I own that exact polisher for fired brass. Just wanted to give a couple of quick small tips on using it. Whenever you’re adding compound to the polishing media, do it with the machine running and drizzle it as a stream. This will allow it to coat the media without having a big glob on top. Also, let it run when you are fishing the dice out. The vibration loosens up the media and lets your hand find the dice a lot easier than when it’s static. And final tip, try some different media in the machine. I haven’t tried the cubes, but I’ve had really good success with walnut shell media and Flitz liquid polish for cleaning and polishing. Flitz works on many types of materials, including plastics and resins.
The specific problem that has been run into with most media is that it's too small and gets jammed in the numbers and from personal experience it can be almost impossible to get completely out. That's a lot less likely with the hardwood cunks. Definitely second your other suggestions - Although I've had to hand-mix the polishing media when I add HUGE amounts like what's needed to start it off, the top-off ones are pretty easy. And fishing things out while it's going is like magic, it's like reaching into a solid object.
@@Rybonator I've had good luck with both the crushed walnut and corncob medias. Corncob will be a little softer but puts a really bright shine on brass. And with the walnut and corncob, the easiest way to get things back out of the media is a thrift-shop strainer and a bucket. Put strainer over bucket, pour polisher out into strainer, shake lightly.
Also to answer a couple of the questions that came up in the video. You absolutely can use either corn cob or walnut shell media and they both *work* but are much much much slower at polishing than the hardwood cubes, and like to get wedged in and stuck in the numbers, making cleanup a lot more painful. Some of the grittier media’s that are made for brass or rocks would be too “tough” for resin and remove a lot of material from the dice. Additionally your transparent/translucent dice will still fully polish most likely with just a bit more time in the tumbler, sometimes if I have one die with some extra micro scratches or foggyness then I’ll toss them in for the next round and they’ve always ended up crystal clear. Again, I’m just so honored that my little doc has made it all the way here, it was certainly an exciting surprise to wake up to this morning!
Would you consider making a video of your results and the process? I was looking at your vibratory tumbler sheet yesterday and id love to see your process in action
You absolutely rock for making this diceworks! I'll have to add it in for longer to see if I can get some better results :) If that DOES work, oh man, you changed the game!
I've always wanted to get into dice making, but it seems to be a really expensive hobby, with equipment/safety/resin/silicone and all that jazz. Thanks for the amazing videos which are the next best thing :)
@@Rybonator as a hobby woodworker who is getting into dice casting after watching your videos, yeah they're both a little pricey in up front investments. Check your area for local maker spaces if you are lucky enough to have access to one?
Rybonator got me into it last summer and after this summer I should have met my goal of breaking even. It's a blast and people love them, but it definitely is expensive if you just want to do it for personal use.
It’s always interesting seeing you trying out new things. Crazy stunts and pretty dice are always awesome but your more informative video are equally great.
I had fantastic results from letting it run for... thirty plus hours the first time, seeing quite a bit of improvement over my 24-hour check point. I've not had the chance to really go test things a lot, but I've also heard that results improve with use (As you add more polish, etc). But I do have that exact tumbler, media, and polish. My usual method has been to sand to 1000 grit on all sides and then into the tumbler they go.
I use large devices like this at my machine shop job and I was always curious if they could be used for dice polishing. Glad someone finally tried it out!
Very informative! It’s great to see all the different ways to sand. I doubt I’ll ever be able to get into dice making but it’s good to send to friends who are interested!!! Not to mention it’s entertaining to watch~
I’m using this method, same tumbler, polish, and media. I find that the media polishes much better if you let the media soak up and dry out completely before tumbling. I go from matte molds to glossy no problem with this method.
Oh, people have been talking about things like this in the Dice Making Discords i'm in! I was curious as to how it worked, if it was any good. This video came at the perfect time. I do like a nice hands off way to accomplish the more irritating steps of dice making.
Could that be rigged up to vibrate resin in the mold to help get rid of bubbles (for those who don't have a pressure pot or vacuum chamber)? When I worked at a missile factory, we had a large one of those with small pumice stones in it to finish the missile fins. It was really cool to see how it worked.
I tried vibrating bubbles out with a jewelry cleaner and 1 thing I found was that stuff in side tended to settle. So I had glitter in one and all the glitter ended up in the bottom of the die after vibration.
I have two of those tumblers, one I bought for my father, and then inherited back, and the other I bought as art of a larger set from the widow in a co-worker. I love how vague you were on their original function, other than to say "case tumbler" LOL
I've been looking into doing something like this myself for a while. I haven't experimented with it yet but I plan to try rock polishing compound with a ceramic tumbling medium. It's designed for rock polishing but given that you can get .3 micron polishing compound it might give the glass like finish youre looking for
@@Rybonator I'll join the discord and let you know once I try it out and experiment with different polishing materials and timings. Im in the process of moving so it will be a while before I can actually try it
Wow, really well done video. Planned on just listening to this while doing other things, but got sucked into watching it. That only happens with really good videos I find. Instant subscribe earned!
Texas dicemaker here! I use my tumbler religiously, and I have to say, keeping that condensation most definitely affected your pulls. I had the same issue with cloudiness on my first run, super disheartening. However, I ran without the lid and found that they cleared right on up, my translucent dice are like crystals! I now have a screen cover. This is a little unlike your other videos, you usually run through more tests and experiments, especially when trying something new. Hope everything is okay!
On dice making discoveries on Facebook a few months back there was a lot of people discussing this method. They found that if you let the tumbler go for two to three days and use a lot more scratch-x that you will eventually get a glass like shine. At a certain point it might not be worth what your paying for the polish or the medium though
this video reminds me of when I was younger and I used to help out at the button company my dad worked at which also got me thinking about what they used when polishing dyed buttons. I remember it being finer than the hardwood that you used in your video so I looked it up. for matt finish it was corn cob grit and for shiny it was wallnut shell grit along with some polishing compound. I don't know if it would help you or not but maybe you could try that if you were still thinking of doing tests
Walnut hulls, the sort you get at the pet store for pet bedding is an excellent tumbling medium. The finer the polishing medium, the finer the polish you will get. I would not recommend adding any sort of liquid polish.
Hi! Don't know if can help you, I worked a couple of year in a jewelry factory and they used a lot of tumblers. For heavy silver chains they use round ceramic media (shaped like pellets) and left all night until morning with water and some industrial soap. For other chains they use steel pellets (also rounder, like ufo shaped) for 10-30 minutes at faster speed. The result was smooth and polished clean chains, but not like the ones manually polished. With my little knowledge I would use a rounder media and maybe a little water :)
From the rock tumbler point of view, might be worth a try. After the polishing compound there is another step to give stones the glass finish. Using fresh clean media and shaved pieces of ivory soap, enough water to create a thickish slurry. In stones this is the difference between shiny and holy cow that looks good. Just a thought
So do you think that you could use the tumbler to get halfway through sanding clear dice, then switch over to hand sanding? I'm sure you could but I have no idea what grit you would start at. trying to cut off as much time as possible off hand sanding because I never have time to hand sand anymore.
I would be interested to see how corn cob and/or walnut hull media work for this process. Some of them are pre-treated with a polishing compound, but it's usually a brass polishing compound, and I'm not sure how resin would hold up to it.
fast orange shop soap might be good to get the plastx off? it's cheap, smells deliciously like orange, comes in big bottles or in bars, and is designed for getting automotive grease off skin. i just recommend moisturizing heavily after using it, since its gritted and strong so it can dry your hands out bad
im now wondering if you would get a better shine by being able to swap the media out, and go downwards. Like hardwood, then smaller hardwood, ect... Plus, how much time does this save you on hand sanding I wonder. If you sent it through the tumbler then finished it to glass.
I wonder if a traditional three stage tumbler media method would work, or if it would eat away too much of the dice. Also, do you have any videos where you demo the hand sanding of round edge dice?
@@Rybonator Hmm. Follow up thought -- if the three stage grit tumbling method did grind away surface area, I wonder if it would turn sharp edge dice into round edge.
would this machine work with sharp-edge dice? I've been trying the zona paper and my sharp-edged dice aren't sharp once I've finished and are not shiny. could you recommend what I can buy in the UK to add to tumbler the little stone things?
Would it make sense for crystal-clear dice to use the tumbler for the lower grit levels and then a couple of final polishing passes with the finest Zona papers? It seems like it gets them nice and smooth, you just need to get rid of the randomly-oriented scratches that make it look milky?
Try the ceramic beads. I've been sanding my dice to 1000 grit then dropping them in. I'm using the same polish in mine and get glass like finishes. Plus I only need a little bit of polish, like 1/4 of a cup. 24 hours later they look glorious.
You referenced at one point the idea of dusting the inside of your dice mold with Black 2.0- is there any chance we could get a tutorial on how you go about dusting your molds for that purpose? I'd be super interested!
@@Rybonator I've seen jewelers on RUclips using different grades of wet sanding wheels, as well as a special tool to hold the gem. I think this may actually be the best polishing way!
You mention that you "used to" use PlastX to finish polishing your dice--do you use something else now, or no polishing compound at all? I'm trying really hard to get a glasslike finish on my non-pressure-pot dice with high-grit sand papers + Zonas WITHOUT polishing compound, but so far...no dice. ;-)
I just bought one of these for this exact purpose. BUT I got ceramic media, as I was told it would not polish off my sharp edges, since my masters are sharp dice
Question! 🤚🏻 But could you set it and forget it and then just use the finest polishing paper to get that glass finish without having to go through the entire sanding process by hand? I don't know if that's been asked already
Thank you for the video. I am trying to remove the sharp edges on small discs of laser cut acrylic sheet (perspex). Does anyone know if the vibration tumbler would be able to do this?
Do you think the tumbler method could be used to cut out some of the hand sanding time if you wanted a glass finish? My hands hurt like fire when I try to do hand sanding, so maybe it could cut out a few of the starting zona papers and save my hands a bit?
Sure! But it would still have to be PRE sanded, so you'd have to stop midway through to remove about 3-4 of the sheets of zona that you normally have to use.
For sharp edge polishing, you should look at what they use in the watch/jewelry industry. There's probably no consumer good that gets more polishing attention than mens watches. Polishing in the tumbler, look at ceramic polishing midia. The car wheel industry uses it. It's not cheap, but for a little tumbler, it's probably affordable.
@@Rybonator thank you so much! :) You inspired me a few years ago to create dice for my brother for Christmas. He absolutely adores them and I'm really thankful for your content that inspired me to make them :)
do you think this would work for skipping the first 1-3 zona papers? Like, use this and then finish with the mid to last polishing papers? Even taking away some of the sanding work seems pretty dreamy to me...
I’ve put dice that were cold casted with just mica brushed onto the molds into my tumbler, and it maybe took a bit of the mica off right around the edges, but overall didn’t seem to effect them otherwise, it’s super gentle and all the faces came out looking great!
You should Do you own experiment. Even though they did a good job, I see flaws in their design and medium. You need something like a soft material based cloth or even leather pellets to polish. As for the sanding, I would trying plastic pellets or ceramic. I'm sure you could get it to do a really good job. Oh, by the way not to rain on your parade, but did you try putting an enclosure over the rock tumbler. I told a friend about it about he never thought of it! Remember you can insulate it with anything including Ta Da Foam board insulation. How that helps.
I feel so weird having this huge dice collection! but yet i dont really play any games that involve them, i have lots of D6's, numeral & ones with pips, poker dice, glow in the dark ones, along with the standard RPG sets or (D&D) i guess they call them?. I have Magic The gathering cards, but i dont know how to play, i just liked the art on them & now i have a big collection of those too lol. Anywyas..as far as the dice go.. i just love all the different colours and variations of them i had no idea there werr so many different kinds, i only ever really knew of the standard white 6 sided dice used in most card games.
Was there a particular reason for using the wood for your medium? Or do you think a different medium like crushed walnut shells would have a similar result?
I put a link to the type that I used, and the doc that shows all the details :) I'd recommend reading through the doc before deciding if the technique is right for you!
Hey Rybonator! I'm about to get into dice making, I've been patiently waiting after watching you for so long. Would you have anything to update with what the bare essentials are? I do plan on buying a pressure pot too
If you get a pressure pot you don't need a vacuum chamber, it'll do both jobs :) I'd go cap mold over Sprue mold if you are getting a pressure pot. And finally don't expect perfection on the first try! I certainly didn't achieve that! :) have fun with it! Good luck :)
Not for sharp edge dice. A rock tumbler might work for rounded dice, as that is what the big companies like chessex use, just on a more industrial scale. I'm sure some people have success with sharp edge and rock tumblers, but they will be few and far between.
Those work great for cleaning polishing my brass cartridge casings but anything plastic I’ve ever thrown in there has gotten dull. Interesting use of hardwood cubes. I haven’t seen those before.
I got ready to rumble AND tumble and I was not disappointed. Wonderful video as always! I like the exploration of different methods to get jobs done and seeing these give me more ideas to play with when I finally start making things.
Having a lot of difficulty finding a website to get custom dice so I can make my own, how can I get one of your molds that has all the set seven dice and one the cap that you put on?
@@Rybonator I'll check etsy again. I also checked out the one company that you said would not sue someone for using their designs, short of sending them a message and asking them directly they didn't state that on their website but I guess they wouldn't I don't know
They probably use wood because it is less dense than the resin. In an environment like this, you can think of the medium as a liquid. In order for whatever you're polishing to sink, the fluid must be less dense than it. If they used regular polishing stones, the dice would just float on top.
No Intro puns this time, because I couldn't come up with anything around Vibration and Tumbler that wouldn't get me demonitized 🙃
Of course I'm kidding, but I just wanted to try and Adam Ragusea style video of just jumping into it :)
@@Rybonator Are you sure you are kidding?
@@Rybonator You could say you where just trying to "shake" things up this time by jumping right in.
@@NATHModel686 Rybo wanted all the "buzz" that would come with a change
They use these (bigger ones) for Car rims
I own that exact polisher for fired brass. Just wanted to give a couple of quick small tips on using it. Whenever you’re adding compound to the polishing media, do it with the machine running and drizzle it as a stream. This will allow it to coat the media without having a big glob on top. Also, let it run when you are fishing the dice out. The vibration loosens up the media and lets your hand find the dice a lot easier than when it’s static. And final tip, try some different media in the machine. I haven’t tried the cubes, but I’ve had really good success with walnut shell media and Flitz liquid polish for cleaning and polishing. Flitz works on many types of materials, including plastics and resins.
You rock Chris! I can't believe I didn't think to keep it running while scooping them out. I really appreciate the tips! :)
The specific problem that has been run into with most media is that it's too small and gets jammed in the numbers and from personal experience it can be almost impossible to get completely out. That's a lot less likely with the hardwood cunks. Definitely second your other suggestions - Although I've had to hand-mix the polishing media when I add HUGE amounts like what's needed to start it off, the top-off ones are pretty easy. And fishing things out while it's going is like magic, it's like reaching into a solid object.
@@Rybonator I've had good luck with both the crushed walnut and corncob medias. Corncob will be a little softer but puts a really bright shine on brass.
And with the walnut and corncob, the easiest way to get things back out of the media is a thrift-shop strainer and a bucket. Put strainer over bucket, pour polisher out into strainer, shake lightly.
Also to answer a couple of the questions that came up in the video. You absolutely can use either corn cob or walnut shell media and they both *work* but are much much much slower at polishing than the hardwood cubes, and like to get wedged in and stuck in the numbers, making cleanup a lot more painful. Some of the grittier media’s that are made for brass or rocks would be too “tough” for resin and remove a lot of material from the dice.
Additionally your transparent/translucent dice will still fully polish most likely with just a bit more time in the tumbler, sometimes if I have one die with some extra micro scratches or foggyness then I’ll toss them in for the next round and they’ve always ended up crystal clear.
Again, I’m just so honored that my little doc has made it all the way here, it was certainly an exciting surprise to wake up to this morning!
Would you consider making a video of your results and the process? I was looking at your vibratory tumbler sheet yesterday and id love to see your process in action
You absolutely rock for making this diceworks! I'll have to add it in for longer to see if I can get some better results :) If that DOES work, oh man, you changed the game!
The hardwood cubes are pretty pricey. How often do they need to be replaced? Do you just need to wash them out?
Where might one find the tiny wooden cubes? Amazon doesn't want to help me
I've always wanted to get into dice making, but it seems to be a really expensive hobby, with equipment/safety/resin/silicone and all that jazz. Thanks for the amazing videos which are the next best thing :)
Happy to help! I feel the same way about woodworking. It's a hobby I'll just enjoy via RUclips :)
@@Rybonator as a hobby woodworker who is getting into dice casting after watching your videos, yeah they're both a little pricey in up front investments. Check your area for local maker spaces if you are lucky enough to have access to one?
Rybonator got me into it last summer and after this summer I should have met my goal of breaking even. It's a blast and people love them, but it definitely is expensive if you just want to do it for personal use.
It’s always interesting seeing you trying out new things. Crazy stunts and pretty dice are always awesome but your more informative video are equally great.
Thanks Verity :) I'm glad you like these as well. They are my favorite to do! Trying something new etc :)
I had fantastic results from letting it run for... thirty plus hours the first time, seeing quite a bit of improvement over my 24-hour check point. I've not had the chance to really go test things a lot, but I've also heard that results improve with use (As you add more polish, etc). But I do have that exact tumbler, media, and polish. My usual method has been to sand to 1000 grit on all sides and then into the tumbler they go.
I'll have to leave it in for longer and see what I can get! :D
I'm getting good vibes from this vid. As Boy George might say, I'd tumble for them. :)
I'm getting good vibes from YOU! So take that :)
You should really keep these jokes rolling
@@daltonbarcus8733 should I start a comedy Tumblr blog?
now i have that song stuck in my head..
@@Rybonator Umm.. you know...
I better not comment what i want to say lol, i might put my foot in my mouth..
Yesss, I’be been waiting for someone to cover this! Thank you!
Boom! Perfect timing then :)
I remember seeing this conversation not too long ago. It's pretty cool to see a conversation turn into a real setup that quickly.
It looked so promising that I had to try it!
i love that you are always trying to find better and faster ways to polish dice.
Because it SUCKS haha. I gotta find that one magic trick one day :)
I use large devices like this at my machine shop job and I was always curious if they could be used for dice polishing. Glad someone finally tried it out!
Boom! Now you don't have to wonder :)
Very informative! It’s great to see all the different ways to sand. I doubt I’ll ever be able to get into dice making but it’s good to send to friends who are interested!!! Not to mention it’s entertaining to watch~
I'm glad you enjoy Kira! Even if you never get started, I like watching woodworking videos to relax in a similar manner :)
I’m using this method, same tumbler, polish, and media. I find that the media polishes much better if you let the media soak up and dry out completely before tumbling. I go from matte molds to glossy no problem with this method.
So, I should let it dry after putting the plastx in there? Might be worth a shot!
How much of the media do you need? I'm trying to stomach that 99.00 price tag for a 5lb bag.
Oh, people have been talking about things like this in the Dice Making Discords i'm in! I was curious as to how it worked, if it was any good. This video came at the perfect time. I do like a nice hands off way to accomplish the more irritating steps of dice making.
Perfect timing then! Glad this helped :D
Could that be rigged up to vibrate resin in the mold to help get rid of bubbles (for those who don't have a pressure pot or vacuum chamber)? When I worked at a missile factory, we had a large one of those with small pumice stones in it to finish the missile fins. It was really cool to see how it worked.
I've heard that it can, but haven't tried it myself. Might be worth a shot!
I tried vibrating bubbles out with a jewelry cleaner and 1 thing I found was that stuff in side tended to settle. So I had glitter in one and all the glitter ended up in the bottom of the die after vibration.
I have two of those tumblers, one I bought for my father, and then inherited back, and the other I bought as art of a larger set from the widow in a co-worker. I love how vague you were on their original function, other than to say "case tumbler" LOL
I've been looking into doing something like this myself for a while. I haven't experimented with it yet but I plan to try rock polishing compound with a ceramic tumbling medium. It's designed for rock polishing but given that you can get .3 micron polishing compound it might give the glass like finish youre looking for
Oh man, please try it and report back on the discord or on here! I'd love to know the findings :)
@@Rybonator I'll join the discord and let you know once I try it out and experiment with different polishing materials and timings. Im in the process of moving so it will be a while before I can actually try it
Wow, really well done video. Planned on just listening to this while doing other things, but got sucked into watching it. That only happens with really good videos I find. Instant subscribe earned!
Texas dicemaker here! I use my tumbler religiously, and I have to say, keeping that condensation most definitely affected your pulls. I had the same issue with cloudiness on my first run, super disheartening.
However, I ran without the lid and found that they cleared right on up, my translucent dice are like crystals! I now have a screen cover.
This is a little unlike your other videos, you usually run through more tests and experiments, especially when trying something new. Hope everything is okay!
Hmm, I do wonder about capacity on it. Like could I throw 4 or 5 of those giant dice in at a time, maybe more?
Omg I've been looking all over for something like this!
Perfect timing then :)
On dice making discoveries on Facebook a few months back there was a lot of people discussing this method. They found that if you let the tumbler go for two to three days and use a lot more scratch-x that you will eventually get a glass like shine. At a certain point it might not be worth what your paying for the polish or the medium though
Oh good to know! I'll throw it back in and see what I can get out of it :) Thanks stealth!
this video reminds me of when I was younger and I used to help out at the button company my dad worked at which also got me thinking about what they used when polishing dyed buttons. I remember it being finer than the hardwood that you used in your video so I looked it up. for matt finish it was corn cob grit and for shiny it was wallnut shell grit along with some polishing compound. I don't know if it would help you or not but maybe you could try that if you were still thinking of doing tests
Thank you so much for these videos! I started making dice after I found your channel a few months ago and I love it so much 😍
Aww thanks Hannah! I'm glad I helped you find a hobby that you enjoy! Keep up the good work :)
Walnut hulls, the sort you get at the pet store for pet bedding is an excellent tumbling medium. The finer the polishing medium, the finer the polish you will get. I would not recommend adding any sort of liquid polish.
I'll have to try that and see what I can get out of it!
Hi! Don't know if can help you, I worked a couple of year in a jewelry factory and they used a lot of tumblers. For heavy silver chains they use round ceramic media (shaped like pellets) and left all night until morning with water and some industrial soap. For other chains they use steel pellets (also rounder, like ufo shaped) for 10-30 minutes at faster speed. The result was smooth and polished clean chains, but not like the ones manually polished.
With my little knowledge I would use a rounder media and maybe a little water :)
From the rock tumbler point of view, might be worth a try. After the polishing compound there is another step to give stones the glass finish.
Using fresh clean media and shaved pieces of ivory soap, enough water to create a thickish slurry. In stones this is the difference between shiny and holy cow that looks good.
Just a thought
The way I'm familiar with using this machine we use cork. (Polishing small metallic pieces)
Idk if it would work for you, but it does for us.
We also use a screene/sifter to separate the items from the medium.
All this time I been watching your videos I had no clue you were a fellow Texan!! Love your content keep up the awesome job!!
Howdy fellow Texas Nerd! I'm an Aggie, so whoop!
Thanks Ink :) I appreciate that!
So do you think that you could use the tumbler to get halfway through sanding clear dice, then switch over to hand sanding? I'm sure you could but I have no idea what grit you would start at. trying to cut off as much time as possible off hand sanding because I never have time to hand sand anymore.
I would be interested to see how corn cob and/or walnut hull media work for this process. Some of them are pre-treated with a polishing compound, but it's usually a brass polishing compound, and I'm not sure how resin would hold up to it.
Theses dice are awesome I would totally buy them!
Thanks Cookies :D I'm glad you like them
You do awesome work man!! Thank you!!
Thanks Tyler, I really appreciate that :)
Hey, @Rybonator, how big a package of those cubes did you get? And, how often do you think you would need to change out the cubes?
fast orange shop soap might be good to get the plastx off? it's cheap, smells deliciously like orange, comes in big bottles or in bars, and is designed for getting automotive grease off skin. i just recommend moisturizing heavily after using it, since its gritted and strong so it can dry your hands out bad
This is exactly the content I'm looking for lol! I had the EXACT same thought, but I wasn't sure if a tumbler would work lol
do you know how to matte dice? I'm obsessed with them and just starting to make dice!
Either sand them less, or use a matte Polyurethane plastic coating after sanding. That's the easiest way :)
im now wondering if you would get a better shine by being able to swap the media out, and go downwards. Like hardwood, then smaller hardwood, ect... Plus, how much time does this save you on hand sanding I wonder. If you sent it through the tumbler then finished it to glass.
I wonder if a traditional three stage tumbler media method would work, or if it would eat away too much of the dice. Also, do you have any videos where you demo the hand sanding of round edge dice?
I don't sadly, but it's the same as sharp edge, but then you have to roll over the edges. It stinks :/
@@Rybonator Hmm. Follow up thought -- if the three stage grit tumbling method did grind away surface area, I wonder if it would turn sharp edge dice into round edge.
would this machine work with sharp-edge dice? I've been trying the zona paper and my sharp-edged dice aren't sharp once I've finished and are not shiny. could you recommend what I can buy in the UK to add to tumbler the little stone things?
Would it make sense for crystal-clear dice to use the tumbler for the lower grit levels and then a couple of final polishing passes with the finest Zona papers? It seems like it gets them nice and smooth, you just need to get rid of the randomly-oriented scratches that make it look milky?
There's a cone made to fit this tumbler you can find on ebay. It also keeps you from cracking the lid from over-tightening.
Love ur work, keep up the great content!
Thanks TPax! :) You rock
I've seen folks get a really nice finish using ceramic media and adding more polish every 4ish hours.
Try the ceramic beads. I've been sanding my dice to 1000 grit then dropping them in. I'm using the same polish in mine and get glass like finishes. Plus I only need a little bit of polish, like 1/4 of a cup. 24 hours later they look glorious.
I use the ceramic beads and they are 3mm should I be using a larger bead size for dice?
I think this is a good method to be able to skip a few stages of sanding before going for a final polish with hand sanding for those glass like dice.
You referenced at one point the idea of dusting the inside of your dice mold with Black 2.0- is there any chance we could get a tutorial on how you go about dusting your molds for that purpose? I'd be super interested!
Check out my Sorcerer Wild Magic dice! I go over the process there :)
@@Rybonator Awesome, thanks!
Have you tried jewelers tools yet?
Seems this is a great way to polish rather than sand.
I haven't, what tools would those be?
@@Rybonator I've seen jewelers on RUclips using different grades of wet sanding wheels, as well as a special tool to hold the gem. I think this may actually be the best polishing way!
You mention that you "used to" use PlastX to finish polishing your dice--do you use something else now, or no polishing compound at all? I'm trying really hard to get a glasslike finish on my non-pressure-pot dice with high-grit sand papers + Zonas WITHOUT polishing compound, but so far...no dice. ;-)
I am vibrating with anger that there was no pun intro. 😉
Please don't post an angry comment on Tumblr ;)
im hoping to see another video about this soon where it can make them super shiny and polished!
Working on it! :)
I just bought one of these for this exact purpose. BUT I got ceramic media, as I was told it would not polish off my sharp edges, since my masters are sharp dice
You could try to make (3d print?) a sort of mold or dice holder the shape of your pottery wheel so that you could sand a set of dice all at once.
Question! 🤚🏻
But could you set it and forget it and then just use the finest polishing paper to get that glass finish without having to go through the entire sanding process by hand?
I don't know if that's been asked already
Possibly, based on the results I saw, you might need to sand at the 2 highest grits instead of 1 :)
Can you use sand for more roughness materials like FDM 3D printed parts?
Wonderful experiment. Don’t think I’ll use this method but I couldn’t have made that decision with out your help
Exactly! I'm happy I was able to help in your decision no matter which way you choose :)
Thank you for the video. I am trying to remove the sharp edges on small discs of laser cut acrylic sheet (perspex). Does anyone know if the vibration tumbler would be able to do this?
Do you think the tumbler method could be used to cut out some of the hand sanding time if you wanted a glass finish? My hands hurt like fire when I try to do hand sanding, so maybe it could cut out a few of the starting zona papers and save my hands a bit?
Sure! But it would still have to be PRE sanded, so you'd have to stop midway through to remove about 3-4 of the sheets of zona that you normally have to use.
@@Rybonator Any sheets getting cut out works for me. :D I can never get through a whole sanding session at once but maybe with this I could!
Woah do you have a video for those purple dice in the beginning
For sharp edge polishing, you should look at what they use in the watch/jewelry industry. There's probably no consumer good that gets more polishing attention than mens watches.
Polishing in the tumbler, look at ceramic polishing midia. The car wheel industry uses it. It's not cheap, but for a little tumbler, it's probably affordable.
how many pounds of the wood media did you use? I'm trying to decide if I need to splurge for the 5 lbs or not
I've been asked to create some novelty dice for gift bags. Is there anything you can recommend for creating dice from scratch?
Absolutely! Check out my guide I did on cap molds, it goes over pretty much every detail! ruclips.net/video/5BDVUe5osUM/видео.html
@@Rybonator thank you so much! :)
You inspired me a few years ago to create dice for my brother for Christmas. He absolutely adores them and I'm really thankful for your content that inspired me to make them :)
@@phoebe2852 of course my friend!I am glad your brother liked them, and you are awesome for making a gift for them like that :) You rock
do you think this would work for skipping the first 1-3 zona papers? Like, use this and then finish with the mid to last polishing papers? Even taking away some of the sanding work seems pretty dreamy to me...
Yeah absolutely! The only problem is that you still need to do the first layer to get them started. But it probably skips 2-3 layers?
@@Rybonator sold. More time for casting dice 😂
@rybonator I know this was a little while ago, but which tumbling media did you use? Was that the NC-1 cubes?
Would this take off the layer of Mica that you brushed onto your molds in an earlier video? Or is this gentle enough to not scratch it all off?
Good question! Might be worth finding out :)
I’ve put dice that were cold casted with just mica brushed onto the molds into my tumbler, and it maybe took a bit of the mica off right around the edges, but overall didn’t seem to effect them otherwise, it’s super gentle and all the faces came out looking great!
You should Do you own experiment. Even though they did a good job, I see flaws in their design and medium. You need something like a soft material based cloth or even leather pellets to polish. As for the sanding, I would trying plastic pellets or ceramic. I'm sure you could get it to do a really good job. Oh, by the way not to rain on your parade, but did you try putting an enclosure over the rock tumbler. I told a friend about it about he never thought of it! Remember you can insulate it with anything including Ta Da Foam board insulation. How that helps.
Thanks Ahman! I totally plan on testing around to see what I can come up with. But this was a great starting point for sure :D
Can you use cured uv resin pieces with this too?
I feel so weird having this huge dice collection! but yet i dont really play any games that involve them, i have lots of D6's, numeral & ones with pips, poker dice, glow in the dark ones, along with the standard RPG sets or (D&D) i guess they call them?. I have Magic The gathering cards, but i dont know how to play, i just liked the art on them & now i have a big collection of those too lol. Anywyas..as far as the dice go.. i just love all the different colours and variations of them i had no idea there werr so many different kinds, i only ever really knew of the standard white 6 sided dice used in most card games.
Was there a particular reason for using the wood for your medium? Or do you think a different medium like crushed walnut shells would have a similar result?
it was in the directions he was following
Supposedly they both WORK, but the other mediums are tougher and can get stuck in your dice numbers. So wood is the ideal one
Which hardwood media did you use? there are different types like cube NC-1.
I put a link to the type that I used, and the doc that shows all the details :) I'd recommend reading through the doc before deciding if the technique is right for you!
Hey Rybonator! I'm about to get into dice making, I've been patiently waiting after watching you for so long. Would you have anything to update with what the bare essentials are? I do plan on buying a pressure pot too
If you get a pressure pot you don't need a vacuum chamber, it'll do both jobs :)
I'd go cap mold over Sprue mold if you are getting a pressure pot.
And finally don't expect perfection on the first try! I certainly didn't achieve that! :) have fun with it! Good luck :)
@@Rybonator Wow! Thank you so much for the quick response! I love your videos so much and I look forward to every one!!! good job dude!
@@PSroka of course! Thank YOU for the kind words :) You rock
@@Rybonator ❤️
Hey rybo great video. Do you think a rock tumbler would work for a set it and forget it?
Not for sharp edge dice. A rock tumbler might work for rounded dice, as that is what the big companies like chessex use, just on a more industrial scale.
I'm sure some people have success with sharp edge and rock tumblers, but they will be few and far between.
last time i was this early i just got out of the womb
Your Momma got you watching Rybonator videos WAY too young :p
Im curious if you used a plastic instead of wood what the finish would be
I'll experiment around :)
Would this method work for polishing the water dice from a couple of weeks ago?
So that blue d6 I used in this was FROM that set, so it depends if you like how it turned out this time as opposed to hand sanding
Are you still working on dice without pressure pot?
How often do you change the media?
They last for a LONG time. 6+ months and still going strong
I needed this review!
Glad that it helped :D
Those work great for cleaning polishing my brass cartridge casings but anything plastic I’ve ever thrown in there has gotten dull. Interesting use of hardwood cubes. I haven’t seen those before.
I dont know if youre still looking but i found the same liquid glitter you used in the past in single bottles at hobby lobby today
What about Giant d100? will it work?
Have you tried a small belt grinder?
I have one but haven't tried it yet! Will report back
@@Rybonator Oh! I look forward to it!
2:19 overnight dice oats!
whoa! I was just looking into vibratory tumblers a week or two ago. You must be a mind reader :p
I did this for you Mako! :P
I got ready to rumble AND tumble and I was not disappointed. Wonderful video as always! I like the exploration of different methods to get jobs done and seeing these give me more ideas to play with when I finally start making things.
I've never been this early before. Its lonely.
You ain't alone, I gotchu my friend :)
Thanks friend! :D
Having a lot of difficulty finding a website to get custom dice so I can make my own, how can I get one of your molds that has all the set seven dice and one the cap that you put on?
I don't actually sell any of my dice/molds, I'm sorry! However check out etsy, as there are TONS of amazing makers out there :)
@@Rybonator I'll check etsy again. I also checked out the one company that you said would not sue someone for using their designs, short of sending them a message and asking them directly they didn't state that on their website but I guess they wouldn't I don't know
@@Rybonator so would anything on etsy be ok to make molds out of? Or only certain sellers on there?
Looks like a good way to skip like 3 layers of zona!
Right? If you are doing a ton of dice it's worth it
I think it could be work with different polishing media.
I'll have to experiment! :)
but sanding dice makes it uneven wich makes it unusable? or am I wrong?
Perhaps a harder medium would work on your 3d printed master dice?
I worry about going harder and thus losing the sharpe edge/over sanding. Worth experimenting on tho!
@@Rybonator Good point. I think it's time to make some sacrificial dice to test on! Even if it saves you 5 minutes per dice could be worth it.
They probably use wood because it is less dense than the resin. In an environment like this, you can think of the medium as a liquid. In order for whatever you're polishing to sink, the fluid must be less dense than it. If they used regular polishing stones, the dice would just float on top.
That probably is partially the cause, but I don't think that's entirely it, as the retaining the polishing liquid definitely plays a factor :)
It felt wrong to not hear puns in the beginning...
I bet you could use an ultrasonic cleaner to remove the plast-x residue post-tumbling, if you really wanted to lean into the laziness.
I would expect that sharp edged dice would become rounded more from this, but maybe if it was left in even longer.
It's a very gentle sanding, which is why we use this instead of a rotary tumbler :)
Question for anyone... I just started resin casting dice. What was used to sand the dice at start of video?
Zona polishing paper. You can find it on Amazon.
I have that same tumbler yet I use it for brass.
I bet the results are crazy nice!
@@Rybonator Oh yeah they are. Just pain getting the media out so I can reload it
So, for my understanding: using a vibrator is good but nothing beats using your hands? Great, good to know, thanks!
Ha ha ha ha ha!
I am told I can get a better polish using this, so I'll do a follow-up soon!
@@Rybonator What about the Polish?
I would have used a PBC pipe cutting tool to cut that plastic so there aren't any gagged edges. 😊
If I had one I totally would, but sadly I did not, and didn't wanna buy a new tool
@@Rybonator I know you're not a "got to own every kind of tool known to man" kind of man. LOL 😆
why is it so hard to find a simple set of black sharp edge dice :(