Things every dice maker needs/wants to begin the craft.
The handmade dice market has exploded in the past few years. The rise of Dungeons and Dragon's popularity from spotlights in popular shows like Stranger Things and Critical Role has really made the demand for unique and custom polyhedral dice sets boom. Now there are hundreds of Youtube videos and guides walking you through the process, techniques and different aspects of the craft of Dice Making.
I have found, however, that no one really just plainly lays out everything you need to get started.
As I lovingly refer to him as "The Grandpappy of Dicemaking" Mr. Rybonator (when I saw his first video about it in early 2020) made it look so easy. Just need some resin, some silicone, a pressure pot, a few dixie cups and maybe some "liquid pretty" (Brea Reese Liquid Glitter) and you would be good to go! Unfortunately, I pretty quickly learned this is not exactly accurate.
So in this article, I want to go over the basics, the "quality of life" additions, and the more luxury items you will need/want to start in the dice-making hobby. My hope is that this article will give you a more realistic view of how much this hobby could potentially cost you to start.
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The Essentials
Dice $15-$600
Yep, you have to have dice to make dice. Crazy I know.
If you are just looking to make some cool-looking Chessex wannabes for your friends at the gaming table, you only need to have a Chessex set to mold. But if you plan to make them and sell them to others you are going to want to get what are called "Masters". These are usually 3D-printed dice that have your custom size, font, icon, and design. This way they are not copyrighted and you can freely sell them without Chessex hunting you down to sue you for using their design.
Dice Masters... Are NOT cheap. Some master sellers will let you get away with under $100 for a basic "choose from these few options" kind of thing and you will need to sand and polish them yourself. Or if you are willing to pay upwards of $250 they will make you a fully customized, sanded, and polished set ready to mold. Some master sellers even offer a molding service to go along with the masters they sell, charging closer to $500 for a fully customized, sanded, polished, and molded set completely ready for you to pour your first dice.
Silicone $0-$200
This step could be avoided (at least at first) by purchasing a premade mold of your masters or even by just purchasing a premade generic mold. On Amazon, you can find cheap (non-copyright) generic silicone molds but they have a bad rep of being horrible to use with... questionable results. Some Masters sellers will also provide the option of purchasing JUST the premade mold either customized or not, without the Masters. This could be a cheaper option upfront but could result in you needing to repurchase the molds over and over if you are not willing to pour your own.
Most dice makers give in and accept that the best way to get what they want (and the cheapest option in the long run) is to create and pour their own molds. For this, you will need silicone. Silicones have a wide range of hardness (called shore hardness), viscosity, flexibility, and strength.
You can purchase them in sample size ~$30-$60, or a gallon size kit that, depending on what brand you choose, can run you ~$100-$300. As it is with resin, it can be very overwhelming to try to figure out what works best for your project. When first starting out, you probably want to go with what will be the easiest to de-gas. I'll get to that in a moment.
If you do opt to get a custom set of Masters, you will need to also consider what silicone you want to pour the mold with. Most 3D-printed Masters are printed with a photosensitive resin that off-gasses sulfur. Sulfur is known to cause what is called "Cure Inhibition" in Platinum Cure Silicone. Meaning your silicone will not cure properly and stay gooey forever. For that, you will need some other chemicals (Inhibit X) to coat your Masters or to use Tin Cure Silicone to mold your set. Some Master makers, like myself, use resin that when properly cleaned does not cause Cure Inhibition so make sure to ask when you order.
Mold Housing $0-$30
In order to make your own molds, you will need somewhere to stage your dice and pour silicone over them that will contain the silicone so it doesn't just end up running all over your desk, table, chair, floor, and self. Believe me, uncured silicone is NASTY STUFF and is hard to clean up. It is not a pleasant experience (but probably one every new dicemaker will have at one point or another) to have your mold leak all over the place.
People have been using a variety of things as a mold housing including: Legos, acrylic sheeting, plastic or glass containers, cookie cutters, plastic bottles, metal sheeting, custom 3d-printed mold housings, premade plastic mold housings off Amazon, PVC pipe, tape, hose connectors, clay... really as long as it is a space that can be secured that fits your dice, it can be used.
Some of these methods obviously work better than others. It is very possible that you have something laying around your house that will work. You just want to make sure that it is big enough to fit your dice with enough wiggle room that you can put some registration keys (I'll also get to that in a moment) and have at least 1/4 inch walls around your model. You want to make sure that your mold walls are thick enough to withstand your stretching and pushing on them when it is time to de-mold your dice.
You will also need packing tape or contact paper and some way to secure the mold housing to the tape. Most people use a glue gun but I prefer to use Monster Clay as it does not cause cure inhibition like hot glue does.
Resin $20-$250
Yes, RESIN! We can't forget the one thing we are all here to pour. The thing the dice are actually made from!
Like silicones, there are LOTS of options for what resin will be best for your project. They come in all different hardness, yellowing resistance, viscosities, pour depths, cure types, and more. There are several Youtube videos out there explaining the differences between the resins and which ones are best for which project. The price can vary wildly, but you can get a small amount (16 oz) for around $20 and a large amount (1-2 gallons) for as much as $250.
If you're just starting out, I recommend a low-viscosity epoxy art resin that will self-level and de-gas. A lot of people swear by Let's Resin brand Resin as it is pretty inexpensive, yellow-resistant, tough and works pretty well on dice. It also has low VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) and if warmed up before use has a low viscosity to allow most of the bubbles to escape before it cures.
If you plan to work with much larger than normal dice sizes, you may want to consider something that has a deeper maximum pour depth.
Proper Safety Equipment $50 - $150
With great creativity comes great responsibility to protect yourself and others when working with chemicals. Even though that Let's Resin resin states that it is safe, has low odor, and no VOCs, uncured epoxy resin, in really any form, is toxic. Better safe than sorry. Make sure you have a good fitting mask with filters that are rated for VOCs, lots of gloves to protect your hands and if you plan to be using any crazy mixing methods (like a hand mixer or drill bit mixer, see more down below) you'll want to make sure you also have eye protection.
Reusable masks can be found for around $30 and you will need to regularly replace the filters which can go for $15-$30. Gloves can be found in packs of 100 for ~$20. Overall this is not a place to skimp on. Go for the more protective gear.
Working with chemicals is dangerous and can have many undesirable effects. Be smart and be safe when working on your dice, so that you can make many more into the future. :)
I love the mask I use, it is very comfortable and easy to breathe. You can find it here and the replacement filters for it here.
Measuring/Stirring/Pouring Implements $10-$50
Again, each dicemaker has their own preference of what to use. Most prefer to use reusable items to disposable ones as it is much more waste-conscious. Choose whatever works for you. There are plastic "medicine cups" that have small measurement amounts that can be great for doing small pours or large containers used for measuring and pouring paint that have large measurements.
There are Dixie cups, SOLO cups, silicone cups, popsicle sticks, silicone stir sticks, silicone pour cups, pipettes, syringes, and many other implements used for measuring, stirring, and pouring your resin. Different things are used for different projects depending on that project's needs. Unless you know exactly what kind of dice you want to make and the method to achieve that style to start, I would suggest getting a resin starter kit to help give you an assortment of different options to figure out what works for you and what you prefer to use.
Just remember, if you want to be able to re-use your mixing supplies, liquid uncured silicone should not be mixed in a silicone cup or with a silicone stir stick and resin should not be mixed in a plastic cup (unless you plan to throw it away). Silicone will stick to silicone and resin will stick to plastic.
These supplies do not have to be very costly. Especially if you use reusable ones, it will be a one-time purchase, and as long as you take care of them, they should last you a good long while.
I have been using the same set of silicone cups and stir sticks for a few years now and they are still just as good as if I purchased them brand new.
Colors/Inclusions and Additives $0-$infinite
This is where every dice maker can go a little crazy with the urge to want to just get EVERYTHING they see. There are so many different techniques for making styles of dice that if you want to do them all you will be purchasing A LOT of supplies. Mica, alcohol inks, coloring pastes, glitter, cellophane, figurines, foil, liquid-filled glass balls, metal cogs or wheels or keys, glass eyes... the list goes on and on. You can literally put ANYTHING into your dice. The possibilities are endless and the more creative you get the more your dice will stand out in the crowd of other dice makers out there. This really, in the long run, ends up being the most expensive part of this hobby.
Some of my personal favorites: Rainbow Cellophane or Shaved Ice
"Liquid Pretty" Brea Reese Liquid Glitter
Sandpaper, Clippers, Polishing Paper and Compound $10-$40
Even the most skilled mold makers cannot make a mold that will produce flawless dice. If you get your master set pre-sanded or not, you will still need to touch up the dice that you pull from your mold. Craft clippers are great for cleanly clipping off flashing, sandpaper helps with those stubborn raised faces and polishing paper will help to give your beauties that glass-like shine they deserve. Just more supplies you have to consider when shopping for the dice-making hobby.
Clippers are cheap and either come in a pack that has other useful tools for around $10 or alone for a few dollars. Zona papers are expensive but most dice makers swear by them. A pack of 6, 8.5"x11" sheets go for around $12. The polishing compound comes in 10oz containers for about $8.
Paints $1-$50
After you get your new shiny dice polished up and looking beautiful comes the step that everyone always asks for advice on. What color to paint the numbers? A final touch on your masterpiece. Something that will really drive it home and represent all the hard work and time you put into this. NOW they are dice. Ready to roll, ready to adventure and ready to be adored.
Paints do not need to be expensive. You can pick up a couple cheap bottles of acrylic paint at the .99 store. If you want to do the more fancy color changing, glittery or metallic ones it might be a bit more but most of the time the most important thing is that it will contrast or compliment the colors already present in your dice. Sometimes, less is more.
A Lighter/Heat Gun $1-$60
When you mix resin, it gets bubbles. There is just no way around this. No matter how slowly and carefully you mix it. Some resins have a lower viscosity (especially if you warm them up before mixing) that will allow them to de-gas mostly before curing. However, it is likely that you will still end up with some bubbles that raise to the top after pouring and the easiest and fastest way to take care of them is with a heat gun or lighter.
I would advise against using a torch-style lighter as I have seen some people do. It works yes, but it is just so hot it is far too easy to accidentally heat your resin too much and it adheres to the side of your mold. This can damage not only the dice you are making but also your mold which is never fun.
You can use anything from a simple cheap cigarette lighter or go fancy and get a craft or wiring heat gun. My favorite is a wand lighter. Not going to burn my fingers trying to pop the bubbles, not going to melt the resin to the mold, and not going to blow away my carefully poured resin with the air from the heat gun. I use the bendy one in this set most of the time, the bending neck of it makes it easy to get into small spaces.
Containers And Brushes $0-$20
Often while you are sanding and polishing you will find that gunk gets stuck in your numbers and needs to be removed. You can, if you have the means or already have one available, use something like an Ultrasonic Cleaner to help break some of that up. However, you can also just get some warm water and a soft toothbrush and put some elbow grease into it. Letting your dice soak in warm water for about 30 min before going at it with the brush will help soften any of that gunk so it comes out much easier. This of course means you will want to have a container to put the warm water in that you can designate as your resin container. You probably don't want to use your partner's toothbrush (unless they are done with it).
So this is the basic list of no-compromise items needed for this craft. A mold to pour in, the resin to pour, things to mix the resin in and things to mix INTO the resin. With these items alone you can "make dice". Will they be the amazing beautiful Artisan Dice you see popping up in your Instagram feed? Well no. For that, you need a few more things.
Nice to Have
THE MACHINES
The Pressure Pot $90-$350
One of the staples of professional Artisan Dice makers. A pressure pot gives you that crystal clear, bubble-free look so you can see all those beautiful inclusions inside. Without the pressure pot, no matter how low viscosity or "self-degassing" your resin is, no matter how much you heat it, or how vigilant you are to pop all those bubbles as they rise, you will still end up with bubbles.
Even if they are small, they do not give that clean and beautiful appearance and can also change the weight of your dice. If you have bubbles it is likely that your dice will be very minutely off balance. Will they be rigged so you always roll that nat 20... no probably not. The difference is negligible... but it is still a difference and doesn't look good. So having a pressure pot is one of the very first "large" purchases every dice maker will want to make.
Many people opt for the "Harbor Freight Special" which is an inexpensive 2.5gal paint sprayer pot that can be (with a minimal amount of cost) modified to work for resin casting. It runs normally $99 but frequently goes on sale for $79. However, keep in mind it is not without its issues. It has often been reported to have leaks in the welding in the lid, can be a pain to get the manufacturer's parts unscrewed to modify it, the wing nuts to close it are cheaply made and eventually get stripped and just don't work, and the seal is often problematic. But overall it is a great starter pot till you start making enough from selling your dice to upgrade. ;)
If you have the funds starting out, I would highly recommend skipping the starter pot with all it's headaches and go straight for a California Air Tools pot. It is a world of difference better than the Harbor Freight Special and really not much more expensive.
More expensive pots can be found already pre-modified to do resin casting with all the bells and whistles. They can range from $250-$400 and are well worth the investment if you plan to make dice as a living.
The Air Compressor $70-$200
The pressure pot is a useless heavy hunk of metal if not for this. You need some kind of method to compress air into the pressure pot for it to... well... pressurize the contents. Some people say they use a bicycle pump to "get their exercise" to fill it. Not only is this impractical, but it would also take FOREVER.
Finding a cheap air compressor is not too difficult. It just has to be able to hold at least double what you plan to put into the pressure pot. For example, if you plan to cast at 40psi, it should be rated to hold at least 80psi. A cheapy from Walmart has done me well at $70, but as with anything you can choose to spend much more for a faster, more heavy-duty, longer lasting, larger capacity model. Or a super quiet model best for apartment living.
You can easily get away with making beautiful crystal clear dice with just these two machines. As long as you are patient, careful, and methodical and use silicone and resin that is low viscosity and self-degasses you are golden. If you want to use some higher viscosity (thus longer lasting) silicones you'll want to take it a step further.
The Vacuum Chamber and Pump $100-$400
This item is really useful for both the degassing of silicone for mold making and also to help in degassing your resin after you mix in all those beautiful holographic sparkles.
They can be bought with or without their vacuum pump counterpart but it seems to be cheaper to get both together. They range anywhere from $100 for a small pot and pump, to $300 for a larger pot and pump.
The more clear your resin is going into the mold the better it will come out. It will decrease voids, bubbles, and other irregularities in your dice. But it is not absolutely necessary unless you want to use higher shore rating silicones.
As can be seen in this graph, the higher the shore rating, the harder the silicone rubber cures. Harder molds will last longer and be more resilient than softer silicone molds, however, there is a tradeoff. The harder the mold, the less flexible it is and the harder it is to get your shiny new dice out of. Harder and more viscous silicone does not pick up fine detail as easily. Plus, the harder it is, the thicker the viscosity of the liquid state, and the less the bubbles will come to the surface and pop on their own. If you try to put a higher viscosity (higher shore rating) silicone into a pressure pot the pot will squish all those little bubbles down but it is likely they will pop back out after releasing the pressure, which can make strange little skin tags or warts on the dice you pull from those molds.
The best way to use higher shore rating (thus longer lasting) silicone is to have a vacuum chamber to help de-gas all those pesky little bubbles you made by trying to make sure it was well stirred.
Having a vacuum chamber just really makes everything easier too. It allows you to be a lot less careful when you are mixing your resin or silicone and you can even get a power mixer to help save your hand and wrist, especially for those larger projects.
And that brings us to...
A Hand Mixer $5-$50
You can get a pretty inexpensive little "resin mixer" on Amazon. I have seen mixed reviews on those but you can also just get a paint mixer attachment for your power drill. This might not be as "dainty" as a little hand mixer but it'll get the job done. Mixing the resin or silicone with this method will, however, create a lot of bubbles so it is best to have a vacuum chamber when using a power mixer. Gotta get some of those pesky little bubbles out of there before putting it into your pressure pot or you'll deal with voids (and no one likes those). They seem to run $5-$15 for a drill attachment or $15-$50 for a hand mixer.
Now let's talk about some things that are not completely absolutely necessary... but are good/useful "quality of life" products that can really help your dice-making experience.
Quality of Life Additions
Silicone Mats $5-$80
ALL OF THEM! Seriously I love these things. I can never have too many. Cover all your work surfaces with these and you will thank me later. It is SO easy to clean up that drip of resin that got away from you. Allows you to just lay down your stir stick ANYWHERE you want and you can even use it as a pallet to brush UV resin onto a project or mix a bit of resin for that certain look.
It is easy to clean, easy to work on, and will save your table/desk. The best part about it is that if you get any resin on it just leave it be. In a few hours, it will start to harden, in 12 hours you can just peel it up off the silicone and throw it away. Silicone Mats are a staple of my workspace and process.
I would never want to do this (or really any) craft without them.
Once you get one you will see how useful they are and want more. I would advise against the 3 packs of really thin flimsy ones from Amazon. They are really just too delicate and will rip nearly instantly if you are not careful. Go for the thicker ones that are made for crafting. It will be a much better use of your money. These are my favorites. And if you are looking to cover a bigger area, this one is also great.
UV Resin and UV Flashlight $20-$80
There are some methods of dice making that require you to be able to quickly cure something in place (like liquid filled). You may need to fill a void or put two things together with a reliable solid substance that won't throw off the weight of your finished dice.
UV resin is so versatile and useful that I think it should be in every crafter's/handyman's toolbelt even if they do not make dice. Things can be completely made from UV resin if you want (although it is more expensive than epoxy by far). But it is really just like an all around amazing adhesive. It is like the most permanent and solid hard glue you could use.
Want to fix your phone case that cracked? Stick some UV resin on it. Want to fix the handle that fell off your favorite hairbrush? Stick some UV resin on it. Want to fix the arm of your favorite pair of sunglasses that you accidentally sat on at that party? Stick some UV resin on it. There are a thousand uses for this versatile substance that dries and hardens quickly with just a flashlight. There is really no reason NOT to have it in your dice-making supplies.
UV resin can be pretty costly. Running $20 for only 200g. But it is so worth it for the many uses it has. I recommend getting a good powerful flashlight with it. The more powerful the flashlight the faster the cure. And when working with tiny little things that need to be stuck in place quickly, it is very useful.
Spoons, Sticks, And Tweezers Oh My! $10-$40
There are a ton of "kits" of "dice making supplies" on Amazon. Some of the most common ones include things like tweezers, spoons, and other strangely shaped metal implements.
You can be cheap and get a little $10 set that has an assortment of things you will likely use. Or go crazy with it and get a full clay molding set for all those extra curvy things.
All of these are very useful for measuring/manipulating and adjusting inclusions and additives. The spoons are great for measuring a small amount of glitter or mica powder, metal rods can be used to poke those annoying bubbles or pull something up out of the resin. Tweezers are great for precisely putting that piece of cellophane in just the right spot or to assist in navigating around in a small space like a mold or in your mold housing.
I use most of this set every time I pour.
Which brings me to....
Registration Keys/Exacto Knife $5-$30
When you are making molds, most people choose to make cap molds as they are easier and cleaner and require less of that sanding and polishing to make your dice beautiful. When making cap molds you are pouring a bottom (where the dice are) and a cap (to completely enclose the space to pour the resin).
This cap is going to need some way to differentiate its orientation. You do not want to end up putting your 1 face onto your mold upside down. This is where you want to have something to use as a "Registration Key". There are many different things out there I have seen people use. From glass beads to stick-on jewels, to clay pieces molded into different shapes, even washers or bolts, or caps. It really does not matter what it is as long as you place some things around the base of the mold housing to make an interlocking lid that will always be put on set in the correct place. You probably have something laying around your house right now that will do fine.
My favorite is these little "brass compression sleeves". They are the perfect shape to make a sort of "locking" lid and are easy to use. Fill them with resin or a little bit of that Monster Clay and they are perfect for holding your lid in place.
This is also frequently done by using a sharp Craft Knife or Exacto to cut away sections of the rim of the bottom of the mold. These spaces will then be filled in with the silicone from the top of the mold making an outcropping in the lid that will lock into the spaces cut in the base. A Craft Knife or Exacto Knife almost made it into the NEEDED list, however, you could use your steak knife from the kitchen or the clippers or your pocket knife. It is not ABSOLUTELY necessary but it is pretty close. You will use this for many other things in your craft too. Craft Knives or Exacto Knives are cheap running $5-$10 on Amazon and can "cut" your work and frustration in half. :)
An Ultrasonic Cleaner $20-$300
Another definitely not needed one. You can scrub your little heart out with a toothbrush in some warm water. But I cannot tell you how very nice it is to just drop your piece in the ultrasonic cleaner and keep working on other things. It is loud and annoying but gets the job done while you work on other stuff. It is a real time (and arm) saver for sure.
You can find a cheap small one on Amazon for as low as $30 that might fit up to a 7-piece set of dice. Or you can go for the industrial ones that hold gallons and have a heater. A small one should do just fine for normal-sized dice.
A Pottery Wheel $80-$300
This one can be really great if you plan to do much larger projects or you have a chronic inflammation or pain issue with your hands and/or wrist or arm. It is by no means necessary but as all dice makers eventually figure out, sanding and polishing is a very labor-intensive part of this craft. It can save you time, and pain and make your job MUCH easier if you have a little manual assistance in getting those dice to shine as they deserve.
Larger wheels of course cost more but already are set up to handle drippage and have a basin to protect against spraying your walls and floor with dirty water and resin goop. There are miniature wheels available that will cost a little less and still do a good job but you will need to rig a shield to stop your house from looking like a Dalmatian.
You will also need to put something solid and flat on the surface of your wheel. The wheel is made for pottery so it has a textured platform to keep the clay on. This texture is not ideal for dice so you'll also need to put a slab of marble, glass, or acrylic on it to make a suitable surface for polishing.
I use a mirror on my full size wheel and it works great.
The Vibratory Tumbler $90-$120
This almost didn't make it on my list. Mainly because I am very obsessive about the mirror shine on my dice. However, it was requested that I add it and I now have one so I can see the benefits of having it.
This nifty little contraption can save you hours of work and arm pain. A lot like the pottery wheel it will assist in the polishing of your polyhedral treasures. But instead of giving a little manual assistance to help you do it by hand, it will allow you to take a more hands off approach to the polishing so you can pour more and polish less! This small tumbler requires you also purchase media to go along with it. Most people use 3mm ceramic non-abbrasive balls and a polishing compound. Where this is definitely not required for your dicemaking adventures it can really be an arm-saver if you like making a lot of dice.
Of course, this list is not by any means exhaustive of the plethora of things you could use to put in or on your dice. People have put (and will put) all kinds of strange things in their dice like glass liquid-filled balls, bones, teeth, cat hair, a loved ones ashes, pills, insects, plants and flowers, paper, string, cotton, food (like the spaghetti-o dice *barf*), coffee beans, fabric, stickers... really the possibilities are endless. You will start looking around in your house wondering "Can I put that in dice?". Let your imagination go wild and have fun with it. Make some beautiful things and share them with your loved ones. Welcome to the world of Dicemaking.
If you have enjoyed this article or gotten some value from it I would love it if you would hit the like and share it with a friend. Please also comment if I missed anything or if you want to share something very strange you have put into your dice. I enjoy reading your comments.