Magnetized, maple & walnut chess globe changes the game

Inspired after seeing a spherical chess set online, woodworker Ben Meyers decided to make his own version – but better.

Meyers began the project with the sphere itself – cutting out square pieces of soft maple for the light squares, and walnut for the dark squares, he told Makezine.com.

He then carved the pieces – cutting small holes in their backs and inserting magnets. A lathe was then used to smooth out the edges.

Meyers then turned the base, spacer, and knob on the lathe. A router was used to construct the curved arm.

Meyers told Makezine.com that the most challenging aspect of the project was figuring out the math and angle requirements of each piece. And finding an opponent up to the task of playing spherical chess.

The board took about five weeks to complete.

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Robert Dalheim

Robert Dalheim is an editor at the Woodworking Network. Along with publishing online news articles, he writes feature stories for the FDMC print publication. He can be reached at [email protected].