Nuts & Bolts Chess Set

Need a unique DIY gift idea this holiday season? Watch our video and learn how to turn our selection of Hilman hardware into a one-of-a-kind nuts & bolts chess set!

Materials

2 checkered linoleum floor tiles (12"x12")
Ruler
X-Acto knife
16 3/8x1 carriage bolts
16 3/8-16 stop nuts
10 1/2x1 1/2 hex bolts
4 3/8x1 1/2 hex bolts
4 3/8 hex nuts

4 3/8-16 tee nuts
4 1/2-13 hex nuts
4 1/2-16 stop nuts
8 1/2-13 wing nuts
4 1/2 square nuts
4 1/2-20 castle nuts
2 1/2x2 hex bolts

Materials to assemble DIY nuts & bolts chess set

Step 1: Assemble Your Pieces

Once you've acquired all your hardware, it's time to assemble your chess pieces. Use our setup as a guideline, but feel free to use your imagination when picking out nuts and bolts! There's no limit to the different configurations you can make.

Step 2: Spray Paint!

Spray paint half your pieces. We used Krylon ColorMaster Metallic Gold, since it complimented the natural chrome of the hardware.

The end product of DIY nuts & bolts chess set

Step 3: Make Your Board

This step is by far the most monotonous, but it's actually pretty simple and cheap. We sell single squares of linoleum flooring for <$1 each. They even come with a checkerboard design! Unfortunately, the design was way too big. Since I didn't want a 4-foot wide chess board (as fun as that sounds), I ended up cutting one large square into 64 small, 1.25" squares. They're already adhesive, so then I just peeled them off and stuck them to the backside of my other full square of linoleum to create a fully functional chess board for under $2!

The only downside to using this method is that it's pretty difficult to get all 64 squares to line up perfectly when you cut them by hand. If I were to do this project again, I would be a lot more careful with the measuring and cutting to make the squares more uniform.

Need a little help?

Not to worry! Visit your local Valu and speak to one of our Associates. They’ve got the knowledge and the products for your unique project.