I want to make a chess set out of stainless steel, but I'm not sure what type of mold I need or where I can go to have the steel melted and molded for me. Any ideas? I live in Southern, NJ.
I'll buy one. You'll have to machine it from blocks... You could invest in a milling machine - they are like drill presses and lathes all together and more... If you hook it up to your computer, you can do a CNC milling, where you can get really creative and finely detailed. Stainless is heavy and hard, so it'll go through your bits, and you should use the super duty bits as well. I have always wanted an SS chess set, I made a board out of leather. It's really super awesome, just need your pieces now. Or make mine from Plutonium, or Tungsten Carbide.
stainless steel is really hard to work with and will be really expensive to pour as not too many foundries do that. As far as tools go, I know that for e.g.drilling stainless steel cobalt bits are best, but even they don't last for very long. If you use normal drill bits stainless steel will ruin them. So how much metal working skills do you have? I would suggest to use a material you have experience with. Or make a chess set from nuts and bolts. You can buy them from stainless steel and the assembly is easy. See links for a few examples and/or use google to find more.
