Laser Cutter #010 Dice Towers 04 and 05

These are the last dice towers I'm doing for now. One is folding and the other is Gothic style with many windows. They're both cut out of 3mm MDF. Open links if you are comfortable. I make no guarantees that any are safe.

 

The folding dice tower is a nice compact style with integrated hinges like the ones in my LM386 amplifier box. This one has no engraving on the outside and you can add your own images. I left mine plain because I was cutting it out of MDF and planned on painting it with white primer after cutting. It opens and closes well, if a bit squeaky, and accommodates a wide variety of dice. My son has some large metal dice that went through this tower easily. This one was simple to cut and assemble. I liked the examples in wood on the webpage and I might make this one again in a nice wood at another time. I don't know yet how I am going to finish this one except it needs another coat of paint. It is still customizable by adding personalized stickers or badges cut from plywood.

The Gothic dice tower is a variation of the first dice tower I cut. It took a long time to cut out with all of the windows. The MDF left a lot of fuzz behind and needed picked clean. I would not cut this out again in any material because it took a long time and I don't know about wear and tear on my laser cutter. In the future, I will change the individual windows to just be scored or engrave an outline to speed things up but still be decorative. On the other hand, the rose windows looked amazing and I can't believe all the tiny parts that were cut out. This one needs covered in PLA glue or some other sealer before finishing.

I'm not completely burnt out on this exploration and I saw a new one on Thingiverse I might try to see how it holds up. I do want to catch up on a few other small things I cut out last summer so dice towers are on hold.  I'll update this post when I have these finished but that might be awhile. My daughter is finishing the Gothic one and she is in no hurry and my life as thrown another wrench in the machine but I still hope to keep posting catch up stuff. Blogging helps me reflect on what I've made and solidifies it in my mind. Plus, at a later date,  I can look back and wonder when I made it and if I still need to keep it. In the meantime...

 

Happy Making,

Michelle