Custom, 3D printed chess sets are rather popular but many simply replace the pieces with a themed version (here’s one for Pokémon) or create an interesting board. This 3D printed chess set, however, is more complex than that.

Enza3D has created a portable, all in one set centred around a huge rook. The inside of the rook is hollow and has platforms to hold the pieces when they’re not in use. The board itself then folds over the outside of the rook, protecting the pieces and creating an enclosed piece.

This type of chess set already exists in some capacity usually made by one individual and then sold at a massive price. A similar one – like this – did the rounds recently where it cost many thousands of dollars to buy. Wanting to create one using 3D printing, for much less money, was the inspiration here.

We’ve been told by Enza3D that this project started life being modelled in Fusion 360 where it took between four or five hours to design.

That relatively small amount of time for such a complex project is due to the fact that the person behind the Enza3D account is a product development and design engineer, so they were able to ply their trade here.

Printing took much longer to complete, coming in about about two weeks’ worth of non-consecutive print time. “I started a print before I went to bed, when I got up in the morning, and when I got home for work,” Enza3D says, “A lot of the parts [are] pretty large and take 20+ hours. I think its probably 4 or 5 solid days of printing. It’s ~3 full rolls of filament.”

The rook stands 16 inches (40.64 centimetres) tall when assembled, but is designed to be made in a regular print bed when done in parts.

Those looking to make their own version of this project can find the files on MyMiniFactory where they’re going for $4.99. Make sure to read the included instructions to avoid any potential problems.

A gif of the packing and unpacking process of this chess set can be found below. While this is a great design for transport we think that most people will be keeping this at home to impress people. Thanks to this new cheaper version, we can see it being used more for playing on the go, especially if magnets are used to keep everything in place.