Chessboard, Base, and Spiral Chess Pieces - Modular Construction

This is a custom chess board design that allows it to all be printed in modular pieces for easy construction for most any size printer. The chess board squares are all 2"x2" and the base they all set into adds about 1" on all sides. Each chess square also has the lettering/numbering embeded along with the row and column labels on the surrounding base since I'm terrible with remembering or quickly identifying the correct square name. 

Each chess square also has the ability to embed a 6x2mm neodymium magnet so that all the pieces stay perfectly centered and less likely to tip/move if playing some speed chess! (also makes it easy for storage when hung on the wall so the pieces stay in their place). That size of neodymium magnet is just strong enough to hold the pieces in place even when you hang the chess board on the wall for storage/display. 

All of the chess pieces were updated to work with my chess board size and design, but the original spiral chess pieces were from CdR (https://www.printables.com/@CdR_347785). All of the chess pieces were resized so that the base is 1.25" and sized better for the 2" chess board squares. Each piece had the base modified so that they could be easily printed solid and still embed another 6x2mm magnet during printing (should fit the magnet with little issue or pressure needed). Depending on the top surface finish chosen for the chess board squares, you might have a little build up at the center of the square, so depending on your print, the pieces might have an ever so slight wobble. I also created a set of these chess pieces that have a small relief at the center so they sit perfectly flat still. Both versions of the pieces still work great since they have the magnets embeded. I printed all the pieces with a .4mm nozzle and .2mm layer height, but I'm sure they could be printed with different nozzles and heights if preferred. 

The chess board squares are all designed to have an interlocking design so that you can easily glue them together to create the overall board. There should be enough relief and chamfers built in so that everything fits together nice and can be glued together. After all pieces are printed and assembled, I tape the top surface with masking tape to make sure they stay together nice and tight, then I use some medium thick CA glue to glue the underside together. Just be careful so that the CA glue doesn't seep past the edges to the top surface. All of the chess board squares should be printed with a .4mm nozzle (or smaller is fine) so that the letters can be easily read. I also printed them with brims or just added some small mouse ears at the corners to help prevent warping off the plate. I would typically print 8 squares at once with my MK4S. You can use something like the Octogram Spiral infill for the top surface to have a cool design across the whole top side of the board. All of these squares should also be printed at .2mm layer height to time out perfectly with all of the bridges, embeded magents, and top layer. Depending on your printer tolerances, the magnets might need a little persuasion to fit in the hole, but for the most part they should pop in with little issue. 

The chess board base has a couple functions. 1, it allows the all of the squares to be inset into it allowing all of the underside and edges to be hidden. 2, it has an embeded french cleat in the base so that it can be wall mounted flush to the wall for storage/display. The chess baord base I printed in a .6mm nozzle for the sake of speed, but .4mm should work just fine as well. Due to the overall size, it' broken out into 9 pieces to fit on my Mk4S build plate. I would highly recommend you print with a brim or add lots of mouse ears to prevent warping and pealing up from the plate. All of the base pieces interlock like the chess board squares so that you can easily glue them into place and make sure it maintains the correct overall tolerances. You can easily add a color change for the board lettering/numbering as well. The included french cleat hanger should just barely fit into the slot, so if you have issues with it fitting, you might need to chamfer the edges of the opening in the base, or trim the edges of the cleat to work. 

After the base pieces are printed and glued together, then you just inlay and glue the chess board squares into the base. I used black silcone caulking to glue the squares in place as it would easily fill any gaps between the two and provide a little easier time with glue up and adhesion. The chess board squares should flush out with the top of the base perimeter after glue up as well. 

Highly recommend using a chamfer tool/blade to clean up edges to ensure tight fits everywhere. Brims and mouse ears on prints are also very helpful due to the size of this print.