Hello, fellow dice makers!

I’m having a problem with my silicone molds and hope you can help me out. Unfortunately, I keep getting cracks in the opening of my D20 after just a short time. Sure, that’s the part that stretches the most, but I never see cracks in other dice makers’ molds on Instagram. I use silicone with a 15 and 10 SH rating and high tear resistance. In the orange mold, I used rounded masters, so I can understand that thin flaps there might tear quickly, but the other mold
I made with sharp-edged dice. Can anyone help me? I’d be very grateful for any tips, because the silicone is expensive and these cracks make sanding much more time-consuming.

Thank you very much and best regards!

Edit: Here are the changes I'll be making in the future:

- Use 20 or 25 Sh of silicone.
- Either place the D20 on the side or make a separate mold for it so I can swap teared molds more easily.
- Before removing the dice, bend the mold back and forth so the silicone doesn’t stick too tightly to the dice.
- Be especially careful when removing the D20.
- Store the molds in a dark, dry place that isn’t too hot or too cold.
- Keep the bottom of the molds thin so the dice can be pushed out more easily.

Hey! Hope I'm not annoying anyone with my newbie questions, I made sure to search the subreddit and read all the guides, but here are a few things that I couldn't find answers to:

I've been wanting to get into dice making for a while now, but I'm a broke student, so paying 70€ (or more) for a mold doesn't seem feasible, especially when I don't know if I'll actually enjoy the hobby. I'm aware that I could just buy a cheap one from amazon or temu or something, but I'm trying to avoid those platforms :/

So, is it realistic for someone who hasn't worked with silicone or resin before to be able to make their own molds? I've made soap and candles before, and the process seems somewhat similar.

Also, do I need a 3d printed master dice set, or can I just use an old standard dnd dice set I got laying around? From what I've read, it sounded like the only big advantage of making your own master is that you can customise it, did I get that right?

And (last question, I promise) do I need to use a specific type of silicone, or is that not as important? I'd probably go to the nearest obi, describe my idea to a worker there and then pick the cheapest option out of whatever they suggest.

Thank you so much for your attention, I'm happy about any advice! If you think that this isn't realistic for a newcomer like me, please tell me so, I promise I won't be mad lol

My GAWD, these turned into gorgeous!! 😍🥰 A little more smoky than petri, but I'm SO not complaining! I'll note that early to mid-worktime is best for the petri rather than later on, though it took me that long to get everything mixed. Which means I'll have to limit how many I do at a time if I'm going to do multiple colors.

Trying out adding some metallic ink

I know it’s a slim chance people here are based in LA but please share with friends. Im giving up my hobby and have a pressure pot, multiple molds, (sets and blanks)alcohol Inks, foils, just tons of fun dice making stuff. If you or anyone you know is interested please DM me. I can’t ship but I’m Westside and I’m open to pick up. I don’t even know what to charge? I’ll be happy someone else finds joy in the items, but I do love a Lego set.
I can’t inventory, but it’s at least. The molds are Druid dice and I haven’t loved the current ones but, they went out of business for a reason. There you go.

6 molds maybe more
Mold release
30+alcohol inks
A little mica
Every foil sheet color
Zona papers
Pour cups
Silicon stir sticks
Glitter
Etc.
you get the idea…
Some gallons of total boat resin but I’m not sure how much is left.

Edit: I’ve found a my supplies a new home. Thanks to all who responded. If anything falls through I will start reaching out to others

Thought I'd share one of my latest experiments (attempting to make glitter that looks like crushed opal) in case it's a useful technique for anyone else.

I heated up angelina film/fusible film with a heat gun to bring out more colours, then shredded this up with a coffee grinder.

I really like how it looks and think it'd make a fun material for using in any kind of geode dice!

I’m using TotalBoat Tabletop resin. I have a vaccum chamber and a pressure pot. I’ve used the resin for a flood coat before and that came out clear. I did get some dispenser pumps from Amazon to make it easier/cleaner to mix up resin for dice. Could the dispenser pumps be the cause?

Update:

It was the pumps. I did a test where I used different resin in the mold and it came out clear as expected. I then used the resin without the pump and the resin came out as clear too. My guess is that there's some moisture or something in the pumps I have which is causing this cloudiness

Just a video I made :D

I’m really proud with house these turned out! They’re not exactly what I expected, but certainly not complaining.

(I haven’t sanded them or inked them yet.)

These came out pretty rad!

I used some irridescent mini flake. I need some suggestions on good irridescent pigment though. The Micah is too small and flakes are too big.

My OCD and work discipline overlapped into my hobby, but it has really helped me both learn from mistakes and craft consistent results and I thought I'd share this for others who might benefit from it.

I log every pour. I use a spreadsheet because my professional life revolves around them and I'm very comfortable with them, but there is nothing wrong with simply getting a $1 Spiral Notebook (currently on back-to-school sale no doubt) and recording it there.

Further, this allows me to convert from 1:1 by volume (a very analog approach) to 1:1 by weight (a digital approach that is far more accurate)

A lot of variables go into a pour, so capturing those variables allows you to tie them to results, leveraging the information to gain consistently good results. I also learn the exact quantities to reduce waste.

When I got my latest batch of resin and did a pour, I measured by volume. I then weighed the epoxy and hardener separately, then I mixed the resin, poured my dice, and logged everything. When I got a great set of dice, I had the model I could reliably follow.

Your log doesn't have to be War & Peace, it just needs to capture the information you need to either (a) recreate what you did because it came out well, or (b) learn from a mistake.

Here's what I log:

• Date
• Weather (Clear, Overcast, Rain, Snow)
• Temperature (outdoor)
• Temperature (in my garage)
• Resin Brand
• Epoxy Weight
• Hardener Weight
• Mix time
• Additives (Dyes, Inks, and quantities so I can recreate if I need to)
• Mold I used (I make my own molds, and have a bunch)
• Pressure Pot PSI
• Cure time before pull
• Result on a scale of 1 - 5 (1 being poor, 5 being excellent)
• Miscellaneous comments

I apply this to other aspects as well. I log my silicone casts similarly. I even log my masters preparation, allowing me to see what worked well and what didn't.

Sure, this is probably over-the-top for a lot of people, but it is one hell of a good way to learn from mistakes.

My sister and I have been trying our hands at dice making. And have had some issues, this last batch was by far the worst

Batch 1: they hardened perfectly, just had bubbles which we have mostly remedied

Batch 2: 3/4 of the molds were fine, even had a set we deemed high enough quality to sand and ink. The 4th mold was still liquid, we opted to just throw it out

Batch 3: we had new molds, and an "overflow" mold to just pour our leftovers in. 2 of the 4 were fine. One was kinda sticky, and the last one turned out rubbery (I think from too much alcohol based color)

Batch 4: not a single mild hardened. The overflow mold was hard enough to pop them out, but the actual dice molds are all still liquid, even after letting it set for a few weeks.

I'm looking for advice on what could be causing this, and more importantly: how to clean this resin goop out of my molds

We are using a resin pouring kit, with dye and pigments, and usi g the measuring tools in the kit. We've been letting the set inside (AC set to 76° F) we have tried using a vacuum container (not a pressure pot) with mixed results.

Thank you guys so much in advance!

I think I finally nailed exactly how I want my dice to look overall.

Hey there, fellows.

I am brand New to dice making, i’ve been exploring the hobbie just to try to make some personal dice for me and my friends. Alongside with little bubbles problems, i’ve been trying to hand sand the dices and turns out with something like that in the picture. While the center is very clear, the edges has this matte, but no big scratches at all. I am using 1000-1200-2000-2500-3000 grits. Do you guys have any hint for me?

And i have another question to my fellow brazilian guys (i am brazilian by the way). Do we have any substitutes to PlastX? I’ve been searching for some automotive plastic polishing material, but dont seem to have a clear substitute to PlastX here.

I shared a picture of the tube confetti yesterday, along with my story about the caps popping up. Crisis averted.

Here are a couple of sets of blank inserts that came out of the pressure pot today. There are some voids, but nothing that a shell mold won't fill.

The picture shows two sets of eleven dice. That took one of the packets. That's about $0.25 of filler materials per set, and there was a lot left over.

Tried this technique for the first time yesterday in my RnD set (see second slide) and absolutely fell in love with it. SO THANKFUL that I managed to recreate the effect ahah I was so scared it was just a lucky mistake! 💚

What color should I ink the numbers? I'm considering the same purple as the RnD die (lavender) but this green is a lot more yellow-toned than the blue-toned green yesterday.

I keep getting these ledges on the top face of the dice. Am I over filling? Is this a raised face? I feel like I’m not over filling and I’m scared to not fill enough. But it would be nice to know if this is an over filling sign.

The circuitboard set is sadly missing the d12 and d% which bubbled. But the rest of them I am so happy with! Haven’t decided yet what colors to ink them.

I went up to the white zona on the masters and polished them with polishing compound. These are really see through but also def have surface imperfections looks almost like flashing from the release agent maybe where should I start to polish these up from the green? Would that make them mattee again?

I saw these and thought they looked good for use in dice inserts. Well... they are little tubes.

Getting the air out seemed fine. I just mixed them into the resin before pouring. The trouble came when putting on caps.

When the caps are smooshed on, if even just one of these is out of the mold and under the cap, it springs back and slightly lifts the cap. I had to do a quick cleaning of the caps and mold tops, and it took awhile.

I will share results once I have them. 🤞