Connect Four 3D

prusaprinters

<p>What would fit better than using 3D printing to print a 3D game?&nbsp;This game is a lot of fun and also is perfect as a gift!</p><h3>tl;dr</h3><p>This design is very easy to print: pick colors of your choice, download the designs and fire up the printer! The assembly is self-explanatory. But if you want to learn more, then read on.</p><h3><strong>Changelog:</strong></h3><ul><li>August 3, 2021:<ul><li>Improved stability of the rods: Changed to horizontal alignment during printing. For this purpose, the design was changed from round to octagonal, which also benefits the overall appearance. Board and sticks have to be reprinted, the pieces remained unchanged.</li><li>Size of the board minimally reduced so that the 5x5 board can also be printed on the Mini.</li></ul></li></ul><h3>Printing</h3><p>The designs consists of 3 parts that can be printed from PLA or PETG:</p><figure class="table"><table><tbody><tr><td><p><strong>board:</strong></p><figure class="image"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/71782/rich_content/fb3bd6e5-7257-45cb-929b-5919694d84a6/board.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%22b71b8829-ade2-493f-9d94-e1e5cd590772%22%2C%22w%22%3A992%2C%22h%22%3A744%7D"></figure></td><td><p>I printed the board in PLA Marble which really looks great! The boards is printed with the top surface on the sheet. I did use the new <a href="https://shop.prusa3d.com/en/accessories-mk3s-mk25s-mini/1393-double-sided-powder-coated-satin-spring-steel-sheet.html">satin steel sheet</a> for the first time and am very happy with how nice the surface is. You can hardly tell it is printed!</p><p>The boards is available for download in 4x4 and 5x5 configuration. I recommend starting with the 4x4 - you can update to the 5x5 later.</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>rods:</strong></p><figure class="image"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/71782/rich_content/16f64e55-c3f1-4030-8256-6c8bcfa0b51f/rods.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%2220a460aa-e70b-4794-bfd7-e7cb1981b8de%22%2C%22w%22%3A636%2C%22h%22%3A476%7D"></figure></td><td><p>The rods are available in two different lengths - matching the 4x4 and 5x5&nbsp;board sizes. I printed the using PLA Ultra Silk Silver. &nbsp;I was a little worried that they might break easily. But even in PLA they are very stable.</p><p>The rods are designed to have a tight fit to the board. You can slightly scale them up or down in width If they are too tight or too loose.&nbsp;</p></td></tr><tr><td><p><strong>pieces:</strong></p><figure class="image"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/71782/rich_content/73fb0c75-3a9b-4622-b98a-c06a5ec88472/pieces.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%224a723e13-4b85-4064-b4a9-f7d859267146%22%2C%22w%22%3A1054%2C%22h%22%3A790%7D"></figure></td><td><p>The pieces can be printed in PETG or PLA. Just pick two beautiful colors of your choice that contrast well with each other. I opted for PLA Ultra Silk Gold and Copper. PETG metallic blue also works nicely!</p><p>For PLA you must use a brim - PETG works without.</p><p>You will need 32 pieces of each color for the 4x4 board, or many more for the 5x5 configuration.</p></td></tr></tbody></table></figure><h3>Assembly</h3><p>Simply insert the rods into the base plate. The holes are narrower at the bottom, so there is a well-defined end point:</p><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:44.96%;"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/71782/rich_content/19e7b908-c53f-4c07-974d-a64a7e7525b3/attach.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%2227d9a90c-b364-4517-90d1-7afad4d1e1a7%22%2C%22w%22%3A795%2C%22h%22%3A596%7D"></figure><p>Don't worry if the rods should break off: You can easily knock them out again from below with an M5 screw.</p><p><strong>Optional:</strong> It is a good idea to add rubber feet to the bottom of the board. You can even use my <a href="https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/68213-rubber-tpu-feet-for-the-tefifon-or-other-uses">rubber feet from TPU</a> if you want to print the feet. There are 4 holes at the bottom of the board - so you can either glue on the feet or use M3 screws to permanently fix them in place:</p><figure class="image image_resized" style="width:45.52%;"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/71782/rich_content/7958629e-a932-4021-8149-8882d3c31dff/mount2.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%2229c26a5d-ef16-43e2-811c-f2597b2506eb%22%2C%22w%22%3A788%2C%22h%22%3A592%7D"></figure><h3>Finished</h3><p>Now have fun playing the game - and please don't forget to <strong>like, share and post a photo of your print in the comments</strong>!</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/71782/rich_content/077dca55-4a25-48be-a294-0576d894dc1f/one.jpg#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%22004cd048-ae45-4763-bf11-e5c117c54119%22%2C%22w%22%3A810%2C%22h%22%3A607%7D"></figure><h3><strong>Design and Source Code</strong></h3><p>The design has been implemented in OpenSCAD (the source code is provided for download):</p><figure class="image"><img src="https://media.prusaprinters.org/media/prints/71782/rich_content/27462a9e-26f5-4e9e-891a-56ca9ab7ac3f/render_5x5.png#%7B%22uuid%22%3A%2272678f83-3661-4031-b893-b55996d97059%22%2C%22w%22%3A838%2C%22h%22%3A727%7D"></figure><p>So feel free to adjust it to your needs.</p><h3><strong>Happy printing!</strong></h3><p>If you like this design, then <strong>please leave a like</strong> and also <strong>post a photo in the comments</strong>. Also check out my <a href="https://www.prusaprinters.org/social/52356-mageb/prints"><strong>other designs</strong></a>.</p>