Student-Crafted Chess Set with intelitek proLIGHT Lathe

Student-Crafted Chess Set with intelitek proLIGHT Lathe November 2010

It took him two years to find the perfect students for the project. And when he did, the students surpassed all expectations.

Back in 2008, R. Dennis Johnston, engineering instructor at Gordon Central High School in Calhoun, GA, attended a training workshop at the intelitek manufacturing and training center in Manchester, NH.

"The workshop covered the ER-V robot, expertMill, proLIGHT CNC lathe, and the LearnMate curriculum system," said Dennis. "During the training, I met Justin Almeida, a member of the support team at intelitek. Justin provided me with digital copies of the plans for building all the pieces of a lathe-turned chess set. I have been looking for a couple of students who had the initiative and skill and patience to build such a set."

Enter Ryan Morris and Alex Williams, both students in Dennis' Engineering Concepts class. Working together, they built a complete chess set on the proLIGHT CNC lathe.

"The young men spent over 80 man-hours turning, finishing, and painting the pieces," said Dennis. "I challenged them to create a board, which they made out of oak stair treads."

"Using the lathe, we learned a lot about the machine and programs," said Ryan, a 10th grade engineering student who also plays on the school's baseball team and enjoys all sports in his spare time. "We had fun making the pieces and painting them. The best part of the whole process was seeing the finished parts produced on the proLIGHT lathe. I was really impressed by how the lathe works. Using this machine made me think about a career using the lathe."

Alex, also a 10th grade engineering student who runs sprints on the school track team and enjoys backyard ball with his friends, agreed. He said he learned many different forms of geometric designs and ways of making the chess pieces using the proLIGHT lathe.

"Of course, using the unique programs was fun," he said. "By making the chess set, it was a learning experience which opened a whole new field of engineering to me. It was a special privilege to learn to use an awesome machine like the proLIGHT lathe."

"We wanted to share this information and pictures with all who would enjoy seeing the end-product of a lot of hard work," said Dennis, noting that the proLIGHT lathe is a versatile piece of equipment.

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