Woodgrain Checkerboard/Chessboard Box

This stylish board for chess or checkers folds in half and provides storage for playing pieces.* Each square of the board measures 45 mm (~1¾", or "executive size") on each side. In order to fit within a 250x210-mm print bed, each quadrant of the board prints separately and connects to an adjacent quadrant using dovetail joints.

Printing the Checkered Top

To be printed with black PLA:

4 frame corners

To be printed with a light shade of wood PLA:

2 sets of 16 woodgrain* squares

To be printed with wood PLA to be stained darker afterward:

2 sets of 16 woodgrain* squares

The raw, untextured square design is also provided in case you prefer a flat surface or to create your own texture.

Printing the Base

To be printed with iron-red PLA:

2 male quadrants

To be printed with transparent PLA:

2 female quadrants

To be printed with brown PLA:

6 hinges

• 6 hinge pins
• 4 hinge-pin retainers
  Suggested Print Settings:
• Layer height for frame & frame pins: 0.1 mm
• Layer height for hinges & hinge pins: 0.25 mm
• Layer height for quadrants: 0.18 mm
• Layer height for squares: 0.15 mm for first layer, 0.3 thereafter
• Infill: 60% for all hinge parts, 15% for squares, 5% for all others
• Supports: None
• Skirt loops: 0
• Perimeters: 1 for squares, 4 for quadrants, 2 for all others
• Solid layers for squares: 2 top, 2 bottom
• Solid layers for all others: 5 top, 2 bottom
• Interior fill pattern: Gyroid
• Top fill pattern: Octagram Spiral for quadrants, Rectilinear for all others
• Bottom fill pattern: Archimedian Chords for squares, Rectilinear for all others
• Combine infill every: 5 layers
• Only infill where needed: Yes

First-layer nozzle temperature for wood-PLA squares: 280°C (smokin' hot)

Post-Printing

1. Lightly sand and stain squares as needed to produce 32 dark squares and 32 light.
2. Mate the squares in a checkered pattern to the quadrant pairs using the integrated triangular pegs and glue.
3. Glue a frame corner to each quadrant.
4. Mate each male quadrant to a female quadrant using the integrated dovetail joints and glue.
5. Attach the two halves using the 2 sets of 3 hinge pins. When centered within a pin channel, each pin set is recessed 2 mm at each end.
6. Press a hinge-pin retainer into place at each end of each hinge-pin set, beveled end first, until the flat end is flush with the pin.
7. Using epoxy, fasten steel washers into the recesses beneath two corners of the board and magnets to the opposing corners. Depending on the size and strength of your magnets, you may find it necessary to use magnets in all four corners. If so, ensure that they are properly polarized to attract rather than repel.
8. Place your men in the box for storage or transport.

Take your men out of the box and play some Shashki or whatever checkerboard game you fancy.

Credits

This design is based very much on Kumoi's travel-size chess set. I simply adapted it for printing without supports at a larger scale, in pieces of manageable size, with nifty joints and aesthetically textured squares.

Playing Pieces

Print Robbert Bakker's vase-mode chessmen with my penny-weighted bases, or use any executive-size or tournament-size set.

As for checkers, print my draughtsmen with majestic crowns or any men of 30-mm diameter.