Custom Dice Making
Matt Gagne

Assignment 1 Assignment 2 Assignment 3 Assignment 4 Assignment 5

Dice Background

Cubical dice have been around since 2000 B.C.E., and have been used throughout history as a mechanic to play many different games.
While a D6 (six sided die) is most common in modern board games, there are a number of different dice that serve different purposes.
Here is a table showing off other dice and what they are used for.

Dice Nickname	Full Name	Geometric Name	Examples
d4	Four-sided Die	Tetrahedron	Dungeons and Dragons, Royal Game of Ur
d6	Six-sided Die	Cube	Monopoly, Yahtzee
d8	Eight-sided Die	Octahedron	Scene it?, Jumanji
d10	Ten-sided Die	Pentagonal Trapezohedron	Flux
d12	Twelve-sided Die	Dodecahedron	Dungeons and Dragons
d20	Twenty-sided Die	Icosahedron	Scattergories

What are "custom" dice?

Custom dice is the process of making dice out of resin and silicone molds, and can be personalized to each individuals' liking.

Dice are widely used in board games, Dungeons and Dragons, card games, and to some, are even a form of decoration!

While there are premade sets of dice that you can buy from a store or in bulk, having your own set of custom dice tailored
to your liking can set you apart from the crowd, and allows you to own something nobody else could.

What do you need to start making custom dice?

To make your own custom dice, you will need:

Epoxy Clear Resin
Silicone Dice Molds
Optional: Silicone Mold Making Kit
Gloves
Mixing Sticks
Disposable Measuring and Plastic/Dixie Cups
Resin Additives (glitter, alcohol inks, etc.)
Optional: Lighter/Pressure Pot
Patience!

I've gathered all my supplies. Now what?

Now is the fun part of actually making your dice! These are the general steps to make your own custom dice, using premade dice molds.

With disposable gloves on, pour out equal parts resin (part A) and hardener (part B) into 2 seperate disposable measuring cups.
Take the resin and hardener and pour both into a disposable Dixie cup, using a popsicle stick to get any excess resin out.
Add in resin mixatives and mix slowly for 5 speeds or until there are no visible streaks.
Pour the resin into each mold, being careful not to overfill or spill. A high, slow pour helps with this.
Let sit for 20 minutes. Optional: carefully run a lighter over the top of the resin to pop any excess bubbles.
Put the caps onto the molds. It's okay if it overflows, it will reduce the chance of air bubbles.
Let sit for 24 hours.
Carefully remove caps and new dice from mold.

Optionally you can sand and polish these new dice, and even paint the numbers for an extra layer of personalization.

External References

Here are a few links to some custom dice makers for inspiration and some websites for premade dice.