has anyone ever made draughts sets before?
i'm trying to find a way to break the monotony of turning 120 bits exactly the same.
one side in ash the other in makore. only 5 sets for now but if they are a seller there could be lots more.
I set up a jig for turning Backgammon counters, which is pretty much the same thing. We started with 6" lengths of 2"x2" stock and turned them between centres with a chuck tenon on one end and the rest of each length reduced to a specified diameter. Next they were mounted in the chuck and the end of the length was worked and then parted off to about 7mm thick. The process then repeated, giving 10 counters out of every 6" length.
The reverse side of each counter was then cleaned up in a simple compression chuck, which I made by turning a disk of wood to 100mm diameter x 25 thick, with a small groove running around the outside. Two saw-cuts across the disk, through the centre, to reduce it to 4 quadrants. A rubber band was then slipped into the groove, which held the 4 quadrants together and the reassembled disk was then put into a chuck, tightened up and a recess machined for the counters to fit into, such that its surface stuck out by a couple of mm. The slot needed to be just a bit too small for the diameter of the disk, so that when the chuck jaws were opened the 4 quadrants could be eased apart (the rubber band stops them falling apart/falling out) and a counter slipped in. Tighten the chuck and finish the reverse side of the counter.
If I recall correctly, once the jig was made, each counter took little over a minute to make.
Les
Les