Sla printed chess set

grabcad

When I acquired a budget-friendly chess set on Amazon, I was thoroughly unimpressed with the quality of the pieces. Having familiarity with SLA 3D printing concepts, I decided to purchase a printer and create my own pieces. Initially, I considered searching online for chess piece files that would effectively utilize the strengths of SLA 3D printing, but I couldn't find any suitable options, so I took matters into my own hands and created my own designs. When I obtained an Elegoo Mars, it came with a print file for a chess rook, which is touted as a torture test for the printer. I was thoroughly impressed by its quality, so to create my own pieces, I merged the theme of traditional chess pieces with that of the Elegoo rook, resulting in modern-looking pieces that showcase the capabilities of SLA 3D printers exceptionally well. They feature numerous intricate details that would be extremely challenging to manufacture using conventional methods. For instance, the indentation between the bricks on the rook is a mere 0.1mm deep, or the spirals at the center of some pieces are impressively precise.Next, I decided to take it to the next level and design holders for them as well, since the original board came with basic small plastic bags for the pieces, which didn't meet my expectations. So, I created a part called the board insert, which is intended to be attached inside the chessboard where there's space, featuring indentations in the shape of the pieces. This component demonstrates the precision achievable with SLA printing as all the pieces fit together seamlessly without any additional post-processing required and the tolerances are incredibly small (~0.1mm).One of the greatest strengths of this design compared to other chess pieces is its high complexity at a relatively low cost. I firmly believe that this chess set, combined with a chess board created using FDM printing, has the potential to revolutionize the travel chess set market since it could be very cheaply manufactured and still look impressive unlike the set that inspired this project.Ervins RodertsCoventry university