Double Slanted, Collapsible Dice Tower
by paulgabriel.cristea in Living > Toys & Games
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Double Slanted, Collapsible Dice Tower
Hey there! I needed a dice tower, to be assembled and taken apart at any moment, and to be able to transport it in the boxes of the games. Also I needed a simple tower, but designed to increase randomness. So I came up with and designed this double slanted model.
This is a very simple to make, totally collapsible/transportable dice tower. Material used is 3mm thick Hobby Board, that is PVC board, modellable with household cutter, and bendable. It allows the creation of the dual slanted middle board, which gives a lateral motion for the dice and increases randomness.
Model scale is for a 10cmx20cm interior dice tray size, with 16.5cm of height. Attached there is the .pdf export from layout, for printing the model. More on that later!
Sorry for the metric system my American friends, I am sure you can convert it if needed!
The model can also be found on SketchUp 3D Warehouse for resizing/ modifying. If you do so and publish it, or distribute this model in any form, please credit me as original author. Thanks!
UPDATE: Since posting, I have entered 2 contests with this Instructable, First time Author and Flat Pack! If you think this instructable deserves it, please vote for me! Thanks a lot!
Materials Needed
3mm thick Hobby board (PVC board) 40x50cm (I attached the label in my country, for reference) approx 5$
PVC A4 transparent sticker 3 sheets, approx 0.50$ per sheet
Nonskid material 25x25 cm(in the picture, there are 2 models, I prefer the one on the right, it is thinner although less durable) approx 0.50$
A good cutter (always useful around the house) preferrably with a blade lock system
Contact adhesive approx 2$
2 hours of free time
Printing the Model
Using the below PDF, print on the 3 sheets of PVC the plans for the tower. On the 3rd page, the schematics is used for both the base and the upper slide. Will mention it later.
After printing, roughly cut the PVC paper around the templates, so the paper templates will fit better on the board.
Downloads
Cutting the Board
One after the other, peel the protective paper off the PVC and stick it on the board, as close to one another as possible. If you can, stick the margins one next to another, so you do not have to cut the board twice for the same line. Start with page 1 then 2. Leave page 3 last.
When you cut the board, it is really easy to cut a straight line, even without a ruler. If you cannot do it, use a METAL ruler as a guide. I cut it all by hand, and sometimes you can see it, sometimes not :)
The cutter will not go through the board in one cut, so use one cut for guide, and cuts 2 and 3 on the same guideline will get through it. Remember, use finesse not brute force! :D
After you cut the pieces on both page 1 and 2, get to 3. Use the larger PVC to cut the base. Then unpeel the PVC from the board and reapply it somewhere else on it, so you can cut the upper slide.
On the middle of the middle slide, you can, now that you got the feel of cutting the board, carve that small ditch in the middle, WITHOUT going all the way on the other side (less than 1.5mm deep if possible). It will allow the slide to bend in the middle. Alternative methods can be used: slowly bending while heating, etc. You break a board, you can always print another template and cut a new one!
Remember to cut the small inserts here and there, I presume those will be the largest part of you work. To make them more easily, I used after cutting, a 3mm Dremmel tool head on the inserts to smooth them. The inserts placed on the lateral sides, where the middle board will come to joint, need to be slanted to accomodate it. That can be done either with a cutter, or with a Dremmel tool.
The Nonskid Mat
Nothing fancy here, just use the glue and cover the inside parts of the 3 slides, inside the inserts for the joints. For me, the end result did not look the greatest, but I am sure other methods of glueing might be better (I applied glue on both sides - you can try applying only on the board). Let the glue dry
Assembly
1. Assemble the base and the sides. Lock it in place with the front board.
2. Mount the slides. Start with the lower one, then upper. Finish with the bent middle one.
Done! You can take it apart to transport in the box of you favorite dice game!
Considerations
The real life differences are:
• I had to cut the "beak" of the middle slide, to allow larger than normal dice and D20 to pass easily.
• The faces of the dice slides are coated in real life with a thin nonskid material, similar to Gecko pads (used generally for rugs, as to not slip on them); this is to force the dice to roll and not just slide on the slides.
• On the bottom side of the middle slide, cracks due to bending may appear, but the board will still be solid.
• All in all cost is below 10$.
Hope you can and will build this, and enjoy using it as much as I did making it!
Update
