D20 Chonks from Scratch

    Andrew Crawford December 29, 2024
    42mm Jesmonite chonk in two shades of blue swirled together, the numbers painted in with metallic copper, sitting on an oak stand.
    42mm Jesmonite chonk in two shades of blue swirled together, the numbers painted in with metallic copper, sitting on an oak stand.
    42mm Jesmonite chonk in two shades of blue swirled together, the numbers painted in with metallic copper, sitting on an oak stand.
    42mm Jesmonite chonk in two shades of blue swirled together, the numbers painted in with metallic copper, sitting on an oak stand.
    42mm Jesmonite chonk in two shades of blue swirled together, the numbers painted in with metallic copper, sitting on an oak stand.
    42mm Jesmonite chonk in two shades of blue swirled together, the numbers painted in with metallic copper, sitting on an oak stand.
    42mm Jesmonite chonk in pink and brown swirled together, the numbers painted in with metallic gold, sitting on a purpleheart stand.
    42mm Jesmonite chonk in pink and brown swirled together, the numbers painted in with metallic gold, sitting on a purpleheart stand.
    42mm Jesmonite chonk in pink and brown swirled together, the numbers painted in with metallic gold, sitting on a purpleheart stand.
    42mm Jesmonite chonk in pink and brown swirled together, the numbers painted in with metallic gold, sitting on a purpleheart stand.
    42mm Jesmonite chonk in a rainbow of orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple, swirled together, the numbers painted in with metallic silver, sitting on a purpleheart stand.
    42mm Jesmonite chonk in a rainbow of orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple, swirled together, the numbers painted in with metallic silver, sitting on a purpleheart stand.
    42mm Jesmonite chonk in a rainbow of orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple, swirled together, the numbers painted in with metallic silver, sitting on a purpleheart stand.
    42mm Jesmonite chonk in a rainbow of orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple, swirled together, the numbers painted in with metallic silver, sitting on a purpleheart stand.
    42mm Jesmonite chonk in peach and bright green swirled together, the numbers painted in with white, sitting on an oak stand.
    42mm Jesmonite chonk in peach and bright green swirled together, the numbers painted in with white, sitting on an oak stand.
    42mm Jesmonite chonk in peach and bright green swirled together, the numbers painted in with white, sitting on an oak stand.
    42mm Jesmonite chonk in peach and bright green swirled together, the numbers painted in with white, sitting on an oak stand.
    42mm Jesmonite 20-sided die glowing in the dark with an organic stripey pattern of dark green and glowing orange.
    42mm Jesmonite 20-sided die glowing in the dark with an organic stripey pattern of dark green and glowing orange.
    Top view of a green and orange 42mm Jesmonite 20-sided die with the numbers painted in yellow on a walnut stand.
    Top view of a green and orange 42mm Jesmonite 20-sided die with the numbers painted in yellow on a walnut stand.
    Two 42mm Jesmonite chonks. One is lavender and white with the numbers painted metallic gold. The other is mostly a dark purple with a little bit of red swirled in, also with metallic gold numbers.
    Two 42mm Jesmonite chonks. One is lavender and white with the numbers painted metallic gold. The other is mostly a dark purple with a little bit of red swirled in, also with metallic gold numbers.

    I kept thinking I wanted to get a little more experience with mold making and casting. I have nieces, nephews, and friends who are all playing various tabletop roleplaying games (TTRPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons regularly. Dice would make great gifts for all of those people. I have also been enjoying the work of some of the resin artists I have found making dice. I didn’t really want to do a bunch of resin casting in my home studio, but had become aware of some less-toxic stone-based “eco resin” casting materials like Jesmonite.

    Back in March, I started working on making a big 42mm 20-sided die (a D20, in TTRPG parlance). I modeled it in Blender with a font I like (and have properly licensed), and set about 3D printing one from which to make molds. Although I have been knocking out all sorts of perfect models on my resin printer, there were some issues with getting my Anycubic machine to produce a flawless D20. At first, it was mechanical. It took me a bit to realize the plate had worked itself loose in a way apparently isn’t expected, then a bit to get it fixed correctly. Minor issues after that were eventually resolved by choosing the right resin.

    From that print and a printed mold form, I made silicone molds, eventually coming up with a slightly-modified cap mold style that seems to work pretty well.

    Triangular plate that attaches to one side of the 20-sided die to elevate it for the modified cap mold.
    Triangular plate that attaches to one side of the 20-sided die to elevate it for the modified cap mold.
    Modified cap mold for a 20-sided die.
    Modified cap mold for a 20-sided die.

    I cast a bunch of dice in Jesmonite, playing with various mixing and pouring techniques, different pigments, and various approaches to keeping bubbles and voids from ruining the casts. I mostly settled on using an old dental vibration table, some tapping and stretching of the filled molds, and a pressure pot for the later.

    I have been painting in the numbers with acrylic paint, and finishing by polishing with bees’ wax.

    There are a lot more finished dice than I am showing in this post.  I haven’t managed to photograph all of them yet.  I may add more in the future.

    Once I had some big dice, I decided I needed to make some cool gift boxes for them. That’s for another post, though.

    I made a video walking through the journey of getting some finished Jemonite chonks:

    You can also watch some of them spin in the demo short:

    Double Spiral Chocolate Bar Box

    Andrew Crawford December 22, 2024

    I needed to wrap this fancy chocolate bar, and decided to design and fabricate a custom box for it. Designed in Inkscape, cut on the laser from the violet Curious Skin cover stock.

    Purple box with a butterfly-style closure with spirals on the flaps.

    The Enchanted Forest

    Andrew Crawford December 15, 2024

    Welcome to the Enchanted Forest!

    This holiday card is my take on a popular origamic architecture/kirigami concept. These are laser scored and cut, then hand folded from the Ice Gold stock I have been using.

    A pop up card made from cutting and folding a single sheet of stock depicts a stag standing framed by the convergence of rows of trees receding into the distance. The branches overhead form whirls and spirals. The background is a green textured paper (momigami) with the white card backlit against it.
    Welcome to the Enchanted Forest!
    Rows of Enchanted Forest pop up cards.
    Rows of Enchanted Forest pop up cards.

    I made a two-minute video of cutting and folding these.  No narration on this one but, watch for the jig-in-place technique for scoring both sides of the card in the laser near the beginning.

    Jack-O-Lantern 2024

    Andrew Crawford October 31, 2024

    My 2024 virtual jack-o-lantern was created in Nomad Sculpt, then rendered and animated in Blender. Seen here with my virtual jack-o-lanterns from 2022 and 2023.

    Rendering of three jack-o-lanterns lit up from within with candles. Two are sitting on a brick wall with one below and between.

    Spiral Crystal Light-Up Pop Up Card

    Andrew Crawford October 11, 2024

    Chibitronics asked me to participate in a project they are coordinating with prompts from @5am_popup. My prompt was “reverse.” Thus, the switching mechanism for this card works by reversing the covers of the card, touching the front and reverse sides.

    I took inspiration from a design by the late Professor Masahiro Chatani for the mechanical functioning of the card. The electronics and everything else were improvised as quickly as I could manage.

    Spiral Crystal pop up card fully open (360º). A yellow pentagonal lattice with triangular panels featuring Celtic triskelion designs is lit from within by a red light. The base card is a dark blue. Spiral Crystal pop up card fully open (360º). A yellow pentagonal lattice with triangular panels featuring Celtic triskelion designs is lit from within by a red light. The base card is a dark blue. Spiral Crystal pop up card fully open (360º). A yellow pentagonal lattice with triangular panels featuring Celtic triskelion designs is lit from within by a red light. The base card is a dark blue. Spiral Crystal pop up card fully open (360º). A yellow pentagonal lattice with triangular panels featuring Celtic triskelion designs is lit from within by a red light. The base card is a dark blue. 3/4 top-down view of the Spiral Crystal pop up card. Spiral Crystal pop up card fully open (360º). A yellow pentagonal lattice with triangular panels featuring Celtic triskelion designs is lit from within by a red light. The base card is a dark blue. Top-down view of the Spiral Crystal pop up card. Four panels with Celtic triskelion designs appear to make a diamond pattern, perched on the edge of a blue card. Spiral Crystal pop up card fully open (360º). A yellow pentagonal lattice with triangular panels featuring Celtic triskelion designs is lit from within by a red light. The base card is a dark blue. A dark blue card with an attached yellow-gold structure composed of triangular panels with Celtic triskelion designs. Spiral Crystal Pop Up Card about 85% closed. The pop up portion is a golden yellow lattice featuring Celtic triskelion designs, backed with a diffuser. Closed Spiral Crystal pop up card. The side is dark blue with a metallic copper spiral. A ridge is slightly visible under part of the spiral. A strip of black covers the central fold. Closed Spiral Crystal pop up card. The side is dark blue with a metallic copper spiral. A strip of black covers the central fold.

    I made a video with a detailed walk-through of building the card.

    Godar Blot Skull Pins

    Andrew Crawford October 3, 2024

    I didn’t post the wood inlay Mastodon logo pins I made a couple years ago but, they came out so well that I periodically think of other things that would make good pin designs. In the spirit of the season and, since I rarely get around to the “spooky season” projects I envision these days, I made some skull pins inspired by my old Godar Blot design.

    There are two variants: one where white oak is dominant, with walnut for the eyes and nose and, padauk for the spiral on the forehead and, another where walnut is dominant with white oak for the eye and nose and, padauk for the spiral.

    I was making these for friends and family but, I ended up making a few extras. They are up in the shop, if you want one (light or dark).

    Godar Blot skull pins – hardwood inlay skull pins from white oak, walnut and, padauk. The white oak is dominant on one pin and the walnut is dominant on the other.
    Handmade wood inlay white oak, walnut and, padauk hardwood skull pins with some Celtic style.
    Godar Blot skull pin – white oak skull with inlaid walnut eyes and nose with a padauk spiral on the forehead.
    Handmade wood inlay white oak, walnut and, padauk hardwood skull pin with some Celtic style.
    Godar Blot skull pin – walnut skull with inlaid white oak eyes and nose with a padauk spiral on the forehead.
    Handmade wood inlay white oak, walnut and, padauk hardwood skull pin with some Celtic style.
    Godar Blot skull pins – hardwood inlay skull pins from white oak, walnut and, padauk. The white oak is dominant on one pin and the walnut is dominant on the other. A bottle cap slightly smaller than the pins is provided for scale.
    Handmade wood inlay white oak, walnut and, padauk hardwood skull pins with some Celtic style. Bottle cap for scale.
    Godar Blot skull pins – hardwood inlay skull pins from white oak, walnut and, padauk. The white oak is dominant on one pin and the walnut is dominant on the other. A bottle cap slightly smaller than the pins is provided for scale and, the light pin is held between an index finger and thumb.
    Handmade wood inlay white oak, walnut and, padauk hardwood skull pins with some Celtic style. Bottle cap and fingers for scale.

    Two minute making-of video: