My redesigned polyhedral dice, now machined from Aluminum & Titanium! Mathematically balanced number layouts & Hex d4. Wave 3 pre-orders now open. Ships in June.
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Hello backers!
The dice are still on schedule to ship on time. I won't be shipping extra early as I had initially hoped, but I am on track to ship to all the November wave backers (which is everyone except late backers) by the end of November as expected.
After the dice get their numbers marked, they are cleaned and the next step is to slip into their new cases. The dice are held snugly in a high density foam insert and the lid closes with a satisfying click as the embedded magnets find each other. When I was designing the cases, my goal was for them to work for storage, transport, and display. The final design works well in all three scenarios and I'm so happy with how they turned out!
Once the dice are in their cases, it's time for shrink wrap. Here's a quick clip that shows how efficiently the new machine shrink wraps each set. I've done my fair share of shrink wrapping with a manual sealer and heat gun (which is fun even though I'm bad at it 😂) so I can really appreciate the need for a machine like this. The clip below is in real time, except for one second I cut because the camera shook too much, so you can imagine how quickly it can move through stacks of cases when it's going at full tilt.
With my next update I'll send an email including a link to update your shipping address if needed. If you prefer, you can also just send me a message anytime with your new address and I'll be glad to update it for you. Thank you as always for your support that has made all of this possible!!
Happy gaming,
David
Hello backers!
Production continues on schedule as the blanks are getting their numbers laser-marked to fulfill their destiny of becoming precision-crafted dice! 🔥
I can't get over how awesome laser marking is. I've been laser marking my dice since 2018. I'm sure I wasn't the first, but it definitely wasn't common. At the time, I couldn't find a manufacturer willing to do it, so I spent countless hours in the garage marking thousands of 60-sided dice for my first Kickstarter. Somehow, watching the numbers magically appear in a flash of brilliance never got old.
The easy-to-read numbers are a permanent discoloration of the surface metal that can't chip off like an applied paint. Also, since it is not engraving into the metal, the process keeps the faces nicely flat and doesn't impair the weight balance.
Here are some finished d20s in all their glory! The numbers are arranged in my mathematically balanced layout (as are all the dice, not just the d20s), increasing fairness by spreading the values evenly across the die in order to avoid any areas with concentrations of high or low numbers.
With titanium, the heat of the laser oxidizes the surface to form the mark. This process is slower, and the titanium dice take much longer to mark compared to the aluminum dice. I made a short video that shows the marking process in real time for both metals so you can see the difference.
Thank you all for your support that made these dice a reality and for your patience during the manufacturing process. The first manufacturing batch is nearing completion, and the next step will be packaging all the dice in their elegant cases!
Happy gaming,
David
Hello backers!
Manufacturing is chugging along nicely - and things just got a whole lot more colorful. Anodizing has officially begun for tens of thousands of shiny, precision aluminum dice!
Here is an image of some recently anodized 31mm d20s. Anodizing is an electrochemical process that thickens the natural oxide layer on aluminum. The dice are submerged in an acid bath and electrically charged, forming a durable oxide layer, which is then dyed. The next step in the process will be laser marking the numbers to turn these blanks into finished dice!
Thank you all for making this project happen. Seeing the dice with some color delights my inner dice goblin and I'm eager to get them to your tables where they belong 🙂.
Happy gaming,
David