The benefits of a dice box are clear, but professionally made boxes can be expensive. A fancy wooden one can sometimes cost hundreds of dollars. Luckily, with 3D printing, you can make our own dice boxes for much cheaper. You don’t even need any woodworking skills. All it takes is a 3D printer and some finishing touches and you’ll have your own custom dice box.

In this article I’ll go over how to find and choose the right 3D model for your dice box, and the different ways you can print and customize it. As an example I’ll show you my own dice box that I’ve 3D printed and customized. I’ll also explain the different options you have for lining and closing your dice box.

Choosing a Model

If you look online on sites like Thingiverse, you’ll find a huge amount different designs for dice boxes. Each one is designed to contain different materials, so you should first decide what your needs are. Are your dice small or large? Do you want to be able to store writing tools? What about papers or miniatures? Some boxes, like the small speckled silver box that I made, are too small to hold large dice at their default size. But keep in mind that you can always scale up a design if you really like it but it’s a bit too small.

There are also different styles of opening and closing. Some dice boxes have hinged lids, while others have lids that completely come off. A lot of people like the separate lid style, but if you’re worried about losing your lid then it’s better to keep it attached with hinges.

If you can’t find anything that you like for free online, then there’s always the option of designing one yourself. It might seem daunting, but a box is one of the easiest things to 3D model, so it’s a good first project if you want to learn 3D modeling. I recommend OpenSCAD, because it’s a free software that’s good for making things that are geometric, like boxes. OpenSCAD also works well for making adjustable items. This means that you can go into the program and change the parameters of different measurements of your object.

Different Filaments

PLA is still the most common type of filament for hobbyist 3D printers, but there are still a wide variety of options to choose from. The range of colors that you can buy just keeps growing. There are metallic colored filaments, marbled filaments, and even wood fiber infused filaments. If you find a filament that you really like, you won’t even need to paint it.

Wood fiber filaments are a good choice for dice boxes in my opinion, because a lot of quality dice boxes that you can buy are made of wood. While it’s not the same as a wooden dice box, it imitates the texture and feeling of warmth that you get from wood. You can sand it after printing to remove some of the layer lines and give it a nice smooth finish.

Painting

If you want to customize your dice box a bit more, then painting is an option. When painting 3D printed objects, it’s a good idea to use a primer that will stick to plastic, because paints don’t adhere very well to PLA. If you want to remove any layer lines and end up with a smooth finish, then I recommend that you coat it with a few layers of filler primer first, and then sand it smooth. There are other methods to smooth out PLA prints but filler primer is one of the easiest in my experience.

There are endless ways to paint and customize your dice box, so it’s really up to you and what you want to express. For my dice box I spray painted it black, then misted some metallic spray paint over that to give it a speckled appearance. After that I gave it a coat of clear coat. Clear coats will help to protect your paint job and make it last longer.

Linings

Linings will help to keep your dice from rattling too much inside your dice box. You don’t necessarily need to add a lining, but I think most people will because it really helps to cut down on the noise.

There are 3 common materials that are used for lining dice boxes, and those are: Foam, Leather, and Felt.

Foam is good because it’s cheap and easy to clean. You can easily find it at craft stores and it comes in a wide variety of colors.

Leather is more expensive but gives a much higher quality appearance. Harder to find in stores but easily bought online. Also comes in different colors.

Felt is kind of an old school liner material, but it has its own appeal. Easily found at craft stores, and comes in different colors.

To attach the liner to your dice box, simply cut it out to fit the shape and glue it down with the glue of your choice. You can use super glue, hot glue, or even spray adhesive. If you use hot glue, be sure to press it down flat otherwise it might leave raised areas. Some areas might be small enough that the liner will stay in place just from friction, so you won’t even need to use glue.

One good thing about using foam as liner is that you can press the halves of your dice box onto it and it will leave an impression in the foam. This makes it easy to get the exact shape of the pieces that you need to cut out. For the other materials, you might want to make a paper pattern first to test the fit of the lining, then use that to cut out your material.

Closure Methods

A lot of dice boxes use magnets to keep them closed. Magnets are a good option because they’re relatively secure, as long as you get some that are strong enough, and they give a sleek appearance to your dice box. If your dice box is designed to use magnets, then it should have some recessed holes in the top and bottom. I just used some hot glue to attach the magnets on mine.

If you use magnets, make sure that they’re arranged so that their polarity is in the right direction. For example, all of the magnets on the bottom half should have their north pole facing up, and all the magnets on the top should have their south pole facing down. This way the magnets will always attract each other no matter how you orient the lid.

It helps to mark one side of each magnet with a marker so that you can easily keep track of which side goes where. I put a small dot on the inner side of each magnet so that it’s not visible after gluing.

If you want something a little more secure, then there are some dice box designs that have hinges and latches on them. Here’s one that I found that looks like a treasure chest.

Chess is more popular than ever before, so if you want to make yourself a chess set and you have a 3D printer, you’re in luck. There are many free models available online for chess sets that you can print in just a couple of days. Some of them are modeled after traditional chess sets, and some have a more unique or stylized appearance.

Before we had 3D printing technology, it took a lot of time and skill to produce a chess set. Nowadays you can choose from a wide variety of models and print out the pieces with little effort or skill involved. Of course they won’t match the same quality of a hand crafted chess set, but if you just need some pieces to start playing the game, 3D printing them is a great option. You can even add weights to the pieces to make them heavier, so they feel more substantial.

In this article I’ll go over how you can 3D print your own chess set, how I made mine, and explain many of the other ways that you can go about it. There are actually a lot of options, not only with the different models, but also in the finishing process.

Choosing a Set

One of the main benefits of 3D printing your own chess set is that you can choose from a variety of unique set designs. If you go to Thingiverse.com and search for “chess set” or even just “chess,” you’ll find over a hundred pages of different models, all available for free. Not all of them are full chess sets, some are just individual pieces, but there’s still plenty to choose from. There are traditional sets, modern designs, and many different themed sets.

If you’re looking for some good traditional sets, I have a few recommendations. The first is the one that I chose to print for myself, which is a Staunton style set modeled by PerryT. This set has a classic look, and can be printed without supports. The only piece that you might want to print with supports is the knight, because the chin of the horse’s head has a steep overhang, but mine printed without too much deformation.

Another good classic set is this Dubrovnik set modeled by kinedix. It can also be printed without supports, according to the designer.

If you’re looking for something a bit more unique, check out this spiral chess set modeled by BigBadBison. It’s one of the most popular, if not the most popular chess set on Thingiverse. The spiral design is very difficult to produce with traditional methods, but simple for 3D printers.

Then there are the themed sets. You can find all kinds of chess sets based on popular TV shows, stories, and movies. One of my favorites is this Pokemon chess set by sch00f. What ever your tastes are, you’ll probably be able to find a themed chess set that appeals to you.

Print Time and Filament Type

Because a full chess set has 32 separate pieces, it can take a long time to print them all out. Of course this will also depend on the size of the pieces, but a full sized chess set can take multiple days to print fully. This might seem like a long time, but even if you ordered a set online, it would probably take at least a few days to ship it to you.

For the set that I printed, which is this full sized Staunton set, the total print time was just over 42 hours. Depending on the size of your printer, you might be able to print all of the pieces for one color at the same time. I decided to print 8 pieces at a time to make it more manageable.

As for what type of filament to use, PLA is fine because the pieces don’t need to be strong. You can print them with thin shells and low infill (around 20 or 15 percent) and they should be fine. They’ll mostly just be sitting on a board or in a box, so they don’t need to handle much stress.

The color of the filament also doesn’t matter so much, because you can always paint the pieces afterwards. Even if you want to smooth them out with one of the methods below, you can still print them in a different color and paint them after the smoothing. So don’t worry if you don’t have enough black and white filament. I actually didn’t have enough black PLA to print all of the black pieces, so I printed the rest in blue PLA and painted them black.

There are even filaments that you can buy that have wood fibers embedded in them. If you want your pieces to feel a bit more like traditional wooden pieces, this might be a good option for you.

Finishing Processes

It’s not 100% necessary to go through any finishing processes for your pieces, but you might want to anyway. You could just print the pieces in the colors that you want, and leave them like that, and they’d be perfectly fine. That’s what I did with most of my pieces. But for those of you who want to smooth out your pieces or paint them, I’ll go over some different methods that you can use.

Tumbling

If you don’t know what a tumbler is, it’s basically a device that spins things around in a container with some other objects inside to smooth them out. They’re used a lot to smooth out rocks, but you can put pretty much anything in them and they will either smooth them out or add texture to them.

You can use tumblers to smooth out 3D printed parts too. Just place your chess pieces inside and let them tumble for a while, and they should come out much smoother. Depending on what you tumble them with, it might not smooth out all of the nooks and crannies, but it should smooth out most of the surface.

Painting

If you didn’t have the exact color of filament that you wanted your pieces to be, then it might be easier just to paint them. With painting you have two options: Hand painting or spray painting. It’s possible to brush some acrylic craft paints directly onto the 3D printed pieces, and that will work well enough. I used this method for some of my black pieces and it worked fine. They did need 2 coats of paint though, because the first coat didn’t completely cover up the blue plastic underneath.

Hand painting with acrylics is fine, but it doesn’t provide a very durable finish. The paint can peel or chip off relatively easily. Spray paint can be much more durable if you apply it properly. If you use a primer first, the paint will stick much better and last longer.

Another benefit of spray painting your pieces is that you can use a filler primer, and that will help to smooth out your pieces somewhat. It might take a few coats, but it will make it much smoother than if you just used normal primer and paint. Normal spray paint doesn’t really fill up cracks or gaps, even with many coats.

Acetone Vapor Smoothing

Acetone vapor smoothing is a technique that can only be used with pieces printed out of ABS or ASA filaments. I haven’t tried it because I don’t print with ABS, because I print indoors and ABS produces toxic fumes as it heats up. But if you have the option to print in a well ventilated area like an open garage, a workshop, or even a patio, then you might want to try printing your chess pieces in ABS and vapor smoothing them, because it can produce very smooth results.

Here’s a good video I found that explains the process.

Adding Weights

One downside to 3D printed chess pieces is that they’re very lightweight. You could print them with solid infill, but that would take much longer to print and use up a lot more filament. Good quality chess pieces, even ones made out of wood, often have weights added to their bases to make them heavier. You can do the same thing with 3D printed chess pieces.

The set that I printed already came with a hollowed out space in the bottom of each piece, specifically put there by the designer for adding weights. He used lead shot and hot glue, which is a great idea and is probably one of the best ways to add as much weight as possible. If you’re like me though and don’t have any lead shot, then there are other things you can use.

Spare pennies make good weights, if you don’t mind using them. You could also use metal washers. Flat metal pieces are good if the holes in the bottoms of your pieces are cylindrical, but the holes in my set are conical, so smaller bits of metal would work better. I thought about using sand, but I didn’t have any clean sand lying around.

What I did have was a bunch of spare metal hex nuts from an old project. They were small enough to fit into the conical holes, and took up more space than just using washers. I simply placed the hex nuts into the pieces and filled around them with hot glue.

Padding

To preserve your chess board, it’s a good idea to add some kind of padding to the bottoms of all the pieces. The bare plastic can dent or scratch the finish on some chess boards. A lot of chess pieces have felt pads, but you could also use foam or even leather. I didn’t have any felt, but I did have some thin craft foam, so I cut out circles and hot glued them to bottom of each piece.

If you decide to use leather, I’d recommend that you put the rough side facing down. This is because the smooth side of leather can sometimes stick to some surfaces. The rough side will usually slide better.

These hardwoods can be expensive for someone just starting out with woodworking, or anyone who’s on a tight budget. A cheap alternative to using naturally dark wood species is to use a dark stain on pine. For the light squares you can simply leave the pine unstained and it’s natural color is already light enough. This will give you the contrast you need to make a chess board, but it also complicates the process.

If you want to build a chess board out of a soft wood like pine, then you have to be aware that it probably won’t turn out as nice as one made from hardwoods. The main issue is with the stain. With woods that are naturally dark, you can sand them as much as you want because the color is the same through out the wood. But stain only colors the surface of the wood, so this means that you can’t sand it much after you stain it or the color will be removed. This makes it very difficult to get a flat, smooth surface on your chess board.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t or shouldn’t make a chess board out of softwood. Even though it probably won’t be as smooth as one made from hardwood, it can still function as a chess board. They can even have a rustic appearance that hardwood chess boards lack.

Keep in mind that there are many ways you could make a pine chess board, and this is just how I made mine. I used simple tools that most beginner woodworkers probably already have, but if you don’t have some of these tools, don’t worry. Some of them can probably be rented from hardware stores, or maybe there’s a community workshop or maker space in your area that has some.

Materials/Tools

• 1×4 Pine Boards (Or any other softwood)
• Wood Stain (Preferably dark)
• Wood Glue
• Varnish (Polyurethane in my case)
• Table Saw
• Random Orbital Sander
• Sandpaper (80-220 grit)

Cutting the Boards to Length

The first step in making the pine chess board is to cut the boards to length. To find out how long your boards need to be, you first need to decide how big you want your squares to be. If you want your chess board to be regulation size, then the squares should be between 2 and 2 ½ inches wide. The United States Chess Federation standard is 2 ¼ inches, so that’s how big I made mine.

Once you decide how big your squares will be, multiply that measurement by 8. Then find the thickness of the saw blade on your table saw and multiply that by 7, because you’ll be making 7 cuts later on, and each cut will consume the blade’s thickness worth of material. If you don’t allow for that, then you’ll end up with too little material by the time you’re done cutting.

In my case, the width of my saw blade times 7 is roughly 5/8 of an inch. The eight squares add up to 18 inches, so I need my boards to be at least 18 and 5/8 inches long. I rounded it up to 20 inches just to give myself even more wiggle room.

I cut all my boards out with a miter saw, but you could use any kind of saw. Once your boards are all cut to length, the next step is to cut them to width.

Cutting to Width

To cut your boards to width, the easiest tool to use is a table saw. It’s important that the boards fit together perfectly without any gaps, so the first step is to joint one side of each board. If you’re like me and don’t have a jointer, then you can use a table saw like a jointer by using a jointing jig. They’re relatively easy to make, here’s a video tutorial on how to make one. There are a few other methods to joint a board without a jointer, so if you don’t like the jointing jig method then then check out this video.

Once you have one side on each board jointed, you can run them through the table saw to get them to their final width. You might want to leave a bit of extra material on the two boards that will be on the outer edges of the chess board though, to allow for sanding later on. I forgot about that when I cut my boards to width, and it honestly didn’t make much of a noticeable difference, but you might want to.

Flattening

Once you have all of the boards cut to length and width, the next step is to get them as flat and even as possible. In my opinion this is the trickiest part about making a pine chess board. The boards all need to be flattened and sanded before the assembly, which is difficult to do when they’re not attached together. Normally you could just flatten and smooth the board after it’s assembled, but in this case that has to happen before the stain is applied.

Maybe you’ll get lucky and all of your boards will already be perfectly flat after you cut them. In most cases though, you’re going to have some boards that are twisted, cupped, or bowed. For me, half of my boards were flat and the other half were twisted.

There are a lot of methods out there for flattening boards, but most of them don’t apply very well to thin boards. If you have access to a planer then that would work well, but I didn’t have one. To use a planer to flatten a twisted board you can shim the corners until it doesn’t wobble, and then run it through. Just make sure that the shims are very secure. Here’s a good video that explains the process.

If you’re like me and don’t have a planer, then there are still some options. I thought about using a router flattening jig, but I thought that it wouldn’t work on multiple boards that aren’t attached together. It might be possible though to use the jig to flatten each board separately. I didn’t try it but it would probably work well.

What I ended up doing, and this probably wasn’t the fastest or easiest way, was just to sand the surface as flat as I could with a random orbital sander. I taped all the boards down to a flat workbench and shimmed the wobbly ones, then sanded with 40 grit sandpaper until I had one flat surface. Then I flipped them over and flattened the other side. This ended up taking multiple hours, and it was difficult to get it flat. In the end I never got it perfectly flat, but decided that it was good enough.

If I had to do it again I would just use the router flattening jig on each individual board, or find a way to secure them temporarily and flatten them all at once. Doing it by hand with a sander is much slower and less accurate.

Sanding

How ever you decide to do it, once you have the boards flat and even, you can sand the top to it’s final smoothness. If you haven’t already decided which sides you want to show on the top, now is the time. Look at each board to see which side has the nicer grain pattern, or any knots that you want to highlight or hide.

You might also want to consider the orientation of each board. If you orient each board so that the growth ring patterns on the end alternate, then you should have less problems with warping later on. Other wise, if too many of the boards are oriented so that the growth rings face the same way, then the board could tend to warp in one direction over time.

Once you’ve decided on the arrangement of the boards, the sanding process itself is simple. Start with a low grit like 60 or 80 grit sandpaper, and sand in the direction of the grain. After the entire surface feels smoother than when you started, switch to the next highest grit. Repeat that process until you reach your desired smoothness.

Because I knew that my board would probably end up slightly uneven, and I knew that I wouldn’t be able to sand it when I was done, I decided to round the edges of my boards. That way any edges that didn’t meet up perfectly wouldn’t stick out sharply, but be rounded over instead. Even if you get your boards perfectly flat and the same thickness, it’s still possible that pieces will slip out of place during the glue up.

Staining

After your boards have been sanded to their final smoothness, you can apply the stain to the boards that will become the dark squares. You can use any stain that you want, as long as it will create some contrast between the unstained boards. It doesn’t really matter whether you use a water-based or oil-based stain, as long as it will work with the finish coat. For example, if you use a water-based stain, don’t try to apply an oil-based finish over it later.

When staining soft woods like pine, it helps to use a pre-stain product, also known as a wood conditioner. This will help the stain to absorb evenly. Without the pre-stain, the stain will usually end up looking blotchy, with some parts darker or lighter than others. With the pre-stain, you should get a nice and consistent color.

Temperature also affects how well the stain will be absorbed into the wood. Most stains will say on the label that they shouldn’t be applied if the temperature is below a certain point. If you try to apply the stain in a room that’s too cold, or even if only the boards are cold, then it might not soak in very well and the wood will end up much lighter than it should. If it’s cold in your garage or workshop and you want to stain, consider getting some kind of heater to keep the space and the materials warm.

First Glue Up

Once you’ve stained the dark boards, you’re ready for the first glue up. This is a fairly simple process. Just apply glue to at least one side of each joint and then clamp the boards together. Make sure to spread the glue thoroughly so that it covers the entire area of the joints. You should use enough glue so that there’s an even amount of squeeze-out along the joint when you clamp it, but not so much that you get an excessive amount of squeeze-out, because that’s just a waste of glue.

Speaking of squeeze-out, it’s important to completely clean up the excess glue on the top of the board. Normally you’d be able to sand away any dried excess glue afterwards, but in this case we can’t sand the surface anymore because that would remove the stain. So after you clamp the boards, go across each joint with some kind of scraper and remove all of the squeeze-out. Then clean up any leftover glue with a wet rag or wet paper towels. Make sure that there’s absolutely no glue left over, because it will dry yellow and ruin the surface.

When you clamp the boards together, it helps to clamp some additional boards across the top and bottom to keep the whole thing flat. The pressure from the clamps tends to cause the boards to bow in one direction, so clamping some straight, flat boards onto them will keep them flat. It helps to cover these additional boards with plastic tape, like packing tape, so that they don’t get stuck to the actual work piece.

Once you have it all clamped up and cleaned off, let it sit for at least a few hours, but preferably over night. You want the glue to be completely cured before you continue.

Cutting Again

Once you have the boards glued together with the alternating dark and light boards, you’re ready to cut strips out of that. This will give you eight strips with alternating light and dark squares. You might need to straighten one edge first before you run it through the table saw. This can be done with a cross-cut sled on the table saw, or by simply drawing a straight line on one edge and cutting to it with any other saw. It’s also important that that side is perfectly square, otherwise the squares will end up crooked.

Once you have one perfectly straight side, just set your table saw fence to the width that you want your chess squares to be, and place that side against the fence. If you measured properly in the beginning and gave yourself enough extra wood to work with, then you should have enough for 8 strips with just a little excess.

I sanded the sides of each strip again to round them over, even though it removed the stain on those edges. It’s not ideal, but I needed each side of every square to be rounded over, otherwise it wouldn’t look consistent. The loss of stained area is minimal, so it doesn’t affect the appearance too much.

Now that you have all of the strips cut out and the squares formed, you can flip every other board to create the checkered pattern. Keep in mind that a chess board is oriented so that there is a dark square on the far left and a light square on the far right. Now’s the time to decide which way you want the grain to run from the point of view of the players. It can either run side to side or front to back. It’s really just up to your personal preference.

Second Glue Up

Unlike the first glue up, all of the joints in this glue up will be end grain to end grain. These are much weaker joints than long grain joints. They also tend to soak up the glue much more, so it helps to over-apply it. You can do this by applying a layer of glue to each side of the joint once, then letting it soak in for a couple of minutes. Then apply another layer of glue, then clamp it together.

It’s much more important this time that you don’t let the boards slip too much out of place. Apply a bit of clamping pressure and then readjust the boards if you need to, making sure that the squares are still aligned with each other. It’s important to once again add some kind of pressure from the top and bottom to keep the board flat, especially because this is the final glue up.

Make sure to clean up all of the excess glue on the surface, and then let the glue cure at least overnight. Remember that end grain joints are not very strong, so give the glue as much time as possible to cure properly.

Finishing

After the glue is cured, you can unclamp the board and move on to the finishing stage. To finish my board I simply sanded the edges to make sure that they’re flat and smooth, then rounded over the sharp edges and corners. Then I applied three coats of satin polyurethane to the top. Because of the slight unevenness of the squares, I had to be careful to get the polyurethane into all of the edges of each square.

I decided not to add any kind of border or trim to the board, but you could add one to yours if you wanted to. Keep in mind that solid wood chess boards like these will expand and contract with changes in humidity, so any border or trim needs to be able to withstand that.

Once the varnish cures, the board is pretty much complete. You can add some rubber or felt pads underneath the corners, but other than that, the pine chess board is done.

One of the most iconic shield shapes is the heater shield. It’s a European design that evolved from the kite shield in the late 12^th century. This type of shield was developed as plate armor became more advanced and the need for large shields decreased. You’ve probably seen heater shields in coats of arms.

In modern culture the heater shield is often used in medieval fantasy games and movies. For example, the Hylian Shield in The Legend of Zelda game series is very similar in shape and design to a heater shield.

Heater shields were sometimes slightly curved, probably to help deflect blows and impacts. Almost all of the modern fantasy heater shields that I could find examples for have some kind of curve to them. It’s more difficult to make a curved shield as opposed to a flat shield, but it’s such a common design element in fantasy shields that I wanted to show you how you can make one.

Materials and Tools

• 1×6 planks
• Wooden dowels
• Drill
• Table saw
• Jig saw
• Sander/sandpaper
• Canvas cloth
• Leather Straps
• 3/4″ wood screws
• Washers

This project will require some basic woodworking tools. That’s not to say that every tool needs to be a power tool. You could make a shield just like the one I made almost entirely with hand tools, it would just take a lot more time and be more difficult. The only power tool that’s almost totally necessary is a table saw, which is unfortunately a somewhat expensive tool that not everyone owns. If you don’t have one, maybe you can find a friend who owns one, or see if you can rent one.

The table saw is necessary to angle the edges of the boards while also keeping them perfectly straight so that they can be glued together without any gaps. There might be other ways to achieve this type of cut, maybe with a band saw, but the easiest and most efficient way that I’m aware of is to use a table saw.

Making the Pattern

Before you jump into working with wood, it’s a good idea to figure out the exact shape and dimensions that you want for your shield. A good way to do that is to make a pattern. You can use any flat sheet material like paper or cardboard. Cardboard is good because it holds its shape better than paper. I used a sheet of corrugated cardboard and drew the outline of my shield on that first.

Now is the time to figure out how big you want your shield to be. Heater shields generally are only large enough to cover a person’s torso. I found that a height of 2 feet and a width of 20 inches is enough for me. The good thing about making your own shield is that you can customize it to fit your body, so if you want your shield to be bigger or smaller you can make it that way.

To make the spade-like point at the bottom of the shield, I tied a pencil to a string and held one end at one side of the shield, slightly below the top. The pencil starts at a point on the opposite side of the shield the same distance below the top. Then you simply draw a line arcing down, keeping the string taut and the pencil steady. Once you have one line drawn that goes past the middle of the shield, repeat the process for the arc on the other side. The lines should intersect exactly at the middle of your shield.

If you tried this and it made your shield shorter or taller than you wanted it to be, then you can adjust the point where you hold the end of the string. Either move it higher or lower to change the height. You could also increase the width of your shield, which would make it proportionally taller.

If you want to add any style elements, now is the time. I decided to add little cutouts on each side of the top of my shield. I just traced the top of a bucket to make the small curve. You could add a point to the top, or keep it flat, the choice is yours.

Cutting and Jointing the Boards

Once you have the dimensions of your shield figured out, it’s time to cut your 1×6 boards to length. I designed my shield to be 4 boards wide, so I cut 2 boards to that length. I cut the other two boards a bit shorter to go on the sides, because I knew that they would get trimmed later on. If you have a cardboard or paper pattern already made then you can see how long the side boards actually need to be. This just helps to save material.

You might want to check your boards for any defects like cracks or extreme twists or warps before you continue. A lot of times boards will have a slight twist, which is fine and won’t be noticeable in the finished shield.

One thing that you should check to see is which way the board is cupped, if at all. 1×6 boards will often cup slightly as they dry out, so you have to keep that in mind as you orient your boards. I like to make sure that the convex side of the board faces out, so that it matches the curve of the shield. If you accidentally orient them so that they concave side faces out, then your shield might flatten out or become wavy in the future.

After your boards are cut to length, the next step is to joint and angle the edges. Jointing is the process of straightening out the sides of boards so that they can be glued together without any gaps in the joint. A lot of boards from the store are warped, so if you don’t joint them then they won’t fit together very well when you glue them.

There are many methods to joint a board, but I used a jointing jig that I made for my table saw. Once one side is straight, you can cut the angle on the other side of the board. Just keep the jointed edge along the fence of the table saw and the angled cut should come out perfectly straight as well. Then you can flip it over and angle the other edge. Remember that only the two boards in the middle of the shield need both sides angled. The boards on the sides only need their inner edge angled.

The angle that you cut the boards will determine how much of a curve your shield will have. I wanted my shield to have just a slight curve, so I angled each board at 5 degrees. If you want a more drastic curve then you could increase the angle. Keep in mind though that the steeper the angle, the harder it will be to smooth it over after you glue the boards together. If your angles are too steep then your shield can end up looking angular instead of curved.

Dowels

When I was thinking about how to glue the shield together, it seemed like it would be difficult without some way to keep the boards aligned. There are a few ways to solve this issue. I thought about building a frame or jig that I could clamp the boards to, but in the end I went with dowels. Dowels keep the boards perfectly aligned during glue up, and they also increase the strength of the joints, if only slightly.

Putting dowels into angled joints can be tricky, but not impossible. I made a super simple doweling jig from some scrap pieces of wood and it worked well enough. As long as you clamp the jig so that the hole is perpendicular to the face of the joint, it should line up perfectly with the opposite side when you join the boards.

Before you drill the dowel holes, line up your boards in the exact orientation that you want them in. Then draw some registration marks across the joints. These will be where you drill the holes for the dowels. You might want to place your pattern over the boards so you can see where the excess will get trimmed off. Make sure to place your marks well within the outline of the pattern. If you don’t, you might end up cutting off or through a dowel.

You can add as many dowels as you want on each joint. The minimum would be two dowels, but I went with three per joint.

Once your holes are drilled, it helps to do a dry fit to make sure that everything fits together the way it’s supposed to. Put all of your dowels in place and make sure that you can fit the boards tightly together. This is the time to check if you drilled your dowel holes deep enough, and also that your boards are properly aligned. If they’re slightly misaligned it’s not a huge deal, because you can sand the joints flush after you glue it all together.

Glue Up

The glue up process on a curved shield like this can be a bit tricky. Applying the glue is simple enough; You just spread the glue along the joints, in the dowel holes, and on the dowels. The hard part is clamping it all together.

The point of clamping is to apply even pressure while the glue dries to keep the joints tight. If you just clamp the shield on the sides, it will cause it to bend slightly, throwing the boards out of alignment. The way to solve this is to apply pressure to the front of the shield as well as the sides.

If you have some straps those would probably work well. I didn’t try it myself so I’m not one hundred percent sure, but it seems like straps would apply even pressure to the sides while also keeping the top from bowing out too much. You would also need some way of keeping the straps from sticking to the boards, maybe by wrapping them in plastic or packing tape.

The method I went with was to clamp the board on the sides with a bench clamp, and then use boards going across the top to apply pressure from above. I also used wedges and some weights until I was sure that there were no gaps on any of the joints on the front of the shield. It’s not the prettiest method but it turned out well.

Make sure to wipe off as much of the excess glue as you can before it dries, because it can take a long time to sand off later. A wet rag works well, or you can scrape it off. I couldn’t really reach the back of my shield after I clamped it together, so it took much longer to sand the back compared to the front.

Let the glue dry for at least 12 hours, usually over night, and it should be ready for the next stage which is cutting out the shape.

Cutting To Shape

After you free your shield from the clamps, the next step is to cut out the shape of the shield. Before you do that though, you need to trace the outline of your pattern onto the boards. Center it as well as you can and maybe use some tape to hold it in place while you draw the outline. Once you have the outline traced, you’re ready to cut it out.

The best tool for this is probably a jig saw. It lets you follow the line while also allowing you to maneuver on the curved surface of the shield. You could probably use a band saw if you don’t have a jigsaw, but the band saw would need to be large enough to accommodate the width of the shield. It would also be tricky to cut out the shape while keeping the band saw blade perpendicular to the surface of the shield. That’s why the jig saw is easier in my opinion, because you can adjust the angle of the blade easily in your hand to follow the curve of the shield.

The type of blade that you use is also important. A fine toothed blade will help to reduce tear out, because some of the cuts you’ll be making will go across the grain. If you try to use a coarse toothed blade on those cross grain cuts, you’ll get some pretty bad tear out. I know because I started with a coarse toothed blade and got some tear out before I switched to the fine toothed.

Sanding

Once you have your shield cut out, you’re ready to sand it. A random orbital sander is a handy tool to have for this, because it’s a lot faster than sanding by hand. If you don’t have one, you might want to consider picking one up. The cheaper models usually cost around 50 US dollars or less. It’s a very small investment considering how much you’ll use it for any woodworking projects you do in the future.

The sanding process usually starts with a coarse grit like 80 or 60 grit sandpaper. If you have a lot of leftover dried glue then you might want to use a 40 grit sandpaper, because it will go through it much faster. Be careful with 40 grit though, because it will leave a very rough surface that can take a while to sand smooth later on, so I would only use it on small areas of dried glue if at all.

During your first pass with the 80 or 60 grit paper, try to smooth over the joints of the shield to get rid of any sharp angles. This will help to give the shield a gently curved appearance instead of an angular one. When you’re done the joints should barely be noticeable.

Now is also the time to round over the edges of the shield. Usually you don’t want to leave the edges of the wood sharp, because they can easily be dented or damaged. Rounded edges are much more durable and they won’t easily splinter if you bump the shield against anything. Just run your sander over the edges until they’re as rounded as you want them to be.

Once the entire shield has been sanded to 80 or 60 grit, repeat the process with the next highest grit, usually a 120. This next pass should go much faster than the first one, because the first one already smoothed out the joints and edges. Just sand it until you feel the surface become smoother than the last grit.

You can sand your shield to any grit that you want, but I decided that 150 grit was smooth enough for mine. A lot of woodworking projects are sanded to 220 grit but I didn’t see any need to make my shield that smooth. Especially if you intend to cover your shield later on with cloth, it’s not necessary to sand all the way to 220.

Finishing

The finishing process is where you can go in any direction that you want. There are many different methods of finishing your shield, and ways that you can decorate it. You could stain your shield or leave it its natural wood color. Historically, a lot of shields of this type were painted with the coat of arms of the wielder.

For my shield I decided to stain it a darker color and finish it with a coat of satin polyurethane. I’ve done this finish a few times before on other projects so I felt confident that I could use it on this shield. In the future I’d like to make another shield with a more traditional finish, like painting a design on the front.

If you want to paint your shield, you could paint directly onto the wood, but it might not stick very well. It would help to apply a primer first and then paint on your design or coat of arms. In historical examples they would sometimes glue a sheet of canvas or parchment to the front of the shield and then paint that with a gesso. This would give a very nice surface for the paint to adhere to, as well give a bit of reinforcement to the shield.

To protect the edges of your shield from impacts, you could nail strips of leather or rawhide along the edges. This is one method that was apparently used in medieval times. Another method would be to make metal covers to go along the edges, but that would require a lot of work and some smithing skill. Metal edge guards would also increase the weight of the shield.

Straps and Padding

Historical artwork of heater shields show that they had leather straps on the back for the wielder to put their arm through and grab onto. They also show a pad, probably made of cloth or wool padding, that the wielder’s arm would rest against. This would presumably protect the arm from impacts. There are also depictions of a longer strap that might have been used to carry the shield on the wearer’s back.

The straps are usually positioned so that the wielder’s arm is at a slight angle on the back of the shield, as opposed to perfectly vertical or horizontal. This makes it so that the wielder can hold the shield in front of them with their arm at a comfortable angle. The angle appears to be between 30 and 45 degrees.

To attach the straps, you can use either screws or nails. Just make sure that they’re short enough so that they won’t penetrate through the front of the shield. I used 3/4 inch wood screws for mine because I thought that they would hold better than nails. I also put a washer on each screw to better hold the leather.

Whether you use screws or nails, you might want to pre-drill the holes to avoid splitting the wood. Usually splitting happens if you screw or nail close to the edge of a board, and as you can see in the picture, some of the screws are fairly close to the edge. I pre-drilled all the holes just in case.

You can see that I doubled the straps on my shield, so that there are two straps for the hand to hold onto and two straps for the forearm. This is just to reduce the chance of failure. If one strap breaks or a screw pops out, there will be another strap to keep the shield attached to the arm.

To make the arm pad I just folded a small towel into a piece of canvas and sewed it together. The pad was a bit to thick to put through my sewing machine so I had to stitch it by hand. There are stitches going through the pad to keep the layers from shifting around over time.

You can attach the pad either with screws, nails, or just glue. I decided to glue mine into place because I thought that would hold it well enough. Unlike the straps, the padding doesn’t have to withstand any force pulling it away from the shield.

If you want some extra padding and don’t mind being historically inaccurate, then you could use a piece of foam for the arm pad. You can cover it in cloth so that it looks medieval, but still have the benefits of foam.

If you’ve ever had to do any work without a desk or table of some kind then you know how difficult it can be. Trying to use a laptop or write in a notebook on your lap is challenging and causes you to hunch after a while. Even worse is if you need to tinker with something without a solid flat surface to work on. A good desk or table helps tremendously to make your work space more comfortable and efficient for all your work needs.

Any table is better than no table, but a solid wooden desk is a good option because it’s strong and heavy. This means that it will be able to support a lot of weight if you need it to, and also be sturdy enough to resist wobbling. A heavy, stable desk is important for things like 3D printers because it mitigates vibrations from the printer. Wooden desks are also more aesthetically pleasing, in my opinion, than plastic or metal tables.

There’s one major drawback to solid wood desks though, and that’s how much they cost to buy. A basic desk made of solid wood usually starts at around $300 USD, and they only go up from there. A much cheaper option is to build one yourself using materials that you can get at your local home center or hardware store. If you already have some basic power tools like a table saw, drill, and miter saw, then it’s a fairly simple task to build a desk like the one I made. The cost of all of the lumber for this project should cost less than $100, depending on the price of lumber in your area.

You don’t need to worry if you’ve never built any type of furniture before, because neither had I before I started this project. This is very much a beginner’s guide to building a simple wooden desk, written from a beginner’s perspective. I definitely made a few mistakes on my build, so hopefully I can help you to avoid those. Don’t worry if you make a few mistakes though, because those will add character and give your desk a handmade appearance.

Materials

• Three 2x6s at 10 feet long
• Two 2x4s at 6 feet long
• Two 4×4 at 6 feet long
• Wood glue
• Wood filler (optional)
• Your choice of fasteners
• Six 90 degree brackets (optional)

To keep the cost of this build low I chose to use softwood dimensional lumber from the home center. Specifically I used kiln dried douglas fir for the top, and normal pine 2x4s and 4x4s for the base. These boards are cheap and easy to buy at any home center. If you want to step up the quality of your desk you could build it out of hardwood instead, but that would increase the cost quite a bit. Hardwoods are also harder on your tools.

To assemble the table you can use any kind of fasteners that you like. Because I wanted the legs of my desk to be detachable, I used furniture bolts and barrel nuts, but you could just use normal wood screws if you don’t need that option. Having the legs be removable just makes it easier to transport in case I need to move.

Tools

• Table saw
• Miter saw
• Circular saw
• Hand plane
• Drill
• Router
• Random orbital sander
• Sandpaper (40 – 220 grit)
• Screwdriver
• Straight edge

The tools that I used for this build are all tools that I already had, so it didn’t cost me anything. If you need to buy any tools to build your desk then it will increase the cost of your build, but keep in mind that you can use any tools that you buy on other projects as well.

You can also substitute certain tools for others. For instance I didn’t need to use the table saw, it just made it a bit easier. If you don’t have a table saw then you could get away with just using a circular saw along with a straight edge, like an improvised track saw. Also, the router isn’t totally necessary. I used it to get a straight edge on one side of my boards, but there are other ways to do that.

Step 1: Cut Everything to Length

I designed my desk to be 5 feet wide and about 2 feet deep. The nice thing about making your own desk is that you can decide the exact dimensions for yourself. If you want a bigger or smaller desk you can make it that way. A 2 foot depth is pretty normal, and it allows you to easily reach the back of the desk while sitting in front of it, but you could also adjust that if you wanted to.

To build the table top I cut out five 2x6s at 5 feet each. If you use 10 foot long 2x6s then you can get two 5 foot pieces by cutting them in half. A 2×6 starts out at about 5 and a half inches wide, and they’ll each get about a quarter inch trimmed off of each side during the jointing process, so they’ll end up at about 5 inches wide. When all five boards are joined together this gives us a total of 25 inches, so just over 2 feet of depth.

I cut the 2x4s to make the frame that will support the table top and connect to the legs. The two long pieces for the front and back I cut at 46 inches, and the two side pieces I cut at 16 inches. There’s also a middle brace that will help keep the desk from sagging in the middle over time. Instead of measuring for that piece I dry fit the frame together and then traced the length onto that 2×4. This is a good way of getting a snug fit instead of trying to measure exactly. If you make a shorter desk then you might not need that piece.

The legs are each 30 inches long, which puts the height of the desk at just over 31 inches. This is a pretty standard height for a desk, but you can make yours shorter or taller to best fit you and the chair that you plan to use. I decided to taper the ends of the legs from 3 inches down to 2 inches at the bottom. I tapered the 2 inside faces of each leg with a tapering jig, but you could also cut them by hand. This was purely for decoration so it’s not necessary at all if you want to leave it out.

Remember that if you adjust the dimensions of your tabletop you’ll probably have to adjust the measurements for the frame so that you get the right amount of overhang on the edges that you want.

Step 2: Joint the Top Boards

Jointing is the process of making the edges of the boards straight so that they can be glued together lengthwise and not have any gaps. There is a tool called a jointer that is pretty much the best tool for this job, but jointers are usually very large and expensive so most people don’t have them. I don’t have one, so I used a router in a router table to joint my boards. There are other methods that you can use, including using a table saw. I won’t get into too much detail on how to do it in this article, but you can check out this video on the topic if you want to learn more.

Once you have the boards jointed, lay them next to each other in the order that you want them to be in. Make sure that you alternate the direction of the growth rings, as shown in the picture above. This will help to minimize warping. If all of the growth rings curved in the same direction then the desk would tend to warp drastically in one direction. Alternating them helps to even it out.

Once you have the boards in the order that you want them, make sure that you’re happy with the grain patterns on what will be the top of the desk. If there are any checks or splinters in your boards, those should probably face down so that you get a smooth top surface. Also check for any tear out in the boards. Sometimes the boards will have deep chunks missing where the saw tore out the grain. It can take a lot of sanding to get those surfaces to be even again, so it’s usually better not to have those on the top. After that just mark the boards so that you can put them back together in the same order for the glue up.

If you want to, you can use something to help you align the boards. This could be dowels, biscuits, or even pocket hole screws. Anything that will help to keep the boards from slipping out of alignment while you glue them together. I didn’t have a dowel jig or a biscuit jointer, but I did have a pocket hole jig, so that’s what I used. In hindsight it probably wasn’t the best idea, because the pocket screws go in at an angle. This means that if you sand too deep or cut too deep when you flatten you could hit a screw. If you use pocket screws, I would recommend that you take the screws out after you glue it together.

Step 3: Glue the Top

Once all of your boards fit together you’re ready to glue the top. You can use any kind of wood glue that you want, but the better the glue, the stronger and more durable the bond. Better glues like Titebond 2 or even Titebond 3 are water proof, so they won’t be ruined if your desk ever gets exposed to water. If you use water based stain and varnish products then it’s probably a good idea to use a more premium glue.

Before you glue it’s a good idea to lay down a sheet of some kind to protect your workbench or whatever surface you’ll be gluing on top of. I used a plastic sheet, but you could use anything you have. If you use something that will stick to the glue, like a sheet of paper or a canvas drop cloth, then make sure that you don’t let the tabletop sit directly on the sheet while it dries, because it will just stick to the sheet. You can use some scraps of wood or clamps to keep it elevated.

There are different opinions on how to apply glue. Some people say that you should apply the glue to only one side of the joint, others say apply it to both sides. Then there’s all the different methods of spreading the glue. In my opinion it doesn’t really matter how you spread the glue, as long as you cover the entire surface of the glue joint. You can use a glue stick, a roller, or even just your finger, as long as there are no areas that are without glue. I put glue on both sides of my joints just in case, but you don’t have to.

After you glue your tabletop, you’ll need to apply some clamping pressure on the sides. If you have clamps that are long enough then you can simply clamp them across the top and bottom of the tabletop so that it applies even pressure. If you’re like me and don’t have clamps long enough to span across the table, then you’ll have to come up with a different method.

What I did was clamp some boards to the edge of my workbench, so that they formed a fence. Then I used the bench vise on the opposite side of the workbench with a board sticking out of it to apply pressure on the tabletop. This squeezed the whole tabletop up against the fence, effectively clamping it together while the glue dried. I also had the help of the pocket screws which held the boards pretty tight together already. You could even use ratchet straps if you had to. The point is, don’t worry if you don’t have clamps because there’s usually a way to do it without them.

When you clamp the boards together you should get a decent amount of glue squeeze out all along the seams. Make sure to wipe that off as best you can with a wet rag or paper towel, because it’s much easier to clean up before it dries.

Step 4: Flattening

After you let your tabletop dry for 24 hours, check it to see how flat it is. Just lay it on a flat surface and see if it wobbles. If you’re lucky and were able to find boards that were good and flat, then your tabletop will probably already be flat. If it’s wobbly, then you have a decision to make. You can either try to flatten it out, or leave it and hope that when you screw it to the base frame it will flatten out. If it’s only slightly crooked then you might be able to get away with just leaving it, but if it wobbles a lot then that means there’s significant twist in your tabletop.

One of the best ways to eliminate twist is to use a router flattening jig. This is basically a frame that goes around your work piece, and a sled that slides along that frame with a channel for a router to slide back and forth. If you’re interested in making one, here’s a tutorial. You just have to make sure that the rails are straight and flat, as well as level on the same plane. You can check this by laying a level across the rails and checking that they’re level on both ends and in the middle.

Once you have it all level, use some shims to make sure that your table doesn’t wobble. Then simply set the router to the height of the lowest spot on your table. Then you make a bunch of passes across your tabletop, taking off a little bit of material with each pass. You repeat down the length of your table and when you’re done, that side will be completely flat. Then you just flip it over and flatten the other side.

I tried this method for the first time when I built my table, and I made a pretty big mistake about halfway through. I had to switch routers halfway through because the first router I tried, which was newer, kept failing for some reason. It would shut off after just a few minutes of routing. When I switched the bit to an older router I was in a bit of a rush and forgot to lock the depth, and as I was routing it started cutting deeper. This meant that I had to rout the whole side to that depth, removing much more material than I had planned. The lesson here is that you should always make sure that your depth is set and locked before you start.

If you don’t have a router with a flattening bit, you could also flatten your tabletop by sanding. Just determine where your high spots are that are causing it to wobble and sand them down. It might take a while and you’ll need to check fairly often to make sure that you aren’t sanding too much, but it should give you a fairly flat tabletop.

Step 5: Sanding

You might think that sanding will be a long and tedious process, but it’s actually fairly quick if you use a random orbital sander. As long as you start with the right grit of sandpaper, it shouldn’t take very long to get everything smooth. What I mean by that is that you shouldn’t start with too high of a grit, because that will make it harder to smooth out any unevenness. A coarser grit like 60 or even 40 will make short work of any large bumps or deep gouges.

The other important thing to remember about sanding is that you shouldn’t try to jump through the grits too quickly. In other words, don’t jump from a 60 grit straight to a 150 grit sandpaper. Always increase in steady increments, like 60 to 80, then to 120, then 150, 180, and finally 220. Those are the standard grits of sandpaper that you can find in stores, and you really don’t need to go any higher than 220 grit.

Some people say that you don’t even need to go all the way to 220. They say that once you hit 180, any finer than that doesn’t make a difference. I’m not sure about this because I used a satin finish on my table which is very forgiving and doesn’t need a super smooth surface. If you use a gloss finish then going to 220 might make a difference for you. For satin finishes you could probably get away with going up to 180 grit if you want to save some time or money.

Step 6: Pre-Stain and Staining

Staining is the process of changing the color of wood. It’s more like tinting the wood instead of painting, because the stain soaks into the wood but still lets the grain pattern show through. There are many different colors of stain that you can choose from, ranging from light to dark. There are even some colored stains like white, blue, red, and green. It’s really up to you what sort of look you’re going for. I originally wanted a light golden stain, but all they had at my local store were darker colors, so I went with a dark brown.

One misconception that people have is that stains seal the wood. While oil based stains might offer a slight benefit just because of their oil content, they don’t do much to actually seal the wood and protect the surface. All a stain does is soak in and change the color of the wood. If you want to protect and seal the surface then you need to apply some kind of varnish after you stain it. That will be the next step.

There are two main types of stains, and those are water based or oil based. Oil based stains are the traditional type of stain that have been around for many years. People like them because they give a rich color with a lot of depth, but there are some disadvantages as well. The main problem is that they take a long time to dry. Most oil based stains take at least a full day to dry, and some even longer than that. If you’re on a limited time frame then you might want to avoid oil based stains.

Water based stains on the other hand dry much quicker. Mine recommended just 3 hours after applying the stain before it’s ready for varnish. They’re also easier to clean up than oil based stains, all you need is a wet rag. If it gets on your hands just wash it off with soap and water. Oil based stains usually require mineral spirits to clean up.

The fast drying time of water based stains can also be a disadvantage in some cases. Because they dry so fast, if you’re staining a large area like a tabletop, it’s possible for one area to dry before you finish staining the whole surface. This is problematic because you’re supposed to wipe off the excess stain before it dries, otherwise it can leave an uneven appearance.

Because it’s water based, it also tends to raise the grain of the wood. This means that even after you sand the surface smooth, the water in the stain will cause the fibers of the wood to stand up. This creates a slightly rough texture. To combat this, you just need to lightly sand the surface once it’s dry with a 220 grit sandpaper. Don’t sand too much though or you’ll sand away some of the color. After that just clean up the dust and you’re ready to continue.

If you used softwoods for your table like me, then pre-staining the wood before you stain is a good idea. Pre-stain helps to make the wood absorb the stain more evenly. Without the pre-stain, softwoods tend to look very blotchy and uneven when you stain them. I made the mistake of not applying enough pre-stain on my tabletop and it turned out quite blotchy. What I should have done was apply enough pre-stain so that it wouldn’t soak in after just a few minutes. There should be enough to keep the surface wet. Then after a few minutes you wipe off the excess.

If you’re not sure how much to apply, I would suggest that you start with the legs or the frame, on an area that won’t show on the finished table. The inside of the frame pieces are good places to experiment. Just remember to apply it very liberally and don’t let it dry before you wipe off the excess.

After you apply the pre-stain and wiped off the excess, let it dry for the amount of time recommended on the can, in my case it was about 20 minutes. Then apply your stain. You can use a rag, a foam brush, and old t-shirt, or anything that’s lint free and will allow you to apply it evenly. Once again you should apply a liberal amount so that there is a wet layer that sits across the surface of the wood. If it starts to soak in and dry then you should apply more. If you use water based stain, wipe off the excess after 3 or 4 minutes. For oil based stains you can wait longer.

If there are any areas that look uneven or streaky, you can try to rub some stain on it to try and even it out. Sometimes this will work and sometimes it won’t. If you applied the pre-stain properly and put enough stain then you should be left with a nice even color. Let it dry for the amount of time recommended on the label and then you can apply the varnish.

Step 7: Varnish

I chose to apply the varnish on my desk before assembly, because I wanted to be able to lay the pieces flat so that the finish wouldn’t run down any vertical surfaces. You could apply it after you assemble your desk if you want, it’s just a matter of preference. The type of varnish that you choose to use will also factor in to how you apply it. If you use a spray on varnish like a lacquer, then it might be easier to spray it on after you assemble the whole table. For me, since I used a water based polyurethane, I set the pieces on my workbench and brushed it on with a foam brush.

Lacquer and polyurethane seem to be the most popular types of finish for things like desks, but there are a few other options. You might want to look into oil finishes like tung oil, or there’s also shellac.

For polyurethane finishes, you once again have the choice between oil based and water based. Just like the stains, oil based polyurethanes take much longer to dry than water based. This is especially important when it comes to the finish, because it’s recommended to apply at least 3 coats. If you have to wait a full day between coats, then it can take quite a few more days to apply an oil based finish than a water based. Water based polyurethane only takes 2 hours to dry between coats. You could apply all 3 coats in the same day.

Once you decide on the type of varnish you want to use, you should consider what kind of appearance you want it to have. The three main finishes are satin, semigloss, and gloss. Generally speaking, glossy finishes are more difficult to get right because they’ll show any imperfections like bubbles or dust more than a satin finish. They also need to be applied more carefully so that they have the most even surface as possible.

Satin finishes are usually much easier to apply because they’re more forgiving in terms of hiding imperfections. You don’t need to be as careful when applying a satin finish because they won’t show every little brush mark or dust inclusion.

That being said, you should still make sure that your table surfaces are prepped and ready for the finish. Make sure that you vacuum all of the dust of before you apply it, and then go over everything again with a clean cloth or a tack cloth to wipe off any remaining dust. Vacuuming alone won’t remove all of the dust, which you will find out as soon as you wipe it afterwards.

To apply my finish I used a cheap foam brush. These are good for applying polyurethane because they don’t leave brush marks. Because I used a water based polyurethane I could rinse out the brush with water and reuse it. You could also use a high quality bristle brush, but I would avoid cheap bristle brushes, even if you’re using a satin finish. The bristles on the cheap brushes tend to fall out, and if you don’t notice them and take them out then you’ll be left with bristles in your finish.

It’s a good idea to pour your varnish into a separate cup or container so that you’re not dipping your brush into the original can. This is because there can sometimes be some residual stain on your work piece that will transfer onto the brush. If you dip that same brush into the can, it will contaminate the entire can. So it’s better to only contaminate the small amount in your cup than the whole can. Also, it’s good to start with a small amount, because you can always pour yourself more, but you shouldn’t pour the excess back into the can, again because of contamination.

Just brush the varnish on with long, even strokes and try to overlap each pass slightly. Also it helps to have good lighting so that you can check to make sure that you didn’t miss any spots. It’s a good idea to keep your garage door or windows open so that you get good ventilation, especially for oil based finishes.

A minimum of three coats is usually recommended, but you could add more if you think that you’ll be putting a lot of wear and tear on your surface. For the underside of my table I only put 2 coats, and same for any areas of the frame that were not going to be showing. For the legs I decided to put a full 3 coats, because they could potentially see some wear with things bumping into them.

After you’ve finished the varnish, all that’s left is assembly.

Step 8: Assembly

Like I said, I decided to assemble my table after I applied the varnish. To keep everything as simple and easy as possible I decided to use fasteners to secure the frame and legs to the tabletop. I used slotted barrel nuts and bolts to hold the legs to the frame, and metal brackets and screws to hold the frame to the desk top. Using fasteners makes it so that I can easily take the legs off if I ever need to transport the desk, like if I need to pack it up for moving.

For the metal brackets that hold the desk top to the frame, I made sure to cut slots in some of them to allow the top to expand and contract. Because the top is made of solid wood, it’s susceptible to changes in humidity and will expand and contract naturally. If you don’t have slots for the screws to move sideways, then the force of that movement can split the boards. The middle of the table can be secured without those slots, because that part will remain stationary. Only the brackets on the sides of the frame need to be slotted.

Each leg has three barrel nuts and bolts holding it in place. Two on one side and one on the other. I only had short barrel nuts, so for the side that holds two barrel nuts I had to drill two holes, one on the top and one on the bottom of the frame. This makes it impossible to access the top barrel nut once the top is attached. A better way to do it would have been to use a longer barrel nut with two threaded openings, instead of the small single hole ones that I used. Then the nut could be removed only from the bottom.

If all you have is wood screws then you could just use those. It would be much simpler, but there might be some longevity issues. If your table gets bumped a lot then the screws might start to get loose. Because they’re holding into the wood itself, if the screw hole gets worn out then the legs might get wobbly. In my opinion nuts and bolts will hold up better in the long run, but wood screws can work if you have nothing else.

If you have to counter sink any of your screw holes to hide the screw heads, or just to make it so that your screws reach far enough, then make sure to stain the insides of the holes. Otherwise the bare wood color will be visible and it won’t match the rest of the table.

After you’ve screwed everything together, your table is complete. It’s usually good to let the finish cure for a few days before you subject it to full use, but other than that, it’s done. If you managed to complete your desk without any major disasters, congratulations. You should have a desk that will last you for many years and one that shows the marks of your own handiwork.

With all of the time that it takes to make chainmail, of course we would want to preserve it for as long as possible and keep it from rusting. In medieval times, the main method to maintain steel chainmail was to keep it well-oiled and stored in a dedicated bag. In modern times we have the option of using corrosion-resistant metals for our chainmail. This saves us a lot of work in maintaining the armor over time.

One popular choice of material for corrosion resistance is galvanized steel. This is basically just steel with a protective layer of zinc on it’s surface. You can usually identify it by the somewhat splotchy appearance. While it might seem like a good option because it gives you the strength of steel with the added benefit of rust-resistance, is it a good idea to use galvanized wire for making chainmail? It’s actually not the best choice. Because chainmail is made up of rings that constantly shift and scrape across each other, that zinc coating can eventually wear off, leaving the steel exposed and susceptible to rust.

So if galvanized steel isn’t the best material for making rust-resistant chainmail, then what is? In this article I’ll elaborate on why galvanized steel wire is less than ideal for making chainmail, and go over some better options for corrosion resistance.

Health Concerns When Using Galvanized Steel

One of the biggest reasons why I don’t recommend galvanized steel wire for chainmail is because of the health concerns. As far as I can tell from my research online, the main health risks of zinc come in the form of dust and fumes. In case you aren’t aware, galvanized steel should never be heated because it will release zinc fumes that are highly toxic. If you’re just making butted mail then you should have no reason to heat up the wire, but this rules out making riveted mail with galvanized steel wire.

Even just making butted mail with galvanized steel can be dangerous. To make the rings you have to bend the wire into a tight coil, then cut out them out one by one. If you use a saw to cut them then you’ll release quite a bit of zinc dust. Even cutting them with wire snips will probably create dust and flakes as you cut through the zinc coating. The zinc coating will also gradually scrape off as you wear the chainmail, and that will leave zinc dust on what ever garment you wear underneath it.

I can’t say for certain that making chainmail from galvanized wire will produce enough zinc dust to be harmful to you, but I don’t recommend that anyone take the chance. The benefit of the rust-resistance is not worth the health risks in my opinion.

How Long The Coating Will Last

The main benefit of using galvanized steel for chainmail is so that it won’t rust, but that quality can be short-lived. Because the rings of chainmail are constantly moving and scraping across each other, that friction will wear down the zinc coating over time and use. If you make your chainmail project and then never use it, then it might last for decades without rust. This might be an option for some people who just want to hang it up on a wall, but if you intend to wear your chainmail somewhat regularly, then don’t expect the galvanized finish to last forever.

The lifespan of the galvanization will depend on how hard you use your chainmail. If you’re someone who wears it often and performs a lot of activity in it, maybe even combat, then the coating will wear off fairly quickly. As soon as just a little bit of the metal is exposed, then moisture from sweat and humidity can cause rust to develop.

What it boils down to is that the more you use your chainmail, the faster a galvanized finish will wear off. This makes it much less practical of a choice than other options.

Some Better Alternatives

So if galvanized steel isn’t a very good material to use, then what other options are there for making chainmail that won’t rust? There are 3 other common materials that I know of that will offer even better corrosion resistance than galvanized steel. This is because these metals have different chemical properties than normal steel that make them resistant to rust or corrosion. Those materials are Stainless Steel, Aluminum, and Titanium.

Stainless Steel

The first and most practical option, in my opinion is stainless steel. Stainless steel is stronger than most plain steel wires that you can buy, including galvanized steel. As it’s name implies, it resists any kind of corrosion exceptionally well. This is because it contains a percentage of chromium, nickel, and sometimes other elements. These other elements cause it to form a thin film on it’s surface that is passive. In other words that film doesn’t react with much, and it protects the rest of the steel underneath from reacting with anything.

This property of stainless steel makes it so that it doesn’t need a protective coating. The material itself will form a thin film on it’s surface that protects it from rusting. Even if it gets scratched, that film will reform and continue to preserve it.

So why doesn’t everyone just make their chainmail out of stainless steel? The main reason is probably cost. It’s more expensive than plain steel wire and galvanized wire. Because large chainmail projects like shirts can require several hundred feet of wire to complete, the additional cost can add up.

Another reason that people don’t like stainless steel is because it’s harder to work with. It requires more force to bend and cut, which can also add up over the long run and make it much more difficult to complete a project. Sometimes you even need better tools to be able to work with it. This is especially true if you’re making riveted mail.

Aluminum

Aluminum has a similar property to stainless steel in that it also forms a protective coating on it’s surface that prevents the rest of the material from corroding. There are certain things that can cause it to corrode more, namely chlorides and sulfides. The only time I can imagine that chainmail would come into contact with either of those is if it’s exposed to large amounts of sweat, which contains sodium chloride, which is salt. It would probably take a lot of sweat to cause any major corrosion though.

The main drawback of aluminum is it’s softness. It’s much softer than any kind of steel, so it doesn’t make sense to use it for combat of any kind. For costume purposes though it’s ideal, because it’s much lighter than steel. It’s also a favorite of LARPers because it can be worn for long periods of time without becoming too uncomfortable. So if you don’t plan to do any serious combat in your chainmail, you might want to consider using aluminum.

Titanium

One often overlooked, but occasionally used material is titanium. Titanium combines the best of both worlds in terms of strength and weight. It’s lighter than steel, but just as strong. This strength to weight ratio is the highest of any metal, as far as people have discovered. For the purposes of making chainmail, this means that you can have a shirt of mail that is as strong as steel with nearly half of the weight.

Titanium is also very corrosion resistant for the same reasons as the two previous examples. It forms a protective film when in the presence of oxygen. The only time when it’s vulnerable to corroding is when there’s little or no oxygen around it. Chainmail will almost always be in an oxygen rich environment, even if you wear it underwater, so for all intents and purposes it is extremely corrosion resistant.

Of course the main drawback is it’s cost. If you thought that stainless steel was expensive, be prepared to pay even more for titanium. Unfortunately the best materials often come at a premium price. If you can afford it though, then it will make for some exceptional chainmail.

But what gauge of wire is the best for making chainmail armor? The gauge of wire that you choose depends on 3 main factors: The diameter of your rings, the type of metal that you choose, and what your chainmail will be used for. Generally speaking, 16 gauge wire, or roughly 1.6 millimeters, is a good thickness to use for many chainmail projects, including shirts and coifs. If you’re making butted chainmail then 16 gauge wire will give the rings enough strength so that they don’t open up too easily. It also works well for riveted mail because it’s wide enough for a hole to be pierced through for rivets.

Of course this doesn’t mean that 16 gauge wire is the best choice for every type of chainmail project. In historical examples we see many examples of finer wire being used even for chainmail shirts. In this article I’ll explain how and why different thicknesses of wire were used for different applications in chainmail, and hopefully give you some insight so that you can decide which will work best for your chainmail project.

The Diameter of The Rings

One of the first things you should consider before you start your chainmail project is the diameter of the rings. Most people who make chainmail as a hobby probably make butted mail, where the ends of the rings are simply pressed against each other. Because there is nothing keeping the rings from coming apart, we have to rely on the strength of the rings themselves to resist opening. In general, a smaller diameter ring will resist opening more than a larger diameter ring of the same thickness.

However, there are advantages to using larger rings. The main advantage is that it takes much less time to make a project with larger rings, because it will take fewer rings to complete than the same project made out of small rings. Larger rings will also make a more prominent pattern that will show up better in pictures. For people who make chainmail for costume purposes, that can sometimes be a concern.

If you want to make butted chainmail with larger diameter rings, for example three-quarters of an inch or greater, then it would probably help to use a thicker wire to give the rings a bit more strength. The last thing you want is for your chainmail to start losing rings because they start to deform and come apart.

The Weight of Your Project

The size and weight of your chainmail project will also affect the thickness of wire that you should use. If you want to make something like a chainmail shirt, which can weigh over 25 pounds if you use steel rings, then the rings have to be able to support the weight of that shirt without deforming. However, if you’re making something smaller and lighter, like a coif or collar, then the rings don’t need to be quite as strong.

Even for something as heavy as a chainmail shirt, 16 gauge steel wire is strong enough as long as your ring diameters are not too large. Rings with an internal diameter of less than half an inch should be perfectly fine. Any larger than that and you might start running into some trouble with the rings coming apart. Again, this is only a problem if you are making butted chainmail. Riveted mail can afford to have larger rings with thinner wire because the riveted construction keeps the rings from coming apart.

The Type of Metal

The material that you choose to make your chainmail project with will also affect your decision of how thick to make the rings. Some of the most common types of wire to make chainmail out of are mild steel, aluminum, galvanized steel, and stainless steel. Occasionally titanium rings are also used. The picture above shows some bright aluminum chainmail that I’ve been working on.

If you use a lighter metal like aluminum or titanium, then you can afford to use thinner gauge wire for larger projects, because they won’t weigh as much. For instance, if you’re making a butted chainmail shirt, then you can potentially use thinner wire and larger ring diameters then if you made the same shirt out of steel wire. Aluminum does have its limits though. Because it’s a softer metal, it deforms fairly easily, so it can still fall apart if your rings are too wide or if the gauge is too thin. If you want to be sure that your aluminum chainmail won’t fall apart then 16 gauge is a good thickness to use.

Steel on the other hand is much heavier, but it’s also stronger than aluminum. Even mild steel wire, which is relatively soft for steel, has a tensile strength higher than that of aluminum. It can also be hardened to resist deforming even more. So even though it will be significantly heavier than an aluminum shirt, the trade-off of strength is something to consider.

As a side note, I don’t recommend galvanized steel wire for chainmail. If you want corrosion resistance then stainless steel is a better option in my opinion. Even normal steel will resist rust if you take care of it properly. If you’re considering using galvanized steel then you might want to check out another article that I wrote on why not to use galvanized steel for chainmail.

Different Uses for Chainmail

The gauge of wire that you choose also depends on what you intend to use your chainmail for. If it’s intended to be used only for costume purposes then the wire doesn’t need to be especially thick or strong. The wire could be super thin and it wouldn’t really matter because it doesn’t need to protect you from anything.

If you intend to use your chainmail in any kind of combat then I recommend that you don’t use any wire under 16 gauge. Even though there are some historical examples of chainmail shirts with very small and fine rings, I don’t think that you should risk injury by using thinner wire. Chainmail is not impenetrable or unbreakable. In my opinion, the thicker the wire that you use, the less likely that any of the rings will fail during combat.

Another reason to use at least a 16 gauge wire for combat is that it’s much easier to rivet. Wire that’s less than 16 gauge doesn’t give you much surface area to work with, even after you flatten it out. This makes it very difficult to pierce or drill a hole for a rivet. 16 gauge wire will give you a nice wide tab of metal to work with after you flatten it. In the picture above you can see a close up of the riveted section of some stainless steel chainmail that I made. If you’d like to see how I made it, check out this article.

Riveted mail is much stronger than butted mail and therefore much safer to use for combat. In fact I don’t recommend that you attempt any kind of combat with butted mail at all. The possibility that the rings will separate is much higher with butted chainmail. So if you want to use your chainmail for fighting, then I recommend that you make riveted chainmail, and use at least 16 gauge steel wire.

Summary

All in all, 16 gauge wire is a good choice for a lot of chainmail projects. That’s not to say that you can’t use thinner or thicker wire if you want to, but 16 gauge is kind of a happy medium. Thinner wire is good for very small rings, and thicker wire is usually good for larger rings.

In this article I’ll go over how to make three different kinds of 3D printed trees, and why you might want to use one over the other. You can print just the tree trunks, or full leafy trees, or evergreen trees. We’ll start with the tree trunks and evergreens because those are the simplest, and then the leafy trees because those take a bit more work.

To make your own 3D printed tabletop trees you’ll need some basic materials:

• Craft Paint
• Glue (I used a spray adhesive)
• Clump Foliage (only for leafy trees)
• Masking tape or plastic wrap

Once you have those things, you’re ready to begin.

Tree Stumps or Trunks

The benefit of using tree stumps, instead of full-sized leafy trees, is that it’s much easier to see around them. There aren’t any big bunches of leaves in the way to obscure your players’ views of the game board. This makes it much easier for everyone to be aware of the locations of all of the minis on the map. The stumps or trunks still let the players know where the trees are, and they also show the thickness of the trees, which is important for determining whether or not they provide cover.

There are various heights of tree stumps that you can find online. Shorter stumps are obviously the easiest to see around, but it can be hard to tell whether they represent a full tree, or if they’re actually a tree stump. Taller 3D models are available that show more of the trunk of the tree, so that they tower above the minis. It’s very easy to tell that those are meant to be trees, even without the leaves. Keep in mind that you can always scale up the models if you want them to be taller.

You could even scale them up so that the tree trunks tower high over the minis, which would imply that the rest of the trees go up even higher. This is a good way to make it look like they’re in a forest of giant trees, without having to show the full height of the trees.

Evergreens

Evergreen trees, or conifers, are those trees have needles or scales instead of leaves. Pine trees, Cedar trees, and Spruce trees are all examples of evergreens. These types of trees are actually easier to 3D print accurately than leafy trees. They usually have one singular, straight trunk, and branches that stick straight out. Because of their generally simpler shape, they’re easier to 3D model, and you can find quite a few good models for free online.

If you want to improve the texture a little bit, then you can add some flocking to the surface. Flocking is generally used to simulate a grassy surface on the ground of a game board, but it can also help to achieve a pine needle type effect. This isn’t entirely necessary, but it’s something to consider.

Leafy Trees

Leafy trees are definitely a more realistic option, and they can add a lot of visual interest to a game board. The main drawback is that they can block the players’ view sometimes. This can be minimized by placing the trees at the edge of the board if possible, but a lot of times we want trees in the middle of the action.

Another option is to make smaller trees that are easier to see around. Big trees are nice, and they can still be used in places where they won’t be in the way. Smaller trees still have the benefit of their appearance, and they can be thin or sparse enough to not block the view too much.

One thing about leafy trees is that they’re hard to accurately 3D print. The leaf texture is very difficult for people to model, so there aren’t a lot of good, free 3D models available online. Even if there were, it would be tricky to print them properly. In my opinion, the best way to make a good looking leaf texture is to glue some clump foliage onto the 3D printed tree structure.

Clump Foliage

Clump foliage has been around for as long as people have been making miniature models of trees and bushes. You can buy it at most hobby and craft stores or even make your own. It’s basically just little pieces of spongy material that are colored to look like leaves. It comes in many different shades of green, and even in autumn colors.

The rough texture is what makes it look like a bunch of small leaves, and that kind of surface is very difficult for a 3D printer to reproduce. Most 3D models of leafy trees end up looking more like lollipops, because the leafy portions are too smooth and regular. That’s why gluing on the foliage is a better option in my view.

Clump foliage can be bought or made in different sizes as well. The size refers to the size of the clumps. Larger clumps are good for bigger trees, because they cover larger surfaces more easily. They also give a bumpier and more uneven appearance, which look like bunches of leaves.

Small clump foliage is usually made up of smaller clumps that are sometimes stuck together in strings. This lets you have larger clumps if you want them, but it also gives you the option of breaking them up into smaller pieces. You can experiment with the different sizes to see which one works best for you.

Priming

After you’ve decided what kind of tree you want to 3D print and you’ve printed them out, it’s time to get them ready for painting. As usual, it’s always good to prime the pieces before you paint them. This will help the paint to adhere to the plastic better, so that it can last as long as possible.

Because we’ll mainly be painting the trunks of the trees, a brown primer is the best choice. If you can’t find any brown primer then gray or white can also work, but you’ll have to paint a few more layers of brown over those in order to cover them up. It’s much easier to start with a brown primer.

I recommend that you prime the whole tree, even the part that will be covered by the foliage. Sometimes the foliage doesn’t completely cover what’s underneath it, so it’s good to have that part at least painted brown so it doesn’t stand out too much. Having a layer of primer will also help the glue to stick to the tree. Some plastics, especially PLA, are notoriously hard to glue, so the primer gives the glue a better surface to adhere to.

Painting

After you’ve fully primed your pieces, you’re ready to paint on the details. If you’re making leafy trees, then you only need to paint the tree trunk and any exposed branches. Generally speaking, tree bark is very easy to paint. Most trees have plain brown bark. Some look a bit more gray. There are some trees, like birch trees, that have very unique bark patterns. What species you want to try and represent is up to you, but a simple brown bark is definitely one of the easiest.

To paint my bark I used a dark brown paint to cover the trunk and any exposed branches. Then I used a slightly light gray-ish brown and lightly brushed it on, making sure not to completely cover the darker brown. If you wanted to you could use an even lighter brown or gray color and dry brush it across the trunk, highlighting any high points. This method of layering on different shades gives the bark some depth and variation, instead of just a solid brown color. In my case I decided that two layers was enough.

You can use that same method to paint the tops of evergreen trees. Start with a darker green, then add a lighter green, and finally add some even lighter green highlights. Depending on the species that you’re trying to paint, you might want to add some brown to it, or even some blue if you’re painting a blue spruce.

From there you can add any details that you might want. Some green paint on one side near the base of the trunk is a good way to imitate moss. You could also add gray or white spots on the bark to look like lichens.

Gluing the Foliage

I like to glue the foliage on after I paint the trunk, but you can apply it before if you prefer. Some people would probably rather know where all of the leaves are before they paint the trunk. In any case, gluing the foliage is a simple task.

Before you apply the glue, make sure to carefully cover the trunk and any other areas that you don’t want to get glue on. You can use masking tape, plastic wrap, or even just paper. In my case I used masking tape to cover the trunk and all of the branches that I wanted to leave bare. If you use masking tape, try to use large pieces so that it’s easier to peel off after you glue on the leaves.

The most common method of gluing that I’ve seen most people use is a spray adhesive. These are very strong and effective glues, as long as you buy a decent brand, but they’re also very bad for your health. Make sure that if you use spray adhesives that you do so in a very well ventilated area, preferably outdoors. Even then you should also wear a mask or respirator to protect your lungs. Eye protection is also recommended. It also helps to lay down some kind of cover underneath where you’ll be spraying, like a large piece of cardboard or paper, so that you don’t get glue everywhere.

If you use spray adhesive, be aware that not every kind will dry clear. Some of them, like the kind I used, say on the can that they dry clear but in reality it ends up looking white. Also, the different types and brands of spray adhesive can vary quite a lot, so you might find that some spray adhesives stick better than others. Try to find one that says that it sticks to plastic and/or foam and it should be fine for making trees.

After you apply the glue, let it sit for a little while until it gets tacky. Once the glue is ready you can stick on your foliage. You can either dip the tree into the foliage, or sprinkle it over the top. Which ever way you do it, it helps to apply some pressure to the foliage so that it makes a strong bond with the glue. Just squeeze it or press on it a bit so that every piece makes good contact.

If you want to add a second layer, be aware that applying glue over the top of the foliage might change its color. In my case the glue made the first layer of leaves look whiter, but it didn’t turn out so bad so I left it. It’s just something to keep in mind.

If you have different colors of foliage, say a dark and light green, then you might want to try mixing them together. This can give a more varied and interesting appearance to your leafy trees. Another trick is to use more of the darker green foliage at the bottom of the tree’s canopy, and more lighter foliage towards the top. This mimics the effect of sunlight highlighting the upper portion of the leaves.

Bases

Bases are a good way to make sure that a tree won’t fall over any time someone bumps the table. However if a tree has a wide enough trunk and roots, then it doesn’t really need a base to be stable. If you think that your tree could use an additional base, then you can easily add one. There are many different free bases that you can find online to download and print.

Once you have your base, you can just glue your tree to it. A little super glue should hold it just fine, especially is there’s a layer of paint on the bottom of the tree. Alternatively you could weld the tree to the base with a soldering iron. That’s probably the strongest way to bond the pieces together, but you should probably do that before you paint the tree.

One thing about bases is that they can sometimes clash with the game board that they sit on. If your tree has a green grassy base, it will look out of place on a rocky mountainside. One way to avoid this is just to leave the base a solid muted color, like black or brown. At least if you make it yourself you can match the base as best as you can to the game board that you’re planning to use it with.

Links to The Models Used

Trees by DocCaustic. This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution – Share Alike license.

Tree with Base by Curufin. This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution – Share Alike license.

Wood bases and trees by Terrain4Print. This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution license.

Table Top Forest by 17arkness. This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution license.

Tree Trunk 2 by Avioza. This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution – Share Alike license.

Tree Scatter Terrain by RuskRiot. This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution license.

If you try and search for free 3D tabletop buildings online, you’ll find that there are a lot of models to sift through. Sometimes good models have titles that make them hard to find with basic searches. There’s also a lot of variation in quality. To save you the time of going through each and every model, I’ve compiled this list of the best buildings that I’ve found in all of my time searching online. These are 20 tabletop gaming buildings that are of excellent quality that are completely free to download and print.

I’ve divided the list into categories, so if you’re looking for a specific type of building you can just go to that section. The categories are Houses, Towers, Castle, Tombs, and Other.

Also, as a disclaimer, I am not the designer of any of these models, and I have not modified or altered them in any way. The links I provide will take you to the Thingiverse page of every item.

Houses

1. Wizard Domocile by MikeT71

This is a wonderfully detailed tower house that, like the title says, would be perfect as the home of a wizard or mage. The model itself is over sized, so if you intend to use it for tabletop gaming, the designer suggests that you scale it down by 30% for 28mm based miniatures. At 70% of it’s full height the house still stands about 230mm tall.

If your printer can’t print that high then you could scale it down even more, or divide the model into separate chunks. There are multiple ways to do that, but I prefer to use the free software Meshmixer.

This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution license.

2. Medieval house by 3Dlayeredscenery

This is a classic medieval style timber framed house. What makes this model so nice is the detail that the designer put into it. The roof shingles are irregular, there are slight cracks in the walls, and the timbers show some wood grain. These are details that you don’t always see on free 3D models.

The model does need to be scaled up significantly to work with 1/28th scale models. Just follow the designer’s instructions in the description. Also, check out their other models for even more buildings.

This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution license.

3. Village Terrain-Cottage by LeoMinorIndustries

This is, in my opinion, one of the best house models available for free online. It has 2 stories, a stone ground floor, a timber framed upper floor, a wood shingled roof, and diamond pane windows. It’s the quintessential half timber fantasy medieval building. Every outer surface is nicely textured, and the roof shingles are nice and irregular. All in all one of the best free 3D printable medieval buildings, and it will look amazing on your game table.

This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution license.

4. Tudor Style 2-Storey Wargaming House by kitch72

If you like timber frame style houses, here’s another one for you. On this model the timbers are a bit smaller than usual and there are a lot of them. This gives the model a distinct pattern that can help to set it apart from similar styled houses.

The model is already scaled for 28mm minis, so you won’t need to adjust it at all. There are also separate files for the first and second floors, and the roof. This lets you open up the house and place furniture or other models inside.

This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution license.

5. Small Shed by Warlock3dmodels

Here’s another model with a ton of detail that probably shouldn’t be free, but lucky for us it is. This small wooden shed has wood grain detail on every board, and even the foundation stones are sculpted. It’s fairly small, but it is meant to be a somewhat ramshackle shed.

This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution license.

6. Trollskull Manor by Hsus

Here is an entire manor house that can be taken apart, so that players can explore every level and room. While the exterior lacks some details, this model makes up for it with the interior details. A lot of 3D printable houses a just hollow on the inside, but this model shows every room, window, staircase, and interior wall.

This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution license.

7. Tree stump house by kijai

This whimsical little house is perfect as a forest home for smaller creatures like gnomes, or you can scale it up to suit much bigger people. The roof is removable and the interior is nicely sculpted. You might be able to fit one very small mini inside, but a 28mm base mini definitely won’t fit without scaling up the house.

This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution – Share Alike license.

8. Lumberjack Cottage miniature by Ilhadiel

Here is another nicely detailed little cottage model. The wooden timbers are textured and the roof shingles have a nice irregular pattern. Unfortunately this model isn’t hollow, and the roof doesn’t come off, but that can be fixed if you know how to use Meshmixer. Without scaling, it stands at just about 116mm tall, which is perfect for 28mm scale gaming.

This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution license.

9. Wood and Stucco House by donald_stouffer

Another small house option, this model by donald_stouffer has a more utilitarian feel. It has a lot of square angles, but all of the outer surfaces are sculpted, including the roof shingles. It’s quite small, but a normal height mini with a 28mm base will fit inside. There is a solid and hollow version of the roof, so if you need to fit a taller mini inside then the hollow roof is probably a better choice.

My favorite thing about this model is that the window has a slit at the top for you to place a piece of parchment paper or plastic to act as window glass. Then if you put an LED candle inside, it looks like warm firelight through glass.

This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution – No Derivatives license.

Towers

10. Gothic Tower by Akoffeman

This is a set of walls, pillars, and roof sections that you can combine in different ways to make your own gothic castle, cathedral, or tower. The pieces are highly detailed with gothic designs. The set is also compatible with the openLOCK system, which is good if you already use that tile system and have some of the clips.

This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution license.

11. ship wreck tower by jimjimjimmyjim

This is a huge model at just over 55cm tall. It consists of a tower, a ruined bridge, a ship wreck, and a giant horn. Unless you have a huge 3D printer you’ll have to split this model into separate pieces to print, and even then there will probably be a lot of pieces. I would recommend first splitting the island into 2 pieces, so that the tower and the ship wreck are separated. Then split those halves into even more pieces.

This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution license.

12. Fantasy Tower by Akoffeman

The Fantasy Tower by Akoffeman is a simple but well-designed tower that prints in sections. You can mix and match the sections to create different looking towers of various heights. It comes with a base section, a middle section, and two roof designs. With a set like this you could make anything from wizard towers to watch towers.

This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution license.

13. wizards observatorium tower by jimjimjimmyjim

Speaking of wizard towers, here’s another design by jimjimjimmyjim. Like the ship wreck tower, this model is also huge, but this one comes in at almost 1 meter in height. Although this model would need to be split into many parts to fit most printers, the detailed and interesting design of the tower made it too cool to not put on this list.

This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution license.

Tombs

14. Tomb (Ruined and Intact) by ecaroth

These mausoleum type tombs are essential pieces for any graveyard game board. Every inch of these models is covered in detail. The designer even modeled 2 versions, one ruined and one intact, for you to choose from. The models are hollow so you can put things inside them too if you want.

This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution license.

15. Tomb by Herrigold

In case you don’t have enough tombs yet, here’s another one by Herrigold. This one is a tall and elegant type tomb, with metal fence pieces on each of the four sides. The walls, roof, base, and fence pieces all print separately, so some assembly is required afterwards.

This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution license.

16. Openforge 2.0 Mausoleum by devonjones

For the final tomb on this list, we have this large mausoleum by devonjones. It’s an octagonal building with 4 doors, and a large domed roof. The roof can be lifted from the building to see inside, or all of the walls can be lifted off as one piece so that players can see the floor plan. The whole floor is tiled with the OpenForge style floor tiles, which makes this a perfect piece for a battle or encounter.

This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution – Share Alike license.

Other

17. Victorian Office Building by Herrigold

While it might not be strictly medieval, a building like this might make sense in certain high-fantasy settings. Even if it won’t work for every game setting, I had to include it because of how large and ornate it is. The different levels stack on top of each other and can be lifted off, but there are no floor pieces, so it’s basically an empty box. Also, you can add as many middle levels as you want, so you can make the building any height you want.

This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution – Share Alike license.

18. Tabletop – Church buildings by Fanaatti

Church or temple buildings are very useful for city settings, and these models are perfect for that. There are 2 bases and 2 roofs, which gives you 4 possible unique combinations. The buildings are fairly small, but they’re nicely detailed all around. The roof tiles are staggered, the walls are all brick textured, and the doors and windows are open.

This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution license.

19. Modular Castle, Town, House, Tower, Church, Gates, Cathedral and Dm Screen by hugolours

If you’ve ever searched for 3D printable castles, then you’ve probably come across this amazing set of models by hugolours. As of the date that this article was written, there are 42 files available on this page. It’s still a work-in-progress, so there might be even more if you’re reading this later. The files include diferent levels of buildings, castle walls, roofs, and even scaffolding. The pieces are modular so you can stack them however you want to create your own buildings.

The designer also has quite a few models of miniatures on his page if you’re looking to print some good quality minis.

This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution license.

20. Stone Gazebo by Herrigold

You might not think of a gazebo as a building, but this 3D model by Herrigold is designed as a stone gazebo with a lot of gothic elements, so I think it fits on this list. You can use it in a graveyard or a garden setting and it will add a lot of detail and visual interest. It really looks good from every angle.

This model is licensed under the Creative Commons – Attribution – Share Alike license.

Afterword

There are some other 3D models of buildings that I liked, but that didn’t make it on to this list because they had non-commercial licenses. Those licenses state that nobody can use the designs for commercial purposes. I don’t want this article to get taken down just because of that, so just to be on the safe side I didn’t include them. Just be aware that there are even more awesome 3D models of buildings out there that are pretty easy to find.

You can follow this method with any kind of craft paint, be it cheap or expensive, and you can adapt it for any color scheme that you want. For this article I’ll show you how to paint 3 basic color schemes. You can copy them exactly or try out different combinations of colors to create your own unique look for your dungeon tiles.

To get started, let’s go over the materials you’ll need. It’s not really that much, but there are some essential items that you might need to acquire if you don’t have them on hand.

Materials

Spray primer

Craft paints

Paint brushes

Wet Palette (Optional but highly recommended)

The Method

This method of painting dungeon tiles basically boils down to 4 steps. Step 1 is to pick a base color for your tiles and walls, and that will usually be the color of primer that you use. For step 2 you choose 2 or 3 other colors that look good with your base color, to add some variety to the bricks or stones. Step 3 is to add a highlight layer over the whole thing. Step 4 is to finish everything with a layer of clear coat just to protect the paint.

An important note before we get into it, I highly recommend that you print all of your tiles and walls before you start painting. Especially if you plan on mixing paints to get some of your colors, it’s much easier to get a consistent paint job on all of your pieces if you paint them all at once. If you print a few pieces and paint them first, then wait a few days before the rest of them are ready to paint, then you might forget exactly how you mixed your paints the first time.

Unless you keep track of exactly what amounts of each paint you used, it’s usually easier to just paint them all at the same time. If you don’t have enough time to go through all of the steps for all of your pieces, then you might want to just do one step a day, as long as you finish that step for all your dungeon tiles.

Preparation: Making A Wet Palette

If you’re going to paint with acrylic paints, then there’s a method you can use to make your paints stay fresh for much longer. Acrylic paints tend to dry out very quickly. Simply take a flat plastic container, preferably with a lid, and place a damp paper towel inside. Then put a layer of parchment paper over the top. Once the parchment paper has absorbed a bit of the water, you’re ready to put your paint in just like a normal palette.

This is called a wet palette, and it’s very useful for painting with acrylic paints. Without it, you might have about an hour or two before your paint becomes hard and dry. With a wet palette, especially one with a lid, your paint can stay wet and ready to use for a whole day. This makes it so that you don’t have to finish painting in one sitting. You can paint for a bit, then take a break, and when you come back your paint will still be fresh. It really helps to save paint.

With all of that said, let’s get into the actual painting.

Step 1: Priming the Base Color

Part of what makes this method of painting so easy is that your primer can usually act as the base color for your dungeon tiles. For the 3 example pieces that I painted, I used brown, gray, and white as the base colors. The brown is used for more of a sandstone or brown stone type paint job, but it can also work well for caverns or dirt caves. The gray works well for a classic stone appearance, and the white is good for the ice cave look that I was going for.

You can easily find gray, brown, and white spray primers in stores. If you can’t get your hands on a certain color of primer, then you could print your dungeon tiles in a color of filament that matches your base color. In my case, I didn’t have white primer but I did have a lot of white filament, so I decided to leave it unprimed for the ice cave version of the tiles.

Normally I recommend that you always prime any 3D printed pieces first before you paint them, because it helps the paint to stick better to the plastic. This will make your paint job last longer and be more durable. However, I realize that some people don’t have a lot of time, and sometimes certain colors are unavailable in stores, so as an example I’ll show you that you can paint with craft paints directly on to your 3D printed dungeon tiles.

Spraying on the primer is a simple enough task by itself, so I won’t go into too much detail in this article. Just make sure to go over your dungeon tiles in multiple thin coats. Also, try to paint your pieces at different angles so that you get the primer in all of the nooks and crannies of the walls and floor tiles. It helps to use a color of filament that contrasts with your primer so that you can see where the primer has covered and where it hasn’t.

Once you’ve primed your dungeon tiles fully, let them dry for at least 24 hours, but ideally you should let them sit for about 5 days. That might seem like way too long, but if you read the fine print on your spray paint can, most of them will say that for plastic, maximum adhesion is achieved after letting it dry for about 5 days.

Step 2: Painting the Secondary Colors

Once your primer is dry, you’re ready to start painting on the secondary colors. These are usually 2 or 3 colors that are similar to, or complement, your base color. For my gray walls I use a darker gray and a brownish color. For the brown walls, I use a dark brown and a lighter sandy color. Finally, for the ice walls, I use a gray and a blue color. You can use similar colors to these, or you can come up with your own combinations to suit your vision of how you want your terrain to look.

Normally dungeon tiles are painted to have a natural appearance, so the colors are earth tones for stone walls, and shades of gray and blue for ice. There’s nothing to say that you can’t use other colors though. In a fantasy setting, the terrain can look however you want. You can have purple and yellow bricks in the walls and it could still make sense in the context of your story.

What ever colors you choose, the painting method is fairly simple. Just pick a few bricks or stones in the wall and paint them with one of the secondary colors. Then you paint a few more with the other secondary color. Which bricks you choose to paint, and how many, is completely up to you. Don’t forget to paint a few of the stones on the top, otherwise the top row will look very monochromatic when you put your pieces together.

Painting The Floors

Painting the floor tiles is normally a bit easier than the walls because each square is much bigger than a brick in the wall, so there’s less need for detail. I usually just pick one secondary color that contrasts with the base color, and then brush it over most of the top of the floor tiles, leaving the nooks and crannies as the base color. Alternatively you could paint the secondary color into the nooks and crannies, leaving the top of the tiles as the base color. It doesn’t really matter as long you achieve some sort of variation or contrast.

Step 3: Adding The Highlights

This is a very easy step, but it adds a lot of detail and will really make your 3D printed dungeon tiles look much more realistic and believable. All you have to do is take your highlight color and apply it with a dry-brush technique over the entire surface of your wall and floor tiles. This will make it so that it only catches the edges and high points of your tiles.

By using the same color to highlight every part of the tiles, it brings all of the different colors together. It also adds another layer of depth and detail. As you can see in the picture above, the pieces look much more detailed and realistic after the highlights have been applied.

If you don’t know how to do dry-brushing, don’t worry, it’s actually very simple. Make sure that your brush is dry before you do this, because this technique won’t work with a wet brush or sponge. All you do is take your brush or painting sponge and apply a little bit of paint to it. Then you dry most of the paint off on a paper towel or something, so that barely any paint is left on the brush. After that you can brush it over the surface of your dungeon tiles and walls, and the small amount of paint on the brush should only stick to the highest points of the piece.

With 3D printed dungeon tiles, there’s bound to be some layer lines. I recommend that you paint along the layer lines instead of against them, or the paint might make the lines more obvious. If you paint with the grain, the paint should get in between the layer lines better, making them less obvious.

Optional Step: Painting in Details

If you want to, now’s the time to add a few little details. Maybe you want your dungeon tiles to look like they have some moss growing in places, or maybe some vines. All you have to do is take some dark green paint and apply it sparingly to a few areas. This will add a subtle amount of detail that can make a big difference in the overall appearance of your dungeon tiles.

Here’s a short list of details you might want to add, including the 2 mentioned above:

• Moss
• Vines
• Blood stains
• Fungus
• Lichens
• Metallic elements like chains or coins
• Footprints

The list can go on and on.

Step 4: Clear Coats

Once you’re satisfied with your paint job, it’s a good idea to cover it in a clear coat to protect all of your hard work. While they probably won’t see a ton of wear and tear, they will probably scrape against each other as you move game pieces across them, as well as when you stack them up for storage. There’s also the possibility that you’ll drop them at some point. A good clear coat can minimize any of that damage.

Clear coats usually come in a matte, satin, or gloss finish. For stone and dirt dungeon tiles you’ll probably want to use a matte finish, unless you want them to look like very smooth and polished stones. In that case a satin or gloss clear coat might work better. For my ice tiles I used gloss, because ice is shiny.

When you apply the clear coat, make sure to do it in very light coats. If you apply too much at once, it can start to form droplets that are very obvious and it won’t look very good. The best way to get a nice even finish is to go over it with a light spray, and check after each pass to make sure that it’s not building up too much.