For future reference I’m posting here two videos.
They appear elsewhere in the forum but maybe this is a better place to find them later and also to link them together.
From channel “In sente”, a portable 3d printed goban in 4 pieces:
From same youtuber’s second channel “izzitMichaela”, a smart go board that can read SGF using arduino and led under the board.:
Implementing Arduino actually sounds like a really cool idea. I have a whole box full of that stuff somewhere. The 3d printer would be a little bit more of a challenge as I can’t really afford one of those, but my Uncle might be willing to let me use his.
A 3d print service nearby asked me 200€ to print that goban (4 pieces) in low res.
Is that possible?
Michaela claims that the material is worth 20$ iirc, but she already has a printer. She also said that it took 21 hrs to print just one piece of the board.
I’m confused…
I think the printer itself is not cheap
I have no idea what these things should reasonably cost, but I understand that they scale with the volume of material and time required.
It doesn’t seem like something that makes sense to 3d print, rather than just making it in a conventional way from wood. I think 3d printing is better suited when you want something that is not so easily fabricated in some other way (like with voids or a more complex shape that would traditionally require complex milling or molding), and more economical for a smaller part, and better suited when a printable material (like most commonly a type of plastic) is desirable.
With making a goban like this, it seems that it would be much simpler and cheaper to simply cut some square pieces of wood (and drill holes, if that’s desired). Joining the pieces together can be accomplished in variety of ways.
Yep with 1000 eur i will go straight to some nice wood provider for DIY. Even with 80 eur i’ll check twice if i can find some way with wood instead of plastic.
As a complete ignorant of 3d printing, that video gave me the impression that such a project would be affordable for everyone.
With 200€, instead of a piece of plastic 6mm high, I could buy some nice old board from baduk club’s store!
I must investigate about a similar project made of wood. I’d like to have a super foldable goban. A friend of mine has one and it’s very easy to carry around
If you’re willing to do the assembly and tuning yourself, you can get a pretty decent 3d printer for less than 200 Euros.
That looks awesome! Could you give us some words that go along with that nice-looking project?!
I am lazy and unreliable and I like to dream of a thousand hobbies and activities and I don’t actually make one.
So I’ll post this here as a reminder or as a public shame if I don’t accomplish it. 
Here is my (dream of) future 4-pieces goban.
I want a portable goban which is more portable than a foldable one. A friend of mine has one in four pieces (already mentioned in the forum) and it’s very nice. So I want to make one with this scrap wood I had in my garage.
I didn’t choose yet a way to keep it together. It could be magnetic or maybe use some joints or pins… any advice is welcome.
I can’t plane it with a jointer and a thickness planer, so I have to find a solution which is doable with very simple hand tools (otherwise I would make joints first and then plane it assembled).
I used dowels once, but I can’t drill my holes with enough precision. Maybe some woodworker could tell me some tesuji to reach that.
Magnets against magnets is the solution used in my friend’s goban. It’s strong, but they want to align themselves and that gives me the same problem about holes precision.
So maybe magnets against steel bars could be more adjustable and forgiving.
What do you think?
Magnet+steel bar on the back, looks nice idea
6 bars size of your quarter of goban
I was thinking to put them in the cut.
Like this one:
What were you thinking of?
More difficult but yes nice.Something to consider is the,lifespan of the fixation especially if you plan to use your board often, carrrying it outside… Renewing something on the back can be easier as in the cut, when you need to fit precisely the boards together
What about some kind of magnetic strips on the side rather than single magnets? They could still go along the side, but not sure if the alignment would be better or not.
Why not?
I can’t find a suitable item on sale. Could you provide some examples?
I found a magnetic tape but it adds width and also it doesn’t seem very strong. It’s recommended for white boards and refrigerator doors.
I looked for some narrow bar to insert into the wood but I didn’t find any.
It seems that you’ve already thought of some potential solutions.
For the magnets idea, one possibility (depending on your tools) is to cut holes or slots from the bottom of the board near the edge. The magnet or steel (any some metal parts like some nuts or washers, if a bar piece cannot be easily sourced) would be inserted in the hole and then sealed in with some epoxy/glue and the hole maybe even capped off with some wood. This way, without looking at the bottom, it just looks like solid wood, and with powerful magnets (like neodymium), it would probably still hold well through the wood.
Individual magnets will be more precise than strips for alignment. However, an even better idea would be a combination of inset magnets and small pegs (more like nubs than anything else) that would prevent any lateral shifting of the board while assembled.
For the sake of longevity, do it robust, simple and easy to repair.
Because you want to carry it around or leave it in a backbag or… Then i dont recomend small pegs too breakable and a pain to replace.
Is that a thing? I wouldn’t expect it to move while playing.
BTW, what do “nubs” mean?
I can’t find a useful translation online since youtuber Stumpy Nubs takes all the place!
I am actually worried by the opposite: if I can’t drill holes for magnets precisely, they will align and make steps on the board.
I need a solution that holds together well but doesn’t require extreme precision of assembly
