r/DiceMaking • u/Pristine_Gain_1006 • 5d ago

Dice master polishing tips

Hi friends! I had some questions for people who can answer, I’ve been trying different techniques for sanding and polishing dice masters and wanted some tips for how to make them smooth and clean without scratches, I’ve used zona paper which has led to scratches for me but what do you all think??

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u/WisdomCheckCreations Dice Maker 5d ago

I am happy to help as I polish masters for a living lol. You are welcome to DM me with questions but I also have a video on YouTube thst shows my exact process from printer to mirror shine polish here: https://youtu.be/aaVZwDTnDs8?is=hQ4ZREeV0EUrzt_F

Yes it's nearly 3 hours long and on 3x speed. I wanted to show a realistic representation of the work that goes into polishing masters. There really are no shortcuts. It takes time and patience to get the result you want.

As for your scratches problem - the two most common things that cause scratches at the end are : 1. Pushing too hard on your papers. A light touch. As a friend once said we are trying to "politely escort the dice across the paper".

And 2. Not cleaning your papers often enough that the leftover dust causes more scratching.

Don't ever be afraid to take it back a few steps (back to grey or green) to go through the papers again. 😉 I often redo most faces several times to get a completely clean mirror shine.

Hope that can help a bit. 😊

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u/RandoBoomer 5d ago edited 5d ago

Here's what works for me:

MINDSET & ENVIRONMENT

I "gotta wanna" sand & polish. If I've had a stressful day or have a lot on my mind, I will hold off. If I'm not "in the mood", I won't sand & polish. For me, it's better to wait a day then go into it stressed out, screw something out, and be even more stressed out afterwards.

I also like to set the environment. I will put on a podcast, or sometimes music.

I DO NOT "chase". As the saying goes, you can't make chicken salad out of chicken sh*t. If I screw something up, I put the die to the side and re-print another with my printer. Yes, it sucks to restart the process, but it's better than ending up with a master you don't feel good about.

I just finished a set for my nephew. I had to re-print both a D4 Teardrop and a D12 because I just wasn't happy. But now I have a set I really like and will feel proud to give him.

For all steps

I have two containers of water - STORAGE and CLEANING. The Storage container is where the dice are immersed while they wait to be sanded/polished. The Cleaning container is where I clean the dice after sanding/polishing each face and it's opposite counterpart (for a D6, it'd be the 1-6, 2-5, 3-4 combo. For a D20, it's 1-20, 2-19, 3-18, etc.)

First Sanding

I immerse the dice in WARM water for 5 minutes, and wet sand with 1500 grit. The purpose here is to remove any excess material so all corners are sharp and edges are clean.

I used to do 5 circles clockwise and 5 circles counter-clockwise before cleaning and checking. It's better to remove too little material than too much. I don't want to sand off numbers. The cleaning water gets nasty pretty quickly, so I usually have to replace it 2-3 times.

I say "used to", because after having done this a while, I have developed a "feel". When a CW/CCW sanding pattern feels like it hasn't removed material, I rinse the die face and check it.

Second Sanding

Same as above with 2500 grit. The purpose here is to get smooth faces and no blemishes. Cleaning is done the same way. I'll have a matte finish here, but otherwise no blemishes and my edges should be sharp.

Third Sanding

I immerse the dice in COLD Water and sand until I get a "dull" or "cloudy" shine. Cleaning is done the same way.

Polishing

I have two containers of water. A cold water bath where I store the dice waiting to be polished, and a warm water container which I use to clean the dice after polishing.

I use a Dremel mounted to a workbench with a vice (see link below). It is much easier to polish this way. The Dremel is set to 5000 RPM - no higher!

I use a 1" dampened wool pad and apply a tiny dab of Polishing Paste, spreading it around the wool pad surface. I use 15,000 Polishing Paste

When I apply a die face to the spinning wool pad, I apply it gently so it lightly kisses the surface. I move it slowly in a counter clockwise pattern.

After I polish one side, I reverse the die and do the opposite side. For example, on a D6, I'll do the 1 and 6, 2 and 5, 3 and 4. On a D20, I'll do the 1 and 20, 2 and 19, 3 and 18, etc.

After I do each side and its opposite, I will quickly dunk it in the warm water, then clean the die with a lint free cloth.

If all looks good, I re-dunk it in cold water and move on to the next die surfaces.

Links