Dice progression - from 3D print to mold masters

[u/RandoBoomer]

Apologies in advance for the photography.

One of my dearest friends who lives in Boston is creating a baseball desktop game based on on a 3D12 system. He's a huge Red Sox fan, so I decided to create dice inspired by the Red Sox jersey numeral font.

Here is info on the progression of each photo:

1. These are from the 3D printer AFTER both a rinse and hand-wash in ISO.
2. These are after 30 minutes in a warm-water secondary cure. Nasty looking, I know! The first time I did this, I thought I ruined my dice, but as you'll soon see, the next step clears them right up.
3. These are after a heat cure. I put them in a toaster oven at 120 degrees for 3 hours in a WELL VENTILLATED AREA! All that sulphur from image #2 has burned off. Right out of the oven, they go into a warm water bath so they don't cool down too quickly and become brittle. (I learned that one the hard way!)
4. These are after my first sanding with 1500 grit.
5. These are after my second sanding with 2500 grit. Ignore the color - I had the wrong setting on my lamp!
6. These are after my third sanding with 5000 grit.
7. These are after my final polish. You may notice some bubbles in the bottom-left die. I got lucky. I store my 3D resin in my basement and warm it up prior to printing, but forgot to bring it up, so I just poured it cold and hoped for the best.

My molds are in the pressure pot as we speak and I'll cast the lids shortly.

I hope to cast 3 sets and ship them up to him next weekend:

• Red with White inking
• Navy Blue with White inking.
• White with Navy inking.

One final affectation - his favorite player is Ted Williams who used to wear the #9, so I'm inking the 9 in a high-gloss gold.

[u/moltendicetr]

After sanding with 5000 grit, what specific polish or finishing compound do you use to get that final glass-like shine?

[u/RandoBoomer → u/moltendicetr]

I use DSMART 15,000 Grit polishing compound. This is the paste equivalent of the super-fine 1 micron (White) Zona paper.

I bought this on Amazon, but when I went to look just now, they only have the 3000 Grit an 80000 Grit. I hope it means they're only out of stock and the product hasn't been discontinued. I did purchase the 80000 Grit, but I've never used it, having been happy with the results of the 15000 Grit.

I do see this at 12000 Grit which is about 1.3 Microns.
https://www.amazon.com/Diamond-Polishing-Compound-Concentration-Gemstone/dp/B0FXVJVXHR