The Book of the Dice

The Book of the Dead, err, Dice. A friend asked me for something non-traditional to carry dice and supplies for gaming. Why not create a book like structure to transport dice, pencils, and a miniature? This project has 3 main components that build on each other. The insert is made of EVA foam, The Structure is made of 3/8 plywood, and The Cover made with a leather covering.

I drew my pattern out with 2 things in mind. It had to be long enough for a couple of pencils and 7 spots for the dice to nest in. I happen to have a hexagonal punch for leatherwork that is 1" wide, but a round punch could work as well. Overall the insert is 8 1/2" by 6".

Part 1 The Insert - EVA Foam 2 thicknesses 1/2" and 1/8", Acrylic Matte Medium, Spray paint.

Part 2 The Structure - 3/8 plywood, wire nails, spray paint, sandpaper

Part 3 Cover Decoration - Leather scraps from a craft store, artificial sinew, glovers needles, and rubber cement

Tools:

Sharp Utility Knife

Straight edge

1" leather punch (mine is a Hex shape, but round would work as well.)

Heat Gun

Sand Paper

table saw

Drill and 1/8" bit (for pilot holes)

clamps

Leather Shears or utility knife

Glovers needles (or other leather needles, the Glovers needle has a triangular point and is very sharp.)

Contact Cement

The insert is made from 2 layers of 1/2" EVA foam glued together. If you could find 1' you could go with just one layer, but I used what I had. You need the depth of at least 1" as the dice are around 3/4" in height. Cut the foam to 8 1/2" by 6". I used a paint pen to layout the pattern prior to cutting and punching out the various cavities. Punch the dice cavities out with your hole punch. The other cavities are cut out using a sharp utility knife.

The insert needs a little heat to smooth the edges and seal the surface to readily take paint. Using a heat gun over the surface will contract most of the rough edges. Take care with the heat gun though as you can melt the foam into something unusable. I used Acrylic Matte Medium to fill in the cut marks and smooth out the corners. Once everything is dry take a piece of 1/8" foam and cut to the overall size of the insert, cut two of these. The first one will be the back of the box, the second the front. Use contact cement to glue the back layer onto the insert.

The structure is just a box made of 3/8" plywood. I made it so the side walls cover the backing. With the foam on the inside the back doesn't need to hold the walls square, rather they stay square from the foam on the inside. I cut the back piece slightly oversize from the foam, the foam had shrunk and was no longer square from the heat gun. Glue the foam to the back piece, you should have a slight overhang of foam. Once everything was dried I was able to use the fence on my table saw to square up all the edges again. Now that I made a sandwich of foam and plywood, I needed to make sides for my box. After measuring the sides I was 1 3/8" in depth. I cut the strips with my table saw in one go to make sure the strips were consistent. The top and bottom strips are the same width as the base while the sides are the length plus the top and bottom strips. Measure everything carefully at this point as the strips are going to be the finished sides.

Glue the top and sides strips together using contact cement or wood glue and clamp. Don't overtighten as the foam will compress and warp the plywood out of square. Once the glue is dry you need to nail the entire structure together. Make sure to drill pilot holes of every nail or screw you use. Use 2 nails on the sides to hold the top and bottom strips together and use 2 nails per side to hold the back piece on.

I wanted the body to be a nice flat black and the insert to be of a hammered finish. To make the different pieces different colors requires painting tape. I just taped the insert and used a flat black acrylic spray paint for the main body.

Once the paint is dry on the body, remove the tape and apply tape to the dried edges. You can then spray the insert a contrasting color.

The lid or cover needs to be the same dimensions as you box body, cut from the same 3/8" plywood. The lid also needs a layer of foam to finish the box, but I was afraid the glue wouldn't hold on top of the paint. Using painters tape I created a lip that I could paint and leave the wood inside raw for the glue to hold onto. The lip needs to be at least 3/8" to clear the edges of the box body. Spray the lip and once dry remove the tape. You can now glue the foam into the lid, the pain lines also give you a guide to keep everything even.

Now is you chance to make the Book of the Dice your own. Do you want to burn a logo or sigil into the cover? Paint a heraldic crest onto it? Or go with a leather bound cover like I did?

I had a bag of scrap leather from a craft store that I use for odd projects. Not wanting to have a plane single piece of leather covering my book I decided to stich three pieces together.

The three pieces are stitched together using a simple whip stitch. I used artificial sinew and a glovers needle. Prior to stitching I use rubber cement to hold the pieces together. This lets you keep the pieces together and reposition as you need without a true bind. I follow the edge of the exposed edge to create a unique pattern. Once all the stitching is done I return to the back of the leather and trim the excess off to create a finished seam.

With a sheet of stitch leather that is large enough for you cover use contact cement to glue the leather to the surface. Trim the edge to fit the cover. Make sure to follow the instructions of the cement, as this piece will get a lot of use. Once dry I used edge coat to cover the raw leather, but a paint marker would work as well.

With the cover completed it's time to fit it all together. Using hinges and a clasp from a wood hobby store, carefully drill pilot holes into the edge of the cover. Use a regular screwdriver, not an electric, as you can very easily over tighten.

You now have your very own Book of the Dice. The nice thing about this project is that the location of the cavities in the book is subject to what you want it to carry. Do you want a book for you LARP that carries poison vials? Make the cavities a different shape! Or you don't like the leather cover and want one covered in feather? Break out the hot glue gun.

The basic structure lends itself to a lot of uses. Hope you enjoyed the instructable on The Book of the Dice. Klaatu Barada Necktie, err Nectar.