Resin Dice, Chapter One: The Masters Arrive

I've decided to start logging my resin dice casting journey here, mostly so future-me has something to look back on when I inevitably mess something up and need to figure out what went wrong. Consider this the "before I knew better" baseline post.

Why dice casting

I've been wanting to get into resin dice for a while now. Part of it is just the maker itch, I like having my hands on a physical project when so much of my day is spent in front of a screen. But there's a practical reason too: I'm getting older, and reading dice across the table is getting harder than it used to be. I wanted a set big enough that I'm not squinting to tell if that's an 8 or a 0 from across the table.

The idea really clicked at GenCon this year. The Limithron folks had a set they'd made for Pirate Borg with some larger dice, and I really liked how they felt in hand. That planted the seed, but a class I took later that same con is what actually got the project moving.

The class that started it all

I took a Dice Making workshop at GenCon, taught by Rob Elstro and Brianna Johnston of Broken Leg Gamers. It was a nicely accelerated two hours: prep and protection, the tools you actually need for pouring dice, casting a set with fast cure resin, and then sanding and polishing. Rob and Brianna were great, and it was exactly what I needed to go from "watched some YouTube videos" to "actually did this with my hands."

Part of the value of the class was getting some mistakes out of the way in a low stakes environment. We were using cheap cap molds, and mine lifted at the edges during the pour, plus there was some poor quality control on one of the D20 faces. It was a great object lesson in why it's worth paying for quality molds, or better yet, getting or making your own masters and pulling molds from those yourself. Some of the dice we made in class were also the larger size, and between that and the Pirate Borg dice from Limithron, I was sold. I wanted to make my own oversized set, and maybe eventually some for friends and family too.

So that's the plan. Skip the cheap pre-made molds, make my own masters, pull my own molds, and cast my own dice. I looked for a pre-made mold in the larger size first, honestly, but everything I found was standard sized. So custom masters it was.

Finding a seller

I found Jon's 3D Prints and Dice on Etsy, who had great reviews, and after working with him I understand why. He genuinely wanted to make the exact set of masters I was after. We went back and forth over messages, and he shared the STL files so I could compare the sizing of the dice I wanted against a normal set. I even printed the set myself on my FDM printer just to get a feel for the size before committing to anything, since obviously those prints wouldn't be usable for actually pulling molds.

Once I was happy with the size, I paid for the masters with supports already removed, since I figured the class would be enough to get me through sanding and polishing safely myself. Worth noting, if you don't want to do that part yourself, Jon also offers sanding, polishing, and even mold making as services.

The masters arrived today, and honestly, they look really nice. Clean faces, sharp numbering, good weight to them. I haven't sanded or polished them yet, so this is very much the raw, out-of-the-package look.  Jon even included instructions on allowing the dice to fully cure, sanding/polishing, and then further curing in sunlight/UV.

Dice masters laid out on a cutting mat for scale

First impressions and first fixes

There were a few raised edges here and there, probably just from the printing or molding process. I took a knife to them gently to knock down the worst of it, but I'm planning to leave the real cleanup for after sanding and polishing.  I don't want to slip and accidentally damage the masters.

Next up is sanding and polishing the masters, then making the silicone molds. I'll keep logging as I go, mistakes and all.

More soon.