How-to question: fancy jang-gi set

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I’m not exactly what you’d call handy with tools, but I think I can manage, given good directions, to construct something.

Anyway, what I want to do is make a Korean Chess set. I don’t mean a Western-style set. I mean a Jang-gi set. But I don’t want it to be like the regular wooden or plastic ones that are readily available. Here’s what I envision:

[ol][li]Clear board (plexiglass?) with inlaid black lines.[/li][li]One side’s pieces to be made of brass with the Chinese character engraved/inlaid with a contrasting colored element.[/li][li]The other side’s pieces to be made of aluminum, again with the Chinese character engraved/inlaid with contrasting element.[/ol][/li]
So, are these good elements for it? What’s the best way to build it and build it cheaply? Also, what do I need to do to protect/preserve the thing?

2

Just a bit of brainstorming.

There’s really no way to etch or engrave metals economically unless you’re going to do them with hand tools. While this is a rewarding and satisfying endeavor, it is time consuming.

What occured to me would be to cut the images out of a soft metal like copper or brass on a scroll saw and then gold plate the pieces for one side and silver plate the other players pieces. I’d check with a friendly jeweler to find out the best metal to take the plating.

Then embed them in a clear resin and put felt backs on them.

Etching the board would be unforgiving and tricky, but doable.

Good luck!!