hello Kevin.
I have the chance to have access to a fablab where they have 3D-printers that I can use. Around me (I live in France) I see many announcements by small companies and also by individuals who offer to print anything for you at a given price. Not very expensive. One of my contacts on Thingiverse is using such a service. All what you need is to provide .stl file of the piece(s) you want to print. You can download the .stl I have designed, and also Bob's ones and more on Thingiverse.
So, economically-wise, it is a very good solution. Also, it is very easy to transform the .stl you get, for changing the size (if you want smaller or larger pieces), or even to create yourself your own pieces. Bob is showing examples every day.
I believe that this has changed everything. Before that, I knew a sold set named Faery Chess (https://www.amazon.com/Faerie-Chess-Classic-Traditional-Beginners/dp/B07YPZG5TY) but the pieces are really cheap low-quality; and of course Musketeer Chess. I have a true friendship with their creator but that product is not exactly fitting my own desire. Somehow I would say those pieces are too luxury. Much too big (it takes a lot of room in my drawers). They are coming in pair association which doesn't correspond to what I need, which increases the problem. Often you need 2 of each and at the end it costs a fortune if you want a set, let's say for Metamachy for instance. Finally, too many are too similar as it was pointed out by Fergus in this thread. So I consider it has been a very nice initiative but with 3D-printing, I've found now a much better solution.
If someone is looking for Musketeer pieces, I can be contacted, I will be happy to sell them because I have no use of them anymore.
There is a drawback with 3D-printing: it is very slow to print. For example, to print 1 side (color) of the Metamachy set (30 pieces), it took 24 hours. It is not a solution for massive production. That will progress with time, however it will remain a personal solution in my opinion.
hello Kevin. I have the chance to have access to a fablab where they have 3D-printers that I can use. Around me (I live in France) I see many announcements by small companies and also by individuals who offer to print anything for you at a given price. Not very expensive. One of my contacts on Thingiverse is using such a service. All what you need is to provide .stl file of the piece(s) you want to print. You can download the .stl I have designed, and also Bob's ones and more on Thingiverse.
So, economically-wise, it is a very good solution. Also, it is very easy to transform the .stl you get, for changing the size (if you want smaller or larger pieces), or even to create yourself your own pieces. Bob is showing examples every day.
I believe that this has changed everything. Before that, I knew a sold set named Faery Chess (https://www.amazon.com/Faerie-Chess-Classic-Traditional-Beginners/dp/B07YPZG5TY) but the pieces are really cheap low-quality; and of course Musketeer Chess. I have a true friendship with their creator but that product is not exactly fitting my own desire. Somehow I would say those pieces are too luxury. Much too big (it takes a lot of room in my drawers). They are coming in pair association which doesn't correspond to what I need, which increases the problem. Often you need 2 of each and at the end it costs a fortune if you want a set, let's say for Metamachy for instance. Finally, too many are too similar as it was pointed out by Fergus in this thread. So I consider it has been a very nice initiative but with 3D-printing, I've found now a much better solution.
If someone is looking for Musketeer pieces, I can be contacted, I will be happy to sell them because I have no use of them anymore.
There is a drawback with 3D-printing: it is very slow to print. For example, to print 1 side (color) of the Metamachy set (30 pieces), it took 24 hours. It is not a solution for massive production. That will progress with time, however it will remain a personal solution in my opinion.