A7: Final Project Proposal!

Concept

Unrealistic idea above - I'm totally not making this for the final project. But building a chess set gets me closer to one day build a chess bot!

So for the final project, I plan to build a custom chess set with roll-up board and carrying box. This is inspired by this 3D-printed chess set design (as shown below). I read that some people tried to make this design but the chess board was too loose for them, so I decided to take this concept and make my own version with modifications using laser cutting technique. This way, I can also use the basswood material and engraving for the chess board as I like this texture better.

Here is a rough sketch my design.

The 32 chess pieces, the box lid and the base will be 3D printed. The color of the box base will be beige while the box lid will be white.

For the chess pieces, I plan to print them with the white and beige PLA filament that I've already acquired. There are many model files for chess pieces on Thingiverse. For each of the chess piece, I will need to modify the model to include a slot at the bottom to glue the magnet onto.

3 sides of the box will be a roll-up chess board. The board will be laser cut and engraved with the board pattern. After folding the board into a 3-sided shape, it can be fit into the 3D-printed box base to form the chess carrying box.

Inside the box, there will be a press-fit holder for the 32 chess pieces, made out of basswood using laser cutter. There will be 4 levels, with each holding 8 chess pieces. The slots for placing the chess pieces will be a circle cutout that have a magnet glued in between. This way, the chess pieces can be more securely attached to the holder.

I'm hoping to have some decorative patterns, either cutout or engraved, on the chess piece holder. But that'll depend on my time to finish all the modeling in time. The good news is, for the laser cutting box structure, I can reuse some of the models from my previous lamp assignment, as the overall structure is similar.

Tasks Breakdown

Get model files of the chess pieces on Thingiverse

Sketch out more detailed specs with measurements

Modify the models of chess pieces in order to fit the magnets & size of the box

Create 3D models for the box structure (base and lid)

Modeling the chess boards for laser cutting and fitting into the box (reuse part of the previous lamp assignment model file)

Modeling the chess holder for laser cutting and fitting into the box

Design the chess board / chess holder engraving (based on the theme of chess pieces)

3D print the chess pieces & box base/lid

Laser cut the chess boards and put the box together

Fine-tuning the 3D printed pieces (sanding)

Timeline

Here is the project color-coded timeline. The orange color indicates planning and getting materials, yellow indicates modeling in Adobe Illustrator & Rhino, blue indicates the actual fabrication process using 3D printer and laser cutter.

Bill of Materials & Sourcing Schedule

Small magnets (Amazon, $10.99 for 100 pcs 6x3mm) (will arrive 11/23)

Glue (Amazon, $4.19 for 0.18 oz) (will arrive 11/23)

Filament: Already acquired white & beige HATCHBOX 1.75mm PLA filament (Amazon, $24.99 each). I may source better-looking filament from Protopasta for the chess pieces.

Basswood: Already acquired 8 basswood sheets. They are 11.8 inch / 300 mm in length, 11.8 inch in width, 1/8 inch (2.6 mm is the actual measurement) in thickness. (Amazon, $25.99 for 12 pack)

Sandpaper (Amazon, $12.59 for 60 sheets) (will arrive 11/23)

3D printer: Have it at home

Laser cutter: Will be using the one at the Mill after thanksgiving break

Acrylic spray paint (Amazon - only needed if beige vs white filament color wasn’t good enough)

Contingency Plan

I feel pretty confident about this plan, but if there's any unforseen incidents, such as laser cutter being down all week, I can make the laser-cutting parts with 3D printing.