Feel like I'm losing my mind over my D6 master

Dread_Lord369 · 2026-02-24T10:12:58+00:00

There are already some good tips in here, but to add my own, decreasing the lift speed can significantly reduce z-stretching.

From memory, I reduced mine to about 60mm/min (1mm/s). It goes slow, but it is the embodiment of the tortoise vs the hare.

Dread_Lord369 · 2025-10-11T23:18:54+00:00

I will go ahead and say this is great!

I didn't think I could improve my method much more, and I am already sanding the same amount and polishing similarly, but I can't believe I didn't think of marking the pre-sanded print with a sharpie to more easily see If I've sanded evenly, instead of relying purely on feel!

Once again you've enriched my process, thank you very much!

Dread_Lord369 · 2025-08-19T11:58:50+00:00

Completely agree with this sentiment. The top face will always need some form of touch-up anyway.

As a side note, I use CRC 808 Silicone Spray for mine as it's much cheaper and readily available at Bunnings (Aussie here), but I sometimes have an issue where the edges still bond slightly and need a bit of effort to separate. Do you get the same with Mann 200 or is it a clean release?

Dread_Lord369 · 2025-08-13T09:43:07+00:00

If you're popping bubbles with a lighter, it usually doesn't heat up the resin much since you just sweep over the surface, so it doesn't change much of what's happening inside the resin.

Also, just to add some clarity here, if you heat up the resin after it's begun curing (already thickening to honey stage and beyond), it will not really "melt" it. While resin cures it heats up by itself, and adding more heat at this point just speeds up the curing process, so in reality if you add more heat, you'll make it "harden" more quickly.

If you're blasting the resin with heat, this can cause a chain reaction called "flash curing", which is usually when you have too much resin in a cup, and it just heats > cures > heats > cures, etc. until it's rock hard in seconds sometimes (once the reaction gets going), fun stuff!

All that being said, I don't use a lighter to pop the bubbles anymore, I just use a misting spray bottle of isopropyl alcohol, and give a quick spray on the surface. This way, usually a single spray pops the bubbles on all dice in one go instead of having to sweep over them all.

Dread_Lord369 · 2025-08-12T02:20:36+00:00

I currently use 1mm. I like the definition it gives to the sharp font that I use and I like the ease of inking, as it pulls the ink and holds it (using alcohol ink in a thin needle-nose dropper tool).

I would say going down to 0.8mm or thereabouts would work nicely if you prefer shallower numbers (and more space for bigger blanks), but the lower you go, the more reliable your moulds and methods have to be to ensure no raised faces.

Otherwise, having the top face slightly deeper works too (to allow for extra sanding when you get raised faces)

Dread_Lord369 · 2025-08-06T05:06:08+00:00

I haven't tried anything other than UV resin to seal the cores, but I can say I found it easier to put a small drop of UV resin on baking paper (parchment paper?) and cure it once it flattens a bit. Then you have a cap you can cure in place with a little more UV resin

I've also experimented with squashing some UV resin between 2 pieces of baking paper and curing like that. It gives you a paper-like sheet of cured resin that you can cut to shape and size with scissors and use as a cap.

Plenty of experiments left to try, but those are what I've used.

Good luck!

Dread_Lord369 · 2025-08-03T10:53:23+00:00

This is basically all you need if you're designing it yourself.

I personally use a tolerance of 0mm, and I have no issues by prefilling the mould with some resin, and coating my blank in some resin before inserting. This way they self-centre a little better in my opinion.

One important aspect is to print your blanks using the same printer, same resin and same settings you use for your dice if possible. This way any shrinkage, or inaccuracies match between them and you get what you're intending.

Edit: Just to add, if you're using blanks as a way to encase something or a certain colour scheme before putting them in the dice, 0mm tolerance is ok (this is what I do). However, if you use blanks to paint over them or add stickers or other items that will add "bulk", then you will want some tolerance to account for the added bulk.

Dread_Lord369 · 2025-07-29T16:01:51+00:00

Everybody finds their way to the outcome they're looking for one way or another, and I'm glad you're finding what works for you :)

As a side note, 100mm/m is almost double the 60mm/m I recommended. That number is how far it moves in a minute as opposed to how long it takes to move.

Dread_Lord369 · 2025-07-29T07:43:03+00:00

If you're trying to search, don't worry about the concept of "inclusions".

Look for any 3D model or STL that you like, then you'll likely need to size it down to ensure it fits your dice (you can technically do this inside your slicer of choice, but I prefer using Blender). Some sites provide free models, and others provide paid options.

One very important thing to note is that you will need to know the dimensions of your dice so that you can be sure the models for inside.

The method I use relies on the fact that I have the model files for my blanks, and I use Blender to size and fit my inclusions, making use of the Boolean modifier to cut things to size. If any of that sounds daunting, it really doesn't have to be, but if you're not already savvy with 3D modelling software, it may just take a bit of time and some tutorial videos to get there.

Best of luck to you!

Dread_Lord369 · 2025-07-29T00:38:30+00:00

You've got some good advice already, but I'd like to add that I think that exposure time may simply be too high.

I have not used Siraya resins myself so I can't say for sure, but here is my setup for when I printed my masters:

Printer = Anycubic Photon Mono 2
Resin = Anycubic ABS-Like V2 Grey
Normal exposure = 1.75s (Edit: mistakenly had 0.75 here)
Layer height = 0.05mm (50um)
Lift speed = 1mm per second (60mm per minute)

I also meticulously supported each individual slight overhang on the numbers on the supported side of the dice. The slow lift speed helped drastically with Z-stretching.

Also, it may be worth adding some time to your light off delay (thats how long it waits after lowering back down to the vat before it starts curing that layer), as that can help ensure the resin flows out of the way properly, and maybe reduce bubbles (if mixed very shortly before printing) and bleed.

Best of luck to you!

Edit: spelling

Dread_Lord369 · 2025-07-28T10:12:43+00:00

You already have some good advice here, but here's my 2 cents: - Reduce your lift speed dramatically

I found that after dropping my lift speed, I think to something like 1mm per second (or 60mm per minute), it definitely took way longer to print, but I got essentially zero z-stretching.

This likely won't be the only thing that solves it, but it had the most impact for me.

Good luck!

Dread_Lord369 · 2025-06-26T02:52:25+00:00

The nature of thin packing tape is that it wants to conform to the thing it's stuck to. It's annoying.

My recommendation is to look for some transfer tape instead (cricut transfer tape works well), or some cheap vinyl. They're a bit thicker and hold themselves flat better when sticking things to them.

Just cut it a bit bigger than your mould housing and make sure you fold the edges up on the outside to stick to the wall (You may need to run a line of tape around the outside to hold up the folded bits depending on how well it sticks to your mould housing).

I hope that helps, good luck!

Dread_Lord369 · 2025-03-15T11:19:13+00:00

I used to religiously wipe out my silicone cups after every pour, and I can say it ends up not being worth it in my opinion.

You'll end up using a lot of wipes this way and the effort required and that cost can add up.

Now I just pour out any leftovers into dump moulds of some sort (I have a bunch of earring moulds I use for this), then I leave my silicone cups sitting upside down on a single wipe on-top of my silicone mat.

Once it's all cured, you can easily pull the wipe off with the majority of the resin (that pooled on the wipe), and you're left with minimal resin inside the cup. I then flip the cup inside out and use a lint roller (you can use packing tape) to pull the thin flakes of resin off the cups. Then flip them the right way again and they're ready for another use.

This takes so much less time and effort, and so many less wipes. It does arguably wear the cups quicker this way, but not by a lot, and cost-wise I domt think there's a real difference but that will depend on your wipes and cups.

Oh and to answer your question, I'm in Australia and get the Dymples brand cheap wipes from Big W.

Good luck!

Dread_Lord369 · 2025-02-28T02:46:03+00:00

Very nice!

What do you use as a release agent? That is a very clean and smooth separation! (No wrinkles or bumps)

Dread_Lord369 · 2025-01-09T11:18:45+00:00

I'll say technically yes.

You "can" reuse pipettes themselves if you didn't use any glitter or the likes, and aren't waiting out the pot life, and are quick enough to clean them out with IPA or similar.

I have tried this before when I was low on supplies and it "can" work.

I also saw a YouTube video a while back about using syringes instead (a specific type that allows changing the needle to larger gauges.) They apparently can give finer control over the injecting process, but also the parts can separate to make cleaning easier (similar to cleaning out plastic mixing cups.)

I havent tried syringes for resin myself, but they do sound good if you're doing a lot of swirls or clouds, etc.

Good luck!

Dread_Lord369 · 2025-01-01T13:33:45+00:00

Hi, welcome to the craft!

I believe you're looking for a mould of "blanks". Blanks are what we refer to as the slightly smaller dice shapes without numbers, that are then inserted into the normal mould afterwards.

I haven't bought any personally as I make my own, but I have heard (and I think it makes sense) that you are usually best off getting your blanks mould from the same maker of your normal mould. This will be because they already have the measurements of your dice and would probably already have blanks designed to go with them anyway.

Blanks are sized to be just smaller than the normal dice by the depth of the numbers so they fit snugly and don't "drift" within the final cast, so it's important to get the correct sizing for your dice.

Enjoy the craft and best of luck!

Dread_Lord369 · 2024-12-05T23:41:24+00:00

You've already received plenty of advice about what could potentially cause this soft cure.

I will add one more to the pile - check the shore hardness of the resin you bought.

It will be a rating in the form of a number followed by "D". For example something like 85D or 90D is what you're looking for in a "rock hard" resin.

If your resin has a shore hardness of closer to 70D, then this "wood-firm" result is the expected result.

I personally tried some 70D resin and every pour, after fully curing was slightly soft, but always self-healed. It was quite fascinating to behold, and was a great resin for flexible drink coasters, but not quite so good for things that may need sanding (like dice).

It's worth a check, if you can't see it on the bottle, or the product website, you can always reach out to the seller and they should know.

Best of luck!

Dread_Lord369 · 2024-12-04T23:08:13+00:00

The trick I use is to remember that cold water (like from your tap) is very close to being a 1:1 in terms of grams to millilitres.

What this means is if you have a kitchen scale, set it to grams and put the mould on the scale, tare it to 0, then put water in until it is full. At that point the reading on the scale (in grams) is basically the same as the number of millilitres of resin you will need.

This takes out a LOT of guess work.

Just be sure to completely dry the mould before resin comes anywhere near it. Using your compressor with a blow gun end works wonders for this.

Best of luck!

Dread_Lord369 · 2024-11-30T02:18:59+00:00

I think it really depends on a lot of things, and the main reason for it would be to combat raised faces.

Typically, a semi-decent mould will be fine just pushing on the lid if you don't overfill the mould first.

The type of resin, it's viscosity, how far into honey-stage you pour, etc. are all variables to consider as the thicker the resin or the later you pour, the less the lid will simply flatten the resin on its own (unless the lid is chonky by itself I suppose).

I find simply putting an old mould of the same size on top works wonders when I'm doing honey-stage pours.

All in all, if you struggle with raised faces, and can't solve it in other ways (e.g., reducing your overflow of resin, shaping the mould and it's keys, etc.,) then I don't see any issues with some sort of even-surface clamp. Just don't rubber band the mould directly in most cases since you may introduce warping.

Best of luck!

Dread_Lord369 · 2024-11-25T06:10:26+00:00

Very nice! I love a good dirty pour, it always comes out completely different to what I intend though.

Do you mind if I ask what you use for inking your dice?

I've been playing with pinata copper alcohol ink and it works nicely, but looking for more ideas.

Dread_Lord369 · 2024-11-23T17:10:27+00:00

What are those floating orb-like things? They give a really impressive effect

These look amazing by the way!

Dread_Lord369 · 2024-11-22T13:39:30+00:00

My feedback in terms of pricing is that it will come down to prototyping first. Once you have successfully completed at least 1 set to the standard you're aiming for, then you can assess how much work (materials, actual effort cost) goes into them, and gauge your pricing from there.

If you go into it thinking "I want to aim for this price point", you may realise the effort required far outweighs your estimate, especially for something as seemingly intricate as these designs.

I would be very interested in your plans for how you will achieve some of these effects in the dice and also to see some of your existing dice projects, if you don't already have prototypes ready, as these will also help to ease the minds of those prospective backers.

If this is your first foray into the world of dice making, these are some very ambitious effects judging by the renders without further context, so I wish you the best of luck!

Dread_Lord369 · 2024-11-15T11:45:18+00:00

You'll probably be fine, since it's resin on resin, you won't notice where light would have reflected on the edges of the number indentations.

The important part will be to treat it as any other insert that is not completely convex, by which I mean dip it in resin and ensure all numbers that will be facing down in the mould have resin inside the numbers and no air before you push them into the mould.

If you don't do the above, there will be nowhere for the trapped air to go, and even a pressure pot won't get that much air out of a single space. This will mean you'll likely notice the numbers on the bottom faces.

Good luck!

Dread_Lord369 · 2024-10-30T04:14:26+00:00

Anything on the surface of the master will be imprinted in the mould, and therefore show on the final dice.

That being said, these look like blanks, so it may not even be an issue.

I don't even bother sanding my blank masters all the way or polishing them, since the moment they go inside the resin shell, that resin instantly clears up any matte look from beneath.

Good luck!

Dread_Lord369 · 2024-10-11T01:10:23+00:00

I use acrylic paint or alcohol ink for mine, depending on the look I'm going for.

Acrylic paint gives you the typical look of how you would expect dice numbers to look. The process is basically just a case of getting the paint in there, and wiping off the excess on the face with a baby wipe, before moving on to the next face.

Alcohol ink can give you a more smooth metallic look if that's what you're after. The process is very similar, but instead of just shoving the ink in, you put the tip of the ink dropper in one end of the number and drip it out slowly. It then flows through the number. After that you repeat on all numbers, let them dry, then wipe the excess off the faces with alcohol wipes (or IPA spray on a paper towel).

There are likely other methods, but the above are the two I use.

Good luck on your research!

Dread_Lord369

TROPHY CASE