Project by Brett | posted 01-06-2014 05:32 AM | 1979 views | 7 times favorited | 8 comments | ![]() |
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Funny how a fella can go so long and then an idea “pops” into his head.
When the idea of making some wooden dice came to me, I thought Wow, what an original idea. It’s so simple that I bet no one else has done it yet. Well, at least not posted them to share with others. Ha ha, was I wrong! ;)
I found out that I wasn’t the first one to come up with this brilliant project idea and I found that mine weren’t the most unique or exquisitly crafted pair of dice either. Oh well, here they are in all their humble slendor anyway!
I came home from work last night (swingshift) and I just wasn’t quite ready to lay down and get some sleep. So I headed out to the shop to materialize some dice that I had thought about. I grabbed a scrap of maple and cut it into a cube shape.
Next, I grabbed another die to copy the dots from, and laid out the locations for them. I used a spring loaded center punch to mark the locations more permantly. By this time I decided that I should at least try and go to sleep.
Today, I headed out to shop to finish up these two chunks of wood. I ground the head of a nail down to a nice half round shape and chucked the nail in the drill press. I heated the nail with a torch and with the bit spinning, lowered it into the wood on the punched dot locations. It made nice rounded, dark dimples into the wood and I was so pleased with how they looked. I used a small block plane, files, and sandpaper to round over the sharp edges.
I donned the blue nitrile gloves and rubbed in two light coats of Waterlox for the finish.
The dice are 1 5/8” square.
I hope you like them and thank you for looking!
Brett
-- Hand Crafted by Brett Peterson John 3:16 http://www.TheCrookedNail.blogspot.com
8 comments so far
exelectrician
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#1 posted 01-06-2014 06:54 AM
Very nice and thanks for the spinning burn brand idea.
-- Love thy neighbour as thyself
Skylark53
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#2 posted 01-06-2014 01:40 PM
Nothing’s original, but you don’t see dice like this very often. What dimensions did you use? They look real nice.
-- Rick, Tennessee, John 3:16
bbrown
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#3 posted 01-06-2014 03:26 PM
Beautiful vintage look Brett. This would be nice with tiger maple I bet!
It’s the little things like this that are done with such quality that make life better.
Quite ingenious how you came up with the hot nail idea.
Well done,
—Bill
-- Traditional Woodworking & Carving classes at my shop in Coastal Maine: http://www.MaineCoastWorkshop.com
Brett
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#4 posted 01-06-2014 05:57 PM
Thank you everyone for the comments!
Rick- they are 1 5/8” square. I added that to the post now and another picture to compare to a regular sized set of dice.
Thanks again!
-- Hand Crafted by Brett Peterson John 3:16 http://www.TheCrookedNail.blogspot.com
Roger
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#5 posted 01-06-2014 06:19 PM
Now that’s a nice pair…....................o dice. :) 7 come 11
-- Roger from KY. Work/Play/Travel Safe. Keep your dust collector fed. [email protected]
oldnovice
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#6 posted 01-09-2014 04:44 AM
So you are not the first one I’ll bet you won’t be the last one either. Good looking work!
I like these and I have been thinking about making some nested ones about three deep each out of a different wood. The hard part was the closure but now with the new magnets the closure should be simpler.
-- "Facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored." -- Aldous Huxley
jjw5858
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#7 posted 01-14-2014 03:00 AM
That’s just too cool. Great job on the dice Brett. Loved seeing the ole Parcheesi board to boot!
-- "Always continue to learn, laugh and share!" JJW
djc4990
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#8 posted 01-18-2014 08:57 PM
ah ive been wanting to make a set of these…they look great!
-- I don't always have soft hands....but when I do its because I just left the woodshop.
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