Full-size chess board with drawers

About

This is a full-size chess board, featuring sliding drawers for the convenient storage of chess pieces.

It's ideally suited for printing with wood-infused PLA filament, and surface-finished with epoxy resin. The resin finish is optional, however it improves durability and makes it really stand out. A good-quality resin like ArtResin will give the playing surface a glass-like appearance!

Pieces are not included, however in my build I 3D printed a chess piece set found online and produced resin copies using casting silicone. A bit over the top perhaps, though I wanted to go for a transparent finish. You could probably achieve similar results today with clear, transparent PETG filament.

I originally built this as a gift. Sharing here so others may bring the same joy to someone special.

Assembly

The frame is split into two, to avoid the need for supports. If you don't mind expending material on supports, you can join the halves together to save having to join with glue during post-processing.

Chess squares were originally printed individually and stuck down to the base with glue prior to resin finishing. If doing multi-material printing, printing as a single sheet should avoid having to glue to the board mount surface.

I recommend sanding the PLA wood components with fine-grit sandpaper and applying some wood lacquer, to provide a nice sheen.