Spools mission is simple: Bring people together through the experience of high quality board games

Some of my best memories are the click of dominoes on my grandmother's kitchen table, the clack of mahjong tiles on a felt mat, and my dad walking me through the finer points of a backgammon doubling cube. Board games were our family's language. A way to pause the week, crowd around the table, and cheer each other on. Or talk a little friendly trash.

That's what Spools is about. Bringing people together through games worth playing, in places worth being.

From tinkerer to tile-maker

I grew up taking things apart. That led to a mechanical engineering degree, hardware design at a few big-name tech companies, and eventually a deep dive into 3D printing. One weekend I printed a chess set. Then a full mahjong set. Friends wanted one. Then strangers did too. A passion project became a company.

Spools is still just me, a Bambu printer running around the clock, and two dogs providing moral support from the couch. Peaches is a wienerdog who takes her supervisory role very seriously. Bailey, our chihuahua mix, is less supervisory and more ambient. Together they keep the workshop grounded.

How we make our sets

Every product starts as a design file and ends as something you can hold, click, and play with for years. A chess board takes about 12 hours to print. A full mahjong package can run 48 hours before finishing, inspection, and packaging. These are small-batch, made-to-order pieces built to feel special every time you pull them out.

3D printing lets us do things traditional manufacturing can't. Custom initials. Themed designs. One-off commissions for people with wild ideas. If you can describe it, we can probably build it.

What we make

Mahjong sets, travel-weight and customizable. Minimalist chess and backgammon with clean lines and magnetic pieces. And the occasional commission for someone who comes to us with something we've never tried before. Those are some of our favorite orders.

A note on the games themselves

Mahjong originated in 19th-century China and has been beloved across East and Southeast Asia for generations. Our tiles draw on the structure and spirit of traditional sets, and we're genuinely grateful to the communities who have kept this game alive and vibrant. If you want to go deeper on its history, this is a good place to start.

Chess traces back to 6th-century India, traveled through Persia, and became the game we know today in medieval Europe. We play with materials and themes, but the pawns, knights, bishops, rooks, queens, and kings don't change. More here.

Backgammon has ancestors stretching back nearly 5,000 years to Mesopotamia. We experiment with 3D printed twists and travel-friendly formats, but the gameplay stays classic. More here.

Thank you for being here

Every order, review, and DM gets read by a human. That human is me. Your purchase funds the next print run, the next design, and the next round of "just one more game" with people you love.

Pull up a chair. Let's play.

Keen Maker, engineer, lifelong board game fan