looks and desirability.

There are favoured woods used in the manufacture of wood chess pieces. Among the most popular choices would be sheesham, boxwood, red sandalwood or mahogany. Today because of their rarity, an ebony or rosewood chess set would be an unusual and very expensive item. A favourite combination in past days would have been rosewood or ebony and ivory for the dark and light chess pieces. The board would be rosewood or ebony inlaid with ivory. Today such sets would mainly be found in the world of antique chess sets.

Wooden Chesspeices turned on a lathe The majority of chess pieces in a wood chess set, the king, the queen, the rook, the bishop and the pawn would be turned on a lathe, then sanded, buffed and polished. The rook and the bishop would have some small additional cutting work. However the knight is in a class of its own. This piece is 90% carved. Most chess makers have their own knight carver whose specific job is to create one single piece many times over, this piece being the knight. The knight carver for fluid facile carving would usually prefer softwood to work with. Sometimes he will have to work on a high quality hard wood. This will mean much more pressure is needed and a greater skill to create intricate carving, but the effect of a carved luxury hardwood is magnificent.

Wooden Chess sets

Red Sandalwood Chess baordA good chess company will always match the wooden chess pieces with the correct wood board. Aesthetically the board should complement the pieces. Practically the board squares will need to be the correct size and proportion to accommodate the base size of the pieces.
There is now a vast range of wooden chess boards from simply polished natural wood to the high gloss tinted, lacquered boards. Some board makers have honed their craft to such a level that the wooden chess board looks more like polished marble than wood. With this high gloss reflective surface the chess pieces are set off stunningly. The wood chess set can be elevated to become an item of prestige, something to show off to all comers.

Chesspieces checked for flawsAt chessets.co.uk we provide the UK's broadest range of wooden chess sets and we've grown to become one of the UK's leading suppliers of chess equipment. Our sets are created by hand picking boards from some of the Europe's leading manufacturers and then marrying these with some of the world's finest chess pieces. Our experts meticulously match boards to pieces to bring you a unique range of products, unmatched by our competitors.
Wood is a material that has been used for generations to create some of the world's finest sets - feeling heavy and robust and aging in much the same way as a vintage wine. Even after years of use our products retain the character and heritage that they had when you first opened the box.

We hand select pieces and boards from manufacturers around the world to bring you the finest, broadest range of chess equipment at the most competitive prices. We ensure that you are not only getting the best quality, but also the best value for money. Our range of products are made from a diverse range of woods including Sheesham, Boxwood, Ebony, Walnut, Wenge, Palisander, Redwood, Sandalwood, Briar, Mahogany, Hornbeam, Birch and the much sought after Rosewood. We make every effort to ensure that the wood used for manufacturing is only of the very highest quality, creating products that are unique and durable.

There is little doubt that wood is one of the most popular and durable materials used for creating chess sets. It's therefore little or no surprise to know that of the hundreds of products we sell, the vast majority are made from wood.

Why buy from us?

By buying from us you can be sure of a perfect fit in terms of size of pieces to boards, an ideal colour match, and that you are getting a product that truly looks fantastic, made from a natural and traditional material. We source many of our sets from Europe rather than the Far East to ensure quality and sustainability. We believe it's important to stock only the best equipment so that our customers are delighted with their purchases.
Buying from the one UK's biggest suppliers means that you can expect the highest level of quality and service. Not only do we stock the biggest range of products, we also provide our products at the most competitive prices. Our entire range of products is stocked within our UK warehouse and the majority of our products are ready to ship immediately. In most cases your order will be delivered to your door within 24 hours.

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