3D Chess (Star Trek TOS)

prusaprinters

The design is based on the 3d chess from the old series (TOS) of Star Trek:I made some adjustments to take advantage of 3D printing and I improved the design to my liking. The size is a bit smaller than the original one, since I wanted to print the arm of the stand (the most critical part of the design) in one piece. I am now very happy with the size of 31 cm x 19 cm x 39 cm and would not like it to be any larger. The design also contains chess pieces having perfect size to fit underneath the attack boards.It would have been possible to build this construction without screws without any problems. But I wanted the chess set to be stable and durable on the one hand, and the parts to be easy to replace on the other. So I decided to use screws. But don't worry, there is only one size of screws for the whole design.PrintingThe design can be printed in PLA and PETG. I decided to use these filaments for my print:Translucent red and clear PETG for the boards and the rodsUltra silk silver and ultra silk gold PLA for the stand (arm and foot)Black PETG and light ivory PLA for the piecesBe free to use any other colors and please post a photo in the comments!Printing is without supports and can easily be done using the provided gcode files. The STL and 3MF files are also provided. Some parts need color change at certain layer heights during printing, but this can easily be done with a single extruder machine (no MMU needed).board large (3x):The boards are printed on a textured steel sheet starting with red translucent PETG. There is a color change after the second layer to clear PETG. The layer heights are 0.25 mm for the first layer and 0.15 mm from the second layer. To speed up printing I use a height modifier to change it to 0.25 mm from a height of 1.2 mm upwards.To improve the result I have turned on ironing for all top surfaces. The ironing is then disabled using the height modifier mentioned above.The look is further optimized by printing with 6 perimeters and by using concentric fill pattern. The result is amazing!board small (4x):The small attack boards are printed in the same way as the large boards. rods (2x):The rods with which the attack boards are plugged onto the large boards are printed in 0.2mm layer height. You have to print one set in clear and one in translucent red (dark color of the board).Each print contains 2 rods in 3 different sizes. So you can later choose which one fits best.arm (1x):The arm is printed in ultra silk silver PLA at 0.2 mm layer height. 4 perimeters and concentric fill pattern make this part very stable and look great.foot main (1x):This part of the foot is printed starting using ultra silk silver PLA and then changing color to ultra silk gold PLA for the top ring. Layer height is 0.2 mm and fill pattern is concentric.foot bottom (1x):This part of the foot optional. It is printed in ultra silk gold PLA at variable layer height from 0.3 mm to 0.1 mm. pieces (2x):I have printed one set in black PETG and the other in light ivory PLA. The pieces are printed in 0.15mm layer heigth.Depending on your filament and printer you might to brush up the prints (mainly the tip at the top) using a sharp knife, a file or sand paper. A hot air gun might also help.AssemblyAssembling the parts is straightforwar and self explanatory. Here is a step by step walkthrough:1. Get some ScrewsYou will need 17 pieces (12 would be sufficient) of M3 flathead screws (ISO-7380 works great). Length is not critical - it must be in the range of 5 mm up to 8 mm:2. Attach the main part of the foot to the arm:3. (Optional) Attach the bottom part of the foot:4. Attach the large boards to the arm: 5. Select the rods and mount them to the attack boards:Each print contains 2 rods in 3 slightly different sizes. So choose which one fits best: They should be such that they can be easily inserted into and removed from the large boards. In the attack baord, they sit much tighter.Depending on which of the rules you play by, you may need to distinguish which player an attack board belongs to. So attach the darker sticks to the upper and the light sticks to the lower attack boards.6. That's it! Happy playing:You can find various rules for playing the game online. So just ask your favorite search engine. Optional (!) improvementsIf you want to go the extra mile to push the design, I have a few recommendations. They are totaly optional but might be worth to consider.1. Increase the weight of the standThe stand is already extremely stable on its own, so no improvement is needed here. But since there is so much space inside the foot, you can easily add a weight to make it appear more valuable and make it even more stable. In stores for car accessories you can buy cheap adhesive weights for balancing:2. Increase the weight of the pieces by adding screwsWith the chess pieces being so small it is a good idea to increase their weight. You can use M5 flathead screws (ISO-7380 works great) for that:Screws with a maximum of 16 mm will fit each of the pieces. If you have other lengths available you might want to go to the maximum length:Optimum screw sizes:King: M5 x 30mmQueen: M5 x 25mmKnight, rook and bishop: M5 x 20mmPawn: M5 x 16mm3. Add rubber to the pieces to keep them from slidingPETG - ans also PLA - has very low friction. So I recommend to add rubber to the bottom of the pieces to keep them from sliding.  Transparent rubber for spraying is available in spray cans from car accessory stores:Since I discovered it I have used this spray successfully for various designs and can really recommend it for a lot of situations.Source CodeThe design has been implemented in OpenSCAD:Even the figures were built from geometric primitives  - and yes: also the knight (just don't ask…):The source code is provided for download, so feel free to adjust it to your needs! Happy printing!If you like this design, then please leave a like and also post a photo in the comments. Also check out my other designs.Related to games you might be interested in one of these:Connect Four 3D:Spiral Vase Meeple: