I’m in the process of making a bit larger laser cutting project, and I had to do some testing about cutting tolerances for it. Instead of just wasting materials, I designed a die for the kids. It is to be used during those “I’m bored…” -moments.
The die has some better and some worse options. Before it is rolled, everyone has to agree to respect the result, me and my wife included!
The possible outcomes are:
Clean Room
Clean Table
Read Book
Board Game
Screen Time
Pizza & Movie
As a project this was very quick. The design and work was all done in a single lazy Sunday.
It ended up looking very nice considering how quickly it was made.I started by making a 3D model of the dice, and casting the text and shapes into sketches. The sketches were exported to .svg files, which in turn were used for the laser cutter.Into the laser cutter it goes. I made this with zero clearance for the parts. It ended up being 0.5mm too short on parts that are related to the thickness of the plywood, and 0.2mm between cut parts. The larger difference is because of the combination of “5mm minimum thickness” of the plywood, and the additional loss on the cut.Each piece took approximately 6 minutes to cut and engrave.After cutting, the pieces were glued together with wood glue. Here you also can see the “too short” dovetail joints.Done, but with very sharp corners. Much smoother after a quick touch with the die grinder with 120 grit sandpaper.After finishing the sanding with 240 grit sandpaper, I oiled the die with teak oil.As the die ended up looking better than expected, I decided to model a simple stand for it.I chose marble filament for the print.Perfect fit.This is the perfect toy to teach your kids about gambling!
