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RobertCollom. Returning & Chess

R

Robert Collom

Joined
Feb 23, 2026
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Location
Atlanta, GA
Greetings All. I'm Robert in Atlanta. I'm an old newbie. I've been distracted with work for too many years and have decided it's time to recommit to wood turning. I was an AAW member over 20 years ago. I thought that I might give it a go turning a set of chess pieces. I have a collection of rare and exotic woods to choose from - "Ironwood" being the overall description of what I'd like to turn. I see that we now have M42 turning tools (Carter & Sons). I understand that M42 will do better with turning very hard woods. I've read that carbide does more of a scraping type of turning - not giving such a clean finish. I'd like to do as little sanding as possible. Am I on the right track - or is there another type of turning tool steel that I should consider? Looking at the folks in India turning tournament chess sets - I see that they are using customized turning tools that turn each chess piece in moments with the profile carved into the steel. I've got a collection of old slick type timber framing chisels (2-3 inches wide) that I thought I would try to profile into chess piece tools. If so, any recommendations on what to use to profile the old steel? Does all this sound like a good idea? Thank you for any and all advice.
 
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