Mass-produced Dice From 3d-printed Prototypes

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by Magic, Aug 24, 2016.

  1. Magic
    Magic Well-Known Member
    Hi there,

    Although I like using 3D-printing to make finished products, sometime I use it in a more traditional way: to make prototypes!
    I wanted to let you know that for the 3rd time now, a Kickstarter campaign will allow dice that I designed to be mass-produced via injection molding.
    These dice have been created for 3D-printing and have been for sale on Shapeways for quite a long time.
    I modified slightly the design for injection molding (basically I tried to avoid as much as possible that a number is located across 2 faces, which never happens for regular dice, but is quite usual with my non-traditional dice). And then the dice have been 3D-printed (in Frosted Ultra Detailed) to make the prototypes for the molds.
    Here are the two new re-designed dice that I also made available for 3D-printing in colored plastic:
    - D13
    - D15
    If you want them in other materials just let me know.

    And, of course, here is the Kickstarter to mass-produce them:
    KS.jpg
    Your comments are welcome!
     
    Andrewsimonthomas likes this.
  2. Andrewsimonthomas
    Andrewsimonthomas Well-Known Member
    Very cool @Magic we should do an interview to highlight your kickstarter campaign and shop!
     
  3. draw
    draw Well-Known Member
    I just realized there's an injection molding shop just down the hill from where I live. (For the longest time I thought it was a boring looking government office building.) They also have a CNC tool shop and make their own molds. I thought it might be a learning experience to take one of my models and have them injection molded for use as holiday presents this year. They would need to be mold compliant so perhaps one of my napkin rings or coasters. Buying one of something that costs $10 to $15 for each piece is do-able in low quantities but if I want to give away a sets of 10 I don't see how 3D printing will fit ever the bill. Plus it might be possible to get something molded in more consumer friendly rubbery or siliconish materials. Depending on all the factors it might even make sense to have some at home DIY molds made at Shapeways, or for use by the molding place. I sense an imminent capitalist adventure!
     
  4. Magic
    Magic Well-Known Member
    That would be with pleasure Andrew. But I am unsure of the timing. I will take 2 weeks of holidays starting Friday evening French time. Please, contact me by PM.
     
  5. Magic
    Magic Well-Known Member
    @draw: That's a great experience indeed, so if you can give it a try do not hesitate. The problem is that the mold is very expensive. So generally you need to sell thousands of your models to make it profitable... For my dice, the mold founding (via Kickstarter) and the dice selling is handle by a company that contacted me: I would not have been able to do it by myself...
     
  6. Magic
    Magic Well-Known Member
    Thanks to the backers, all the 20 dice of this Kickstarter are now available in a material that I'd like also to see for 3D-printing: Glow-in-the-Dark!
    Here are the samples:
    997b05bd9ee09d8c42499916c8f5fa7c_original.jpg
     
    seriaforma likes this.