10 Best 3D Printed Chess Sets You Can Download and Install
There are many different ways to get a chess set, but one of the most unique ways is to get a 3D printed chess set. 3D printing technology has come a long way in recent years, and there are now many different companies that offer high-quality 3D printed chess sets.
In this article, we will take a look at eight of the best options for 3D printed chess sets. We will also provide some tips on what to look for when choosing a 3D printed chess set.
1. Lord of the Rings Chess Set
Lord of the Rings set involves different pieces for you to play: good vs. evil things. These characters are from middle earth. The good things here are the set of hobbits, elves, ents, dwarves, Gandalf, and Aragorn. And the evil set includes the Uruk-hai, Shelob, Saruman, and Sarun.
A designer made the hollow chess pieces, but it doesn’t require any support for a successful print. This is designed by NathanSquaire67. Its 3D printable design and other specification are given on Thingiverse.
2. Micro Planter Chess Set
Plant lovers will surely print this chess set. It’s good to see greenery everywhere while playing a chess board game. Many people like this planter chess set. You can integrate your favorite plants, such as succulents and herbs, into this board. You can also add some garlic to your opponent's side. This is such an innovative and amazing design. You can place this design in your living room. You can download the model on Myminifactory.
3. Game of Thrones Chess Set
Many people like The Game of Thrones series, and hence they would love to play chess games using The Game of Thrones artifacts and characters from the series. They have sigils for playing Stark vs. Lannister. Here the queen is Daenerys.
King is seated on the iron throne and has different crown thrones. Its maker uses the 0.2 mm layer height and 25 percent infill. For printing, this set uses supports, and rafts are not used. Abu Jayden designed this beautiful set. Its 3D printable design and other specification are given on Thingiverse. Check out the model on Thingiverse.
4. Minecraft Chess Set
Minecraft is a popular open-creation game. Based on this popular game, the chess set is created. This set includes a few well-known characters like endermen for the king and queen, pawns, slimes, and creepers used for rooks. Except for creepers and queen, all other pieces are printed in two pieces. This can be easily attached.
The designer of this chess set hasn’t provided any proper printer settings. Different makers use different settings for creating their own chess sets. Mostly 0.2 mm layer height and 20 percent infill density are used. In this chess set, no supports are required for printing, but rafts are used. This unique chess is designed by PotatoFi. Its 3D printable design and other specification are given on Thingiverse. Visit Thingiverse to download this 3D model.
5. Pokemon Chess Set
This chess set uses different pokemon for the different pieces of the chess. The project requires additional files for printing two sets of components. You can choose royal pieces from the Mew and Mewtwo or Nidoqueen and Nidoking. All the starter pokemon and others you like can be used as pawns.
The creator has made different base sets for each type of piece so that you can differentiate between the bishops and rooks. One of the makers suggested the 0.15mm layer height and 20 percent infill for printing this set. Supports are used while printing. This piece is designed by the sch00f. Its 3D printable design and other specification are given on Thingiverse. Check out the 3D model on Thingiverse.
6. Dragon Chess Set
There are many dragon lovers; hence they would love to play with small dragon pieces. Various dragon pieces, such as wyrms, baby dragons, and two-headed dragons, are used for playing. The slender dragon is used for a queen, the Skeleton dragon is used for Bishop, the Horse dragon represents the knight, and the rook uses the stubby dragon. Its 3D printable design and other specification are given on Thingiverse.
7. Voronoi
This chess set includes the Voronoi structure for each piece. The Voronoi system is a mathematical construction of a partition of the plane, which results in a webbed-like 3D design. The Voronoi form requires less filament for printing; this is the best thing when you are printing 32 pieces of a chess game.
Previously pieces didn’t have flat bases, but now there is upgradation in this chess set, and parts are designed with flat bottoms. They are easy to print. The recorded maker uses the layer height of 0.1 mm and 15 percent infill. PLA sheets are used for printing the 3D pieces. This chess set is designed by the roman haggling. Its 3D printable design and other specification are given on Thingiverse.
8. Minion Chess Set
This is one of the favorite chess sets liked by many children and adults too. 3D-printed minions for chess were created by Billy Sides in 2013. Here each chess piece has an incredible amount of details. The minion movie came out in 2015 with the story of Kevin, Stuart, and Bob. This chess set attracts many people as they look fantastic. Its 3D printable design and other specification are given on Thingiverse.
9. Doctor Who
This chess set will bring the generations together as this is the oldest chess model. This set has six different artifacts, including Dalek rooks, Cyberman knights, and adorable k-9 pawns. 28 mm square board is used while playing this game. The designer suggests a 0.2 mm layer and PLA filament. This chess set is designed by DoctorFil-ament. Its 3D printable design and other specification are given on Thingiverse.
10. Hexagonal Chess Set
Here, each piece has a hexagonal base that twists up to the top of that piece. This is an innovative but traditional chess set. This can also be designed in the honeycomb model. The recorded designer suggested 0.2 mm layer height and 20 percent infill density. This model is created by Tronn. Its 3D printable design and other specification are given on Thingiverse.
3D Modeling Software - “SelfCAD”
If you're new to 3D modelling, this all-in-one program will entice you with its user interface. SelfCAD does not focus on just one 3D modelling capability but also 3D sculpting, rendering, and 3D slicing. The software also supports most of the commonly available 3D file formats,, so you can import, export, and modify them easily. A variety of tools are included, for example, freehand drawing and sketching for artistic use, image to 3D tool for converting images to 3D models, boolean operation tools, as well as easy-to-use selection modes.
SelfCAD also comes with shape generators that you can modify to come up with chess sets or other interesting designs easily without starting from scratch. The video below demonstrates how the shape generators of SelfCAD work.
In addition to the above tools, SelfCAD is also affordable,, and there is a free version that you can use to test it and see if it’s something that you are interested in using.
Conclusion
In this article, we saw some attractive chess sets for 3D printing. They all help make the game more attractive. However, printing such a chess set would be a great task. If you want to print some 3D models, you can refer to the 3D designs given in this article.
Enjoy powerful modeling, rendering, and 3D printing tools without the steep learning curve.
Need to learn 3D modelling? Get started with interactive tutorials.