What happens when there are no more pretty dice for a dice goblin to buy...

Huntergirl727

25285

375

So, being a dice goblin and finding that there were no more dice online that I really liked, I decided to take up a new hobby. Resin dice making. I have spent the last week using a bunch of YouTube tips to trial-and-error my own master molds out is silicone. I learned how to use a vacuum chamber to get the big bubbles out of the silicone, and a pressure pot/air compressor to obliterate the small ones. I learned that sometimes the silicone doesn't stay where you put it, and that you can't cure silicone in the vacuum chamber. I learned that UV resin does not cure in a pressure pot, only 2-part epoxy does (I assumed, but experimented anyway), and that alcohol ink doesn't come out of skin. Today, while pouring my first set of dice in my new molds, I learned that a little resin goes a long way, and that sometimes alcohol ink bottles explode if the dropper is clogged. 36 hours of cure-time from now, i will theoretically have a new set of dice with Easter decorations in them, as well as a couple necklace charms and a coaster that I made to use up all the extra resin I made. Cross your fingers! ????

My first attempt too make letters with UV resin. Not awesome.

Second attempt.

Alcohol ink mess.

Vacuum pressure gauge.

Vacuuming bubbles.

A mad scientist's pressure pot.

UV resin coaster.

Pouring the first molds. I did not n make those dice.

After pouring the top.

A successful 3-dice mold with top.

I did not make those dice, either, just used them to pour the silicone.

An unsuccessful cap mold. This one got too thin when all the silicone leaked out.

The leak made a funny-looking sleeve, and the 6-sided ring in the dish that caught the leak.

Said 6-sided ring.

This bubble monstrosity is what happens when you experiment with curing the silicone in a vacuum instead of under pressure.

This was my first attempt at a d20, but I tried it with UV resin instead of making 2-part epoxy, so it didn't work out right.

Would have been cute, though.

The pink alcohol ink exploded.

Dog tax.

hobby

dice

Filanwizard

there is also of course resin printing if you wish for even more resin rabbit holes.

4 months ago |

SciFiGuy2018

Sweet dice!

twerps

https://media4.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1NG53ZGtxMGthZmliZnozNXZpaDgycjZybDdzZ3NnaHYyeHVleXprcSZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/COjAhXk0sJRAOdCyXR/200w.webp

GloriousPirateBeard

No more dice to buy just means more dice to Make. First few tries will be sub par, but it's not too hard to learn

OtisTDrunk

ThingsThatDontJustifyGenocide

#16 is because you didn't release the vacuum, not just because you used a vacuum. You could actually get best results with vac-then-pressure.

As for the UV die: Don't do this. UV resin isn't great at curing all the way through, and with bits in the way, it WILL not cure all the way through. Opaque curing depth is only a couple of millimeters. With transparent it MIGHT be better, but then it might not be transparent at the UV wavelength so perhaps not.

Give me a nudge if you need more info.

I'm ADHD and like learning about dice making with resins, so I have a lot of theoretical knowledge. No practical application, to be clear, but I know a thought of theory.

Mahzarin

This cool of course but all I can think is now you BECOME the dice. The final dice. I might like to be dice someday

Faloopsinarb

Shiny math rocks go click-clack

SalmySwims

As a fellow Dice Goblin, I approve. You get that click-clack dopamine!

Hammerwell

If you want to knot your brain a little, buy an extra gauge in absolute pressure (where 1 bar is atmospheric) and switch between them. And for extra fun one in MPa. Bonus for an old one in kp/cm2.

Cowmayihelpu

ninhursang

I am interested in your experiences with resin and hope you’ll post more as you learn. Good luck with your dice project — I hope you have fun perfecting your skills!

AlmostClever

Gamers Nexus released some dice that incorporated e-waste, if you're interested: https://store.gamersnexus.net/products/inductor-full-tabletop-mtg-dnd-premium-dice-set-7-piece-dice-wooden-box-token-card

ClownishAntics

To new skills and talents through trial and error

kiski

Having no idea what it is, I already love this show for showing a reasonable fill level for whisky.

Amomani

I am become dice.

genericname2107

Take your respirator cartridges off and rotate them so they aren't pointing straight down when installed, the long hanging end should be pointed towards the back. It's a lot more comfortable and they don't get in the way when correctly installed. They should look like this: https://www.kfppe.com/pic/big/211_2.jpg

Thanks, I will take a look to see if it does that. I don't know what I'm doing 😅

server1a

Thank you! Unless they're poorly made knockoffs, they can only point forwards or backwards when locked in (to the best of my recollection). At least she's wearing the proper (fumes) rating cartridges.

Vungor

The YWDW dnd podcast loves this Anchor.fm/you-wanna-do-what

hereforcomete

Great job, I’ve always wanted to try making stabilized wood, but I don’t have the necessary space. Wishing you success!

Idonotbelievewehavecompany

You are awesome! THere is no way I would have started this, you will get better and will produce the most awesome set of dice you can dream up, I want an update!

LariCheltsy

somnif

If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe....

hellohowmayibeofservice

Acetone and exfoliation will help the ink come off your fingers. If that doesn’t work you just have to wait to lose that skin over time.

If you plan to sell dice sets, I would be interested in buying a set!

I did use acetone, very carefully, later that day, as I had just gotten a manicure and didn't want to screw it up.

You could also try hand sanitizer, but likely you’ll just have tot wait it out.

mercbrit

Is that a Binks chamber and some sort of Chinese vacuum pump?

Uh, it's this thing I got from Amazon...
https://a.co/d/7xDpm7Y

That’s not what you have. That binks chamber is an old reconditioned one thats been resprayed …but don’t worry, it’s probably better than the one they were claiming to sell!

If you're talking about the gray spraypainted pressure pot, I got that at the local Harbor Freight. It's the 2.5 gal paint pressurizer. I had to buy a separate air compressor, though, and I got McGraw 8gal 150psi beast that I didn't take any pictures of.

myweaknessisstrong

Ever consider carving a set from wood or stone\semi-precious stones? Might be worth a look. I just had an awesome idea for math cubes; cut up teeny tiny pieces of hardwoods and combine them in checker block patterns and glue them together. TO THE WOOD SHOP!

I don't have any of the machinery for that, so that is not likely in my future.

Muertasha

https://media3.giphy.com/media/v1.Y2lkPWE1NzM3M2U1aTRtaThpbGlleHY0NTJqemt2endvbmFjYXVzMWYwcW41aHhrNnVyYyZlcD12MV9naWZzX3NlYXJjaCZjdD1n/fxHpSohzG4uK4/200w.webp

I'm jealous of all the holiday themed items you will mold. Super cute!

krstd

Not wanna spoil the party, but doesn't including stuff into the dice shift the weight, making it prone to fall on certain numbers more frequently?

Ya, it depends on what the inclusions are made of, but if you make the whole dice basically the same substance, like I tried and failed to do with that first Easter d20, it should still roll true.

Larktonguesinadicecup

Dice balance is insignificant at the scale that dice are rolled in ttrpgs - even relatively poorly balanced dice are still fair enough to play D&D with, no die is truly perfectly Fair anyway. Most commercial Dice off the shelf from the big bulk producers we'll have a detectable bias that usually requires about 1500-3k rolls to make clear. There is no reliable test for dice bias beyond cataloging rolls; the salt water bath is virtually useless. One of the reasons that it's hard to make effective

Cheat dice is the fact that the ladder maps for ttrpg dice are juxtaposed, numbers are set very intentionally so that there isn't a high or low side to the die. Something that might tend to favor a particular vertex or facet is also going to favor the nearby ones, so for example a guy that rolls slightly more 17s will also roll slightly more 2's. Voids and inclusions speak to the internal center of gravity, but that's not the biggest source of dice bias. Distorted facets are much more relevant.

A tumbled, opaque, deliberately weighted, spindown could be used to cheat: spin Downs are not dice, although they resemble them, they're used for counting life points in magic the gathering and unlike true dice their numbers are in sequential order, so there is a high side and a low side and it would be possible to make a deliberately weighted spin down, which would tend to roll higher numbers. Even then it's still going to give you a lot of low numbers, but on the average it'll be higher. Dice

that are weighted enough to be effective are very obviously weighted if held in the hand. The most fair dice would be clear, sharp edged, to spec with identical facets as measured by a caliper, and would have screened on numbers. But the difference between these and the ones from China with little rubber duckies inside, it's just not that big a deal, given the amount that you're rolling them and the states in TTRPGs. There are very effective cheat dice that use a different method: they have

Several low numbers removed and replaced with higher numbers, which is obvious on close inspection, which is why they come with Fair dice in an identical design, so you can pull some sleight of hand bs: show your DM the fair die, or leave it lying out, then Palm the cheater when you actually make an important roll. Lame.