Hinged Chess Board Box

thingiverse

This is a chessboard hinged box that I created because existing designs didn't meet my needs on Thingiverse. The pieces store inside the box, which transforms into a chessboard when opened. It's highly customizable to fit any print bed size. I designed it as wide as possible for my Flashforge Dreamer printer. To assemble the box, you must print it twice and then connect the two halves at the hinge. The STL file for the chessboard is 224mm square, resulting in 28mm squares on the board. In the customizer, input your desired box length, and the chessboard squares will be one-eighth of that measurement. This way, you can determine the size of the chess piece bases to fit snugly into the squares. I employed dual extrusion for the second color version. Simply combine the second color STL file (chessboard2.stl) with the main box STL (chessbox.stl) if you have a dual-extruder printer. Ensure both files are aligned properly by checking the chessboard from beneath the model. The center post of the hinge is made from filament. Scaling the model is not recommended, as it may render the filament too small for the hinge hole. Instead, adjust the box length and height in the customizer to achieve the desired size. The latches are designed to keep the chessboard at the same height as the hinge when closed. They function as friction latches and must be tightened securely to maintain closure. If they're too tight to close the box, lightly file the edge of the latch. To obtain the STL file for only the second color of the chessboard, set onlyChessboardColor2 to 1 in the customizer/scad file. For a single-colored chessboard with squares of the same hue, set onlyChessboardColor2 to 0. The chess pieces used are from the Alien Life Chess Set on Thingiverse (http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1575432). The black and gold set was scaled down by 30% for a perfect fit on the board, while the natural white and yellow-greenish set was scaled up by 25%. However, this resulted in slightly oversized bases for the king and queen. I corrected the included STL files with Netfabb Studio Basic to ensure compatibility. If you use customizer, you may need to do the same to avoid issues during printing. Flashprint automatically fixed the problem, but Simplifly3D did not. Before printing, make sure both STL files are aligned properly by checking the bottom of the model. Centering in software doesn't work because the box is larger than the chessboard due to the hinge. If you don't have dual extruders, you can try printing the second color squares and gluing them into place, but I haven't tested this method. For optimal results, only adjust the box length and height unless necessary. Print Settings: Printer: Flashforge Dreamer Rafts: No Supports: No Resolution: 0.18mm Infill: 15% Notes: One half of the box took approximately 9.5 hours to print. For dual extrusion, make sure both STL files are aligned properly by viewing the bottom of the model in FlashPrint or similar software and ensuring no gaps between chessboard squares before printing. Post-Printing: Assemble the two box halves together and work a piece of filament through the hinge hole. Trim, melt, and file the ends of the filament to secure it in place. If you scaled the model instead of adjusting the box length and height, you'll need to find an alternative solution for the hinge post. If the latches are too tight to close, lightly file the edge of the latch to loosen them. How I Designed This: I created a small prototype using minimal filament to speed up print time. The original prototype measured 40mm in box length and 10mm in height. The full-size design is significantly larger at 224mm in box length and 22mm in height, with all other values remaining the same unless necessary.