Non-Wood (Metal, Brass, Alabaster, Polyresin) Chess Product Materials Glossary

Non-Wood Chessmen & Chessboard Materials Glossary

(In Alphabetical Order)

Click here to see an alabaster chess set

Alabaster (al·a·bas·ter)
Alabaster (sometimes called Florentine Marble) is a
name applied to varieties of two distinct minerals:
gypsum (a hydrous sulfate of calcium) and calcite (a
carbonate of calcium). The former is the alabaster of
the present day; the latter is generally the alabaster of
the ancients. In the present day, when the term
"alabaster" is used without any qualification, it
invariably means a fine-grained variety of gypsum.

Brass (brass)
Brass is the term used for alloys of copper and zinc in
a solid solution. Typically it is more than 50% copper
and from 5 to 20% zinc, in comparison to bronze which
is principally an alloy of copper and tin. Despite this
distinction, some types of brasses are called bronzes.

Brass has a yellow colour, somewhat similar to gold.
Because of this, and its relative resistance to
tarnishing, it is often used as a decoration. The silver
finish for "white" brass chess pieces is most often
achieved by zinc or nickel electroplating. Some brass
chessmen are even electroplated in genuine Gold &
Silver.

Bronze (bronze)
Bronze refers to a broad range of copper alloys,
usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes
with other elements such as phosphorus,
manganese, aluminum, or silicon. It is strong and
tough (harder than brass), and has myriad uses in
industry. It was particularly significant in antiquity,
giving its name to the Bronze Age. Bronze has long
been used in art, e.g., for castings, engravings, and
forgings.

Bronze chessmen are often electroplated in genuine
Gold and Silver. However, some sets allow for one
side of the chess armies (usually the "black" side) to
remain uncoated and therefore develop a natural
patina coating thought by some to be very decorative.

Metal (met-al)
Generally, metal chess sets are made from a
die-casting process, using alloys of metals such as
zinc, tin, copper, zinc, aluminum, tin, etc. in various
combinations.

Metal chess pieces have a cold, mechanical feel about
them and appeal to some people while having no
appeal to others -- purely a matter of personal
preference.

Metal chess pieces are used far more often for
decorative purposes, or bought more as collectible
items than wooden pieces. Of course, there's nothing
to stop such sets being used for an occasional game
of chess. Still, many people who buy a metal chess
set have no intention of using it for play whatsoever.

Pewter (pew-ter)
Pewter is a metal alloy, typically between 85 and 99%
tin, with the remainder consisting of 1 - 4 % copper,
acting as a hardener, and lead for the lower grades of
pewter.

Physically, pewter is a bright, shiny metal that is very
similar in appearance to silver. Like silver, pewter will
also oxidize to a dull gray over time if left untreated.
Because of pewter's likeness to silver without costing
as much, it is a favorite of both chess manufactures
and chess customers.

Polyresin (pol-y-res-in)
This is as simple as we can make it while still giving
customers a good definition: Any number of physically
similar polymerized synthetics or chemically modified
natural resins including thermoplastic materials such
as polyvinyl, polystyrene, and polyethylene and
thermosetting materials such as polyesters, epoxies,
and silicones that are used with fillers, stabilizers,
pigments, and other components to form plastics.
Yikes! What a mouthful.

Here's how it relates to our chess pieces: Polyresin,
which acts as a binder, is mixed with crushed stone,
poured into a mold and then set aside to harden. The
later part is known as cold-casting.

Cold-casting is far superior to heat-casting in that it
produces a more durable product. Since heat changes
the molecular structure of things, those products turn
out to be very breakable, gritty (unable to be mended
without showing the mend), and not very detailed.
Cold-cast resin, on the other hand is much more
dense, subject to exceptional detail, much harder to
break, and will not show the mend should that unlikely
event occur.

Cold-casting polyresin chess pieces takes longer and
is therefore a more expensive manufacturing process
than heat-casting. However, the few extra dollars that
a cold-casted chess set will cost you is money well
spent. The superior quality of a cold-casted chess set
will appear obvious to you once you have it in your
hands.

As for polyresin versus polystone (used in Excalibur
chess pieces and many bootleg chess pieces of the
same exact chess set) chess pieces, well, you get
what you pay for. Polystone is more breakable, harder
to cleanly mend, less detailed, and subject to color
inconsistency and fading.

Seeing how polystone and polyresin chess pieces
both contain crushed stone you may be asking
yourself, what's the difference? The difference is in the
ratio of crushed stone to resin used in the molding
mixture. Polystone has much more stone. Whereas
polyresin has much more resin. More resin means a
better product for reasons previously stated.

So, why would anyone use polystone rather than
polyresin to make chess pieces? Three reasons: 1)
it's cheaper; 2) it's cheaper; and 3) it's cheaper.

Raw Natural Alabaster

Alabaster Chessmen