Magnetic Chessboard With Storage Box

This chessboard contains magnets underneath every tile and inside each piece to attract pieces to not just the board in general (like other magnetic boards) but to the center of each tile. The magnets are strong enough to withstand the board being shaken or thrown about without pieces moving. The board comes with a storage box underneath with magnetic strips to hold pieces in place whilst stored. The box has a sliding cover, and the walls of the box are engraved with chess tips like various openings and the value of each piece.

• Several sheets (at least 5-6) of 8" x 12" x 3mm plywood (does not need to be 8" x 12" specifically, but you will need each piece to be at least 8" x 8")
• 4pcs of 1" x 8" adhesive magnetic strips
• 96 pcs 6mm diameter x 3mm height magnets
• wood glue
• clamps (for gluing)
• dark-colored wood stain
• wood varnish (optional)
• laser cutter with engraving capabilities
• 3d printer (optional).

All wood pieces in this design are cut from plywood using a 40W laser. The board is comprised of 3 pieces of plywood, each cut to 8" x 8" on outside dimensions. The bottom layer (referred to as #1) is simply a solid square, the middle layer (#2) has an 8x8 array of holes to hold the board's magnets, and the upper layer (#3) has the board's squares.

Square #1 (the bottom layer) and Square #2 both use only a simple vector cut to cut all of the features out.

Square #3 (top) is a third sheet of plywood; first use a raster engrave to engrave the tiles of the board and use a vector cut to cut the outline of the board itself. At this point, you should have three separate pieces of 8" x 8" plywood; a blank piece, one with an 8x8 array of 6mm diameter magnets, and one with an engraving of the chessboard itself (an 8x8 checkered pattern array). For the sake of clarity, we will call the blank sheet Piece #1, the sheet with holes Piece #2, and the board Piece #3.

Use wood glue and clamps to attach Piece #1 to Piece #2. You may want to insert the magnets before gluing depending on how precise your laser is. If you did not insert magnets before gluing Piece #1 to Piece #2, you should insert them now. This means placing one 3mm x 6mm diameter magnet in each of the 64 holes in Piece #2 with the magnets' poles FACING THE SAME DIRECTION!! Make sure to double-check that all magnets have the same pole on the visible side of the board. You can check this by using one of the other magnets and holding it over each magnet in Piece #2. If they are all attracted to the magnet without needing to be flipped around, they are all facing the same direction.

Now, use wood glue and clamps to attach Piece #3 to Piece #2 with the checkered pattern visible, facing away from Piece #2. This would be a good time to triple-check that all magnets inside the board are facing the same direction! At this point, you should have made a sandwich with the three pieces, with Piece #2 being in the middle, and the checkered pattern being visible on the outside of the sandwich.

Use the wood stain to stain 1-2 sheets of plywood. The black pieces will be cut from these sheets, so make sure to stain enough wood for all 16 pieces. I used about 1.5 sheets of 8" x 12" plywood, so plan accordingly, however, you can always stain more.

Each playing piece is constructed from two circular plates measuring about 0.8" in diameter, a magnet inserted into one of the base plates FACING THE RIGHT DIRECTION, and a two-dimensional cutout of each piece inserted into the other base plate. The CAD image above shows the bottom (orange color) ring where the magnet is inserted, while the upper (gray color) piece with the rectangular part is where the piece is inserted.

I have included a full set of cutouts that need to be cut per color, but you may need to adjust it to fit the size demands of your laser cutter. Begin by using a vector cut for 16 base plates with rectangular holes in black and 16 in white. We will call these parts with rectangular holes Piece #1. Now, cut 16 base plates with circular holes in black, and 16 in white. We will call these pieces with the circular holes Piece #2. We will now need to glue all Piece #1s to all Piece #2s of the same color. To ensure that the pieces are properly aligned when gluing, I designed a small 3d print (attached, called "Guide for Gluing Base") that fits snugly over the pieces and holds them in place while gluing but can be removed after the wood glue has settled. You may glue without this piece, but you risk having the circles misaligned. To glue these pieces, insert a magnet into each Piece #2, and glue a Piece #1 of the same color (All black pieces should be glued to another black piece, and all whites to whites). Make sure that the newly assembled bases are magnetically attracted to the board with Piece #2 on the bottom (closer to the board). If any base is attracted with Piece #1 on the bottom, it means you placed the magnet into Piece #2 facing the wrong direction.

Now, use a vector cut to cut the playing pieces from their corresponding color wood (either stained for black or original for white). You should cut 1 Queen, 1 King, 2 Rooks, 2 Knights, 2 Bishops, and 8 Pawns of each color. Refer to the image to see the complete set of pieces you need. In total, you should have 32 playing pieces, 16 of each color. Now, coat the tabs of each piece with wood glue and insert them into the rectangular hole of a base of the same color. You should not have any remaining bases, base pieces, or playing pieces after doing this. If you do, check to see which playing pieces you did not cut.

At this point, you should have 32, fully assembled pieces that are magnetically attracted to each tile on the board!

Begin by using a vector cut to cut all attached files out of standard plywood (not the stained plywood from step two). 4 of the files have text inscribed upon the sides of them. This text is to inform anyone playing the game of common opening tactics and piece values and should be engraved using a vector engraving. The box is assembled using interlocking teeth on each wall to create a durable design. There are four total sides with engravings on them; two of each type of engraving. Each side with engravings should be opposite to another side with the same engravings. I would suggest that after you cut out all pieces, you assemble the box once without glue so that you can determine a proper fit. The three thinner pieces are inserted into the holes in two of the engraved sides. The large piece with a massive opening attaches on top of the 4 engraved sides, and the piece with the lone circular hole slides in through the opening on the side (This piece will not be glued as it slides out to reveal the contents of the storage box). Refer to the images if you need additional help assembling.

Now that you know how to assemble the box, coat the teeth of each piece with glue and assemble the storage box pieces in the proper arrangement. All engravings should be facing the outside of the box, and the piece with the circular hole should not be assembled during the gluing process so as to eliminate the risk of it being glued. To ensure that the glue sets well, I would suggest an abundance of clamps and even a weight of some sort on top of the box while gluing (I used a ridiculously large book!). Let the glue settle, and then remove all clamps, weights, or comically large books. Check to make sure that our slider piece can fit into the gap between the top piece and the engraved piece. It will be difficult to slide it in at first, but the more you slide it, the easier it will get. You may need to use sandpaper.

Begin by attaching the adhesive magnetic strips to the inside of the storage box. These should be placed on the same side of each compartment of the storage container. As the storage box is separated into 4 different compartments, there should now be a magnetic strip on one of the longer walls of each compartment. You may need to reinforce the adhesives with glue, as they may not stick to the wood very well.

Next, use more wood glue to attach the flat side of the storage box to the blank side of our board sandwich. The slider piece of the storage box should be on the bottom (further from the board).

Finally, I chose to coat my finished product in varnish to protect it from stains and damage, and I would suggest that you do the same, however, it is usable without it. To varnish the board, coat all sides of the storage box and board with anywhere between 3-6 coats of varnish depending on how dark your varnish is. Do not varnish the sliding piece or any parts that it touches while sliding as it could affect how easy it is to use. Note that I chose not to varnish my pieces, however, you may varnish them if you prefer.

Each compartment of the storage box is designed to fit a specific piece as they are all different sizes. The two smallest compartments house all of the pawns, 8 in each compartment. The second largest compartment houses the Knights and Rooks, and the largest compartment houses the Bishops, Kings, and Queens. Refer to the attached image if you ever forget the orientation of the pieces!

I designed this chessboard using Onshape, and I attached the link to my design if you want to check it out. I hope you enjoy using the chessboard and let me know what you think of it!

P.S. If any of you were wondering, my chess Elo is currently 803 and my favorite opening is the Ruy Lopez!