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There is a story in my head about a man named Jeromy Pettigru. I've made up a whole environment for him that I will make in miniature. Of course I must start in the middle with this project. He lives in England in the year 1795 and owns a saddlery shop where he specializes in items for the fox hunter. Anyway, he is a chess player and so needs a chess set. After researching, I decided on an 18th century set (originally made in bone) that is described as the "tulip" design. I have never turned anything before or used a lathe, but have been practicing with my husband's metal lathe. I tried turning aluminum but could not get the shapes I wanted. Then tried acrylic rod. That went pretty well. Then went to wood dowels which I liked the best since I could use small files instead of gouges to produce shapes. After the basic shape was made an Xacto knife was used to carve details. A two part silicon putty mold material was used to make molds of the wood turnings. Mixed up a bone color from polymer clay - translucent, white and a little yellow. The pieces shown on the chess table are the finished castings. Still some carving to do. The intention is to get the pieces to a silicon mold where I can cast a whole set in resin. However, I DO like the look the polymer clay gives.