|
|
Post by wilmanric on Jan 27, 2015 2:48:34 GMT
So, I saw this cool dice tower on Pinterest -- www.geeknews.net/2008/01/02/very-cool-diy-dice-tower/comment-page-1And I have some wood lying around, so I thought I'd give it a try. The plans on that site are no longer available, so I had to reverse engineer it to build it.   So I have some 2x2's.  I did a little playing around. I made a few cuts and I determined that these are the pieces I need. I determined during assembly that I needed 2 of the short triangular pieces in the upper right.  The four pieces at the bottom have two cuts. Both at 45°, but one of the cuts is made with the board rotated 90°. Pictured above is the first cut.  You then rotate the board clockwise toward you. You can see that the first cut is pointing down.  This is a bit arbitrary -- there's probably several ways to space the second cut -- you just need to be consistent. Here I am making a mark where I will start the next cut.  The distance turns out to be the width of the 2x2 back on the underside. I hope that makes sense.  Once I have all the pieces, I start gluing them together. I'm going to wrap the whole thing in cardboard. The wood will give the tower nice weight. The cardboard will contain the dice. I'll decorate the outside of the tower to look like, ahem, a tower when I'm all done (more later)  Here's the *second* small triangular piece I needed. It helps deflect the dice at the top of the tower. Here are four angles of the wooden guts all glued together. I hope you can see how all 9 pieces fit together. More to come!     |
|
|
|
Post by wilmanric on Jan 27, 2015 2:52:16 GMT
I bought some LED light kits. They had nice boxes with thin cardboard. I repurposed them for the "skin" of the tower. Here it is before any painting. I plan to paint it black and then drybrush it to look like "stone." I soaked the top rim and the area where the dice come out with white glue. The cardboard is nice and stiff in those areas. Very happy with that.   The dice tower makes a very pleasant sound when you roll dice through it. It sits in my dice tray very well. Nice weight to the whole thing. |
|
|
|
Post by wilmanric on Jan 27, 2015 2:52:36 GMT
Well, it isn't fancy, but its painted. I just spraypainted it black and then drybrushed it with grey. Maybe I'll hit it with a light drybrush of white. Dunno. The next one (hopefully) will be nice stained wood and plexiglass. I might even use 4x4s to make it extra big and hefty.   |
|
|
|
Post by voodoo on Jan 27, 2015 14:49:43 GMT
can't wait to see it all finished.
|
|
|
|
Post by tauster on Jan 27, 2015 16:18:06 GMT
stunning idea!
|
|
|
|
Post by DnDPaladin on Jan 27, 2015 21:46:59 GMT
same here, can't wait to see the whole product once its finished.
i'm only worried about weight though, will it not be very heavy ?
|
|
|
|
Post by wilmanric on Jan 28, 2015 0:31:34 GMT
same here, can't wait to see the whole product once its finished. i'm only worried about weight though, will it not be very heavy ? Nah. Not heavy at all. Only heavy enough to feel solid and stay put on the table. I'll get an approximate weight once I'm done. |
|
|
|
Post by rane on Jan 28, 2015 1:37:56 GMT
heavy enough to beat cheaters with
|
|
|
|
Post by SpielMeisterKev! on Jan 28, 2015 2:20:49 GMT
Howdy,
Lasers! For...The...WIN!
Kev!
|
|
|
|
Post by Draklith on Jan 28, 2015 5:42:07 GMT
Awesome !!
see through acrylic on the sides? 
I want one  |
|
|
|
Post by sgtslag on Jan 28, 2015 14:25:21 GMT
I made a lower quality unit for myself. I use it all the time... Need to make a better quality unit. They're quite easy to make, really, out of just about anything, including corrugated cardboard. Looking forward to seeing it completed. Cheers!
|
|
|
|
Post by wilmanric on Jan 29, 2015 4:40:36 GMT
Awesome !!
see through acrylic on the sides?
I want one I have some plastic and I will probably make one using the plastic -- once I buy some nicer wood. This one is just gonna be cardboard... |
|
|
|
Post by adrianmcknight on Jan 29, 2015 13:56:47 GMT
I like it.
My dice have a bad habit of flying off the table and hiding under things. Usually they like to hide under the dirtiest thing in the room, cuddled up with all the dust and fuzzies.
May have to make me one of these.
|
|
|
|
Post by Sam on Mar 8, 2015 13:28:20 GMT
Nice implementation of a good find. I like the spiral roll through the tower. The other towers I've seen only have planes in two directions. You might want to add some crenelations to the top. Just an idea. I looks good as is, though.
|
|
milojaggerson
Paint Manipulator
Laying tile on the floors...
Posts: 161 
|
Post by milojaggerson on Mar 9, 2015 15:26:59 GMT
I really like this design. It is a little more complicated than the three-tiered, slanted shelf design, but the angled blocks hang in this one before skinning with a cardboard coating look like they are floating. I wonder if plastic sheeting would convey the feeling of floating decks... O! This is just too cool! Thank you for the post!
|
|
|
|
Post by wilmanric on Mar 9, 2015 15:43:39 GMT
I really like this design. It is a little more complicated than the three-tiered, slanted shelf design, but the angled blocks hang in this one before skinning with a cardboard coating look like they are floating. I wonder if plastic sheeting would convey the feeling of floating decks... O! This is just too cool! Thank you for the post! The original design IS made from wood and clear plastic. When I get nicer pieces of wood, that'll be the way I go. |
|
|
|
Post by skunkape on Mar 12, 2015 16:53:00 GMT
Nice build!
|
|
|
|
Post by wilmanric on Mar 22, 2015 19:36:25 GMT
Well, it isn't fancy, but its painted. I just spraypainted it black and then drybrushed it with grey. Maybe I'll hit it with a light drybrush of white. Dunno. The next one (hopefully) will be nice stained wood and plexiglass. I might even use 4x4s to make it extra big and hefty. |
|
|
|
Post by jayakace on Mar 22, 2015 22:43:47 GMT
Looks great! Sounds amazing.
|
|
|
|
Post by Alexis on Mar 23, 2015 4:55:53 GMT
Wow that is one really amazing dice tower. I really need to make one myself eventually just for the sake of making one. I don't really need one ;-)
|
|
Cheers!