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Post by indigo777 on Nov 23, 2014 5:11:43 GMT
Finally got tired of chasing my dice when they rolled off the table so decided to get a Dice Tray. After pricing them online and not finding any 12" trays under $20 bucks shipped I decided to stop by Hobby Lobby during today's grocery shopping trip and see if it was cheaper to make one myself. I found a sturdy wooden rounded edge square tray in the wood crafts section of Hobby Lobby for $7.99 which came to $4.80 using the weekly 40% off one item coupon. I then went to the felt section and picked up a 79 cent sheet of blue felt (wanted green but Christmas crafting has wiped out green and red felt in town.) With tax it came to $5.98 for all the materials. The Tray: The sides measure a little over 11.5 inches ( 30cm), measured diagonally its about 15 inches (38cm). When I got home I used a fine grain sandpaper on the tray to remove any rough surfaces on the tray. I cut the felt to the size of the tray interior. After testing out the tray with just the felt in it I decided to add some leftover foam core poster board to the interior of the tray under the felt. I cut the foam core poster board so it was a tight fit into the tray so friction holds it in. I cut a very small gap in one corner of the board so the poster board could be removed from the box as needed. With everything cut to size I used white glue to glue the felt to the foam core poster board and then placed it all into the tray. I didn't glue the poster board to the tray so that the poster board and felt can be removed if either ever needs to be replaced. For 6 bucks I am extremely happy with the results.
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Post by sgtslag on Nov 23, 2014 6:15:53 GMT
Very creative, very resourceful, and quite impressive. Thanks for sharing! Cheers!
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Post by adamantinedragon on Nov 23, 2014 7:02:46 GMT
Very good looking results. I might even get some stain for that wood if it were me, but it looks very nice just natural wood too.
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Post by dragon722 on Nov 23, 2014 10:03:05 GMT
I picked up one too back in may and never got around to fixing it up...Like how yours came out
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Post by ReliantLion on Nov 23, 2014 17:37:19 GMT
It looks way better than the 20 dollar ones that are octagonal, IMO. An octagon is such an awkward shape anyways. I like that the surface material is made replaceable, and I think you'll like blue better anyways because it's out of norm (green).
I put a little foam in the bottom of my custom dice tower. I think it cuts down on the noise (it was very clanky sounding). Is that why you chose to add foam?
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Post by indigo777 on Nov 23, 2014 20:33:22 GMT
I put a little foam in the bottom of my custom dice tower. I think it cuts down on the noise (it was very clanky sounding). Is that why you chose to add foam? Noise reduction was one reason. The bottom of the trays is a little thin so I wanted to protect the wood bottom, along with dice, from impacts over time a little more than felt alone would provide. It also allowed me an easy way to swap out the surface if needed.
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Post by DnDPaladin on Nov 23, 2014 22:46:36 GMT
i have to make one, but im not sure if i wanna go dice tower or dice tray... but great work, it really helps me find my sweet spot for when i'll do it too.
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Post by adamantinedragon on Nov 24, 2014 18:58:10 GMT
I made my dice tower out of Hirst blocks. It's big and sort of heavy, but it's rock solid and has survived a couple years of transportation and play without any chips or breaks so far. I have been thinking about making another one, I made the dice tray portion of mine a bit too small for rolling a lot of dice. One of my game group has a simple dice tower made out of a Pringles can. Dice towers made of Hirst blocks is one of the things I'm thinking of making to dip my toe into the world of making stuff for gamers and selling it on eBay or Etsy.
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Post by adamantinedragon on Nov 26, 2014 7:34:35 GMT
So, I was at Hobby Lobby today and saw one of these for $5.99 I think. I used some coupon to get a discount. I sanded it, used some shoe polish to "stain" it and then some mink oil to give it a finish. I glued in some felt, but didn't get it sized exactly right. Still, I think it came out OK. Thanks for the suggestion indigo777.
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Post by sgtslag on Nov 26, 2014 14:48:08 GMT
Nice. Very professional looking, too. Love the shoe polish stain and the mink oil finish (makes it water repellent, too!). Cheers!
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Post by adamantinedragon on Nov 26, 2014 18:11:00 GMT
I'm trying to decide whether to leave it just as it is, or to put a varnish or lacquer over it....
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Post by voodoo on Nov 28, 2014 2:25:51 GMT
i have to make one, but im not sure if i wanna go dice tower or dice tray... but great work, it really helps me find my sweet spot for when i'll do it too. D&DPally ; make both
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Post by voodoo on Nov 28, 2014 2:28:37 GMT
Great dice trays (and towers) in this thread. My dice tower looks like a disco dice tower. Haha.
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Post by adamantinedragon on Nov 28, 2014 19:36:53 GMT
One final shot of a slightly enhanced dice tray. The last photo I had only put felt on the bottom. It was still too loud for my taste, so I put some foam under the felt (well, actually I had to glue foam on the existing felt, then glue new felt on the foam, there was no way that felt was coming off the tray). I also put felt around the edges. I now wish I had put foam there too. It works much better now even without the foam on the sides. Very pleasant sounding. Feels sort of Vegasy...
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Post by ReliantLion on Nov 28, 2014 21:51:30 GMT
It looks good. I like that you did the edges. This is a project that you could probably sell 10 or so to a FLGS for a small profit yourself, and they could sell them cheaper than typical ones for a profit still. What was the total cost? 8 bucks or so?
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Post by adamantinedragon on Nov 28, 2014 22:42:47 GMT
ReliantLion, it's hard to know what the full cost was, but it was pretty cheap. If I were to try to do these for sale I'd try to locate a bulk rate on the trays from Hobby Lobby's supplier. Still, I think the retail price on the tray is $7.99, but I got it cheaper with a coupon, so figure $6 for the tray. The foam and felt are about $1.70, and there's probably fifty cents worth of glue, shoe polish and finishing stuff. So figure $8.25 or so for the tray. If they could sell for $16.50 on eBay or Etsy, that might be worthwhile. Still, I've got a different idea that I might try, that should create a product for about the same cost that I might be able to sell for twice as much. Plus, I am thinking about how I could integrate a tray like this with a dice tower.... Sigh... always scheming, never profiting....
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Post by adamantinedragon on Dec 21, 2014 6:04:54 GMT
Just in case anyone is interested, I gave the first dice tray to the GM of one of my active games. I had already purchased the materials and had planned to make a second one, and I don't need two... Anyway, I actually sort of like the color of the first one better, but that's the point of trying out alternatives. I don't think this one looks "bad" I just think it looks a little more... clinical maybe. Clean and cold compared to warm like the first one. Still, I think it came out OK. And it works as well or better.
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Post by DnDPaladin on Dec 21, 2014 9:58:47 GMT
put some logo in the middle by spray painting or something and im quite sure it will be more then perfect.
i've been searching for that perfect wood container to create myself one... im a t apoint where i'll buy the wood and build it myself.
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Post by adamantinedragon on Dec 21, 2014 14:58:11 GMT
I'm pretty handy with tools, but I dunno how well I could pull off those rounded corners...
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Post by halloweenville on Dec 21, 2014 22:56:37 GMT
Very Cool!
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