# Dice pens - IAP inspired



## Mark (Dec 7, 2010)

Thanks for the inspiration. I built these two yesterday. I'm happy with them. I just need to work out a few bugs, like not seeing the CA when I'm done assembly of the dice. 

Any and all comments are welcome. Good or bad, it's all an education. Thanks..


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## ctubbs (Dec 7, 2010)

That is two good looking pens you have there.  Would the dice stay attached to the tube if they were epoxied there instead of CA?  Just a thought.
Charles


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## bitshird (Dec 7, 2010)

Cool pens,. I'd never thunk of such a thing.    Thunk is a valid Tennessee verb, such as to have thought, but with an redneck flavor.


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## Mark (Dec 7, 2010)

Thanks Charles. I'll try epoxy. 

I'll give anything a try once. I CA'd the dice together in a jig and then drilled them for the tubes. I'll try drilling them first and gluing them each on the tube individually. That would eliminate the CA in between each of the dice.


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## LarryDNJR (Dec 7, 2010)

Looks nice I was working on a very similar design about 4 months ago.  For the life of me I couldn't keep the Dice centered and kept burning them so I gave up.  

Those do look great though, good job!


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## Mark (Dec 7, 2010)

Thanks much. I didn't thunk them up. I saw a thread some time back where one like that was done.

I assembled the dice in a jig. Basically two pieces of wood glued together to give me a 90 degree corner to place the dice into. Lined it with wax paper. Glued them up.


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## jttheclockman (Dec 7, 2010)

Did you have to do anything with the dice to get the tube to fit length wise???  Looks good. Thanks for showing.


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## Mark (Dec 7, 2010)

Just happens 3 dice fill a cigar upper tube. 4 go on several pens, I'm just working on an acceptable transition to fill out the rest of the tube. Thanks for looking.


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## Drstrangefart (Dec 7, 2010)

Mark said:


> Thanks Charles. I'll try epoxy.
> 
> I'll give anything a try once. I CA'd the dice together in a jig and then drilled them for the tubes. I'll try drilling them first and gluing them each on the tube individually. That would eliminate the CA in between each of the dice.


 

We did the same thing. They glue to the tube, and the trace of excess bonds the dice together without huge globs bleeding out. We drilled them individually in a self-centering vise.
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	



The better your centering skills are, the better your results will be. Drilled the top die just past the halfway mark to make the cap.


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## Mark (Dec 7, 2010)

I initially glued them up in the jig to eliminate any wandering of the dice once glued. I've since cut small triangles and set them on a thin strip of wood. I should be able to build a swirling stack, or just a 45 deg turn on each dice if need be.

Side benefit. The pen won't roll off the desk... :biggrin:


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## Drstrangefart (Dec 7, 2010)

Mark said:


> I initially glued them up in the jig to eliminate any wandering of the dice once glued. I've since cut small triangles and set them on a thin strip of wood. I should be able to build a swirling stack, or just a 45 deg turn on each dice if need be.


 
I did my first stacks of dice on a jig I made by folding one side of an old computer tower down. They don't wander once glued. Even with the thick CA they bond in like 3 seconds. I watched my brother in law try to break apart a stack of 4 dice I made and couldn't do it without using tools. It was pretty amusing. I turned my first dice pen down for the translucent acrylic. Looks okay, but it did lose some of it's visual edge.


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## Mark (Dec 7, 2010)

I got the 16mm opaque dice for the trial runs. I have another 400 on the way of the 19mm translucent dice. They should be here tomorrow or Thursday (I hope).

Lots of stuff to do with them. I just need to find the time.


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## navycop (Dec 7, 2010)

Drstrangefart said:


> Mark said:
> 
> 
> > Thanks Charles. I'll try epoxy.
> ...




How did you get the tube in? Did you drill halfway on both ends of the top die?


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## fernhills (Dec 8, 2010)

bitshird said:


> Cool pens,. I'd never thunk of such a thing.    Thunk is a valid Tennessee verb, such as to have thought, but with an redneck flavor.



  I thunk so.....  Neat pen.   Carl


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## phillywood (Dec 8, 2010)

Mark, I admire your creativity, but am curious to know how does it feel when you hold it in your hand to write? It seems that your round shape hand against a square edged pen will not feel comfortable, unless it's just for the looks and not the functionality. soem of the design I see now a days are basically for the looks and I am not sure if they feel right once you really want to put them to work.
Nice job on the pens though. I am sure that they were challenging to put them together.


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## Stick Rounder (Dec 8, 2010)

Creativity strikes again!!  Good looking pens.  Even better idea.


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## Mark (Dec 8, 2010)

Phillip, The square edges are high enough in the hand that they lay in the the web between your thumb and index finger, or slightly higher if one has a small hand.. It's not uncomfortable at all. That being said, the pen does feel top heavy. I've been using one at work for a day or so. The bottom has a normal Cigar style feel. I'm going to try a bottom out of Tru-Stone to try and get it a bit more balanced.

Doug, All the creativity credit goes to the IAP. I saw one like it in a thread sometime back. I just decided to give it a go and see what I came up with.


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## wizard (Dec 8, 2010)

Mark, That is cool and very creative. Striking! Doc


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## Mark (Dec 8, 2010)

Thank you Doc. They are nothing like your wonderful creations, but I do appreciate the compliment...


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## ToddMR (Dec 8, 2010)

Mark have to be honest here, its not really my cup of tea on this one.  I mean you did a great job on them from the pictures.  Just not feeling it, seems, I dunno, kind of dicey to me.  lol Bad pun I know, but seriously, might do well in Vegas.    Good work as always all the same.


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## Mark (Dec 8, 2010)

lol. Not Vegas, but something like that. Thanks..

Here is the original post: http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=37242

Thank you John and Dean for creating a great idea.


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## Drstrangefart (Dec 8, 2010)

navycop said:


> Drstrangefart said:
> 
> 
> > Mark said:
> ...


 
Nope. Put the dice on one by one. The top was last. It's a longer tube than normal to accomodate 4 dice.


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## phillywood (Dec 8, 2010)

Mark said:


> Phillip, The square edges are high enough in the hand that they lay in the the web between your thumb and index finger, or slightly higher if one has a small hand.. It's not uncomfortable at all. That being said, the pen does feel top heavy. I've been using one at work for a day or so. The bottom has a normal Cigar style feel. I'm going to try a bottom out of Tru-Stone to try and get it a bit more balanced.
> 
> Doug, All the creativity credit goes to the IAP. I saw one like it in a thread sometime back. I just decided to give it a go and see what I came up with.


Mark, I hope you know that I like your design, it's creative and it looks great I was just concern about the feel of it. Now that you said it sits in the right place then the other issue would be that it's top heavy. OK, what kind of kit did you use, and how much of the weight of the dice row was finally drilled out yielding the weight of the upper part. 
Here is an idea; what if you use a smaller dice to drill out most of the material yielding to a less weight to kind of balance the top heaviness. Or if you can cast a blank resembling the dice, but less heavier, so your design concept is not impacted and you can keep the weight at a more comfortable feel?
BTW, wouldn't Tru-stone add more weigh to overall desgin and therefore the pen?
somehow, I think you need to keep the look meanwhile reducing the weight.
the other point that comes to mind is that don't dices come in diffferent materails for different hands and games?


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## Rfturner (Dec 8, 2010)

interesting idea I think that it would look better set at 45 degrees to each other


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## boxerman (Dec 8, 2010)

Very cool pen.


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## Mark (Dec 8, 2010)

phillywood said:


> Mark, I hope you know that I like your design, it's creative and it looks great I was just concern about the feel of it. Now that you said it sits in the right place then the other issue would be that it's top heavy. OK, what kind of kit did you use, and how much of the weight of the dice row was finally drilled out yielding the weight of the upper part.
> Here is an idea; what if you use a smaller dice to drill out most of the material yielding to a less weight to kind of balance the top heaviness. Or if you can cast a blank resembling the dice, but less heavier, so your design concept is not impacted and you can keep the weight at a more comfortable feel?
> BTW, wouldn't Tru-stone add more weigh to overall desgin and therefore the pen?
> somehow, I think you need to keep the look meanwhile reducing the weight.
> the other point that comes to mind is that don't dices come in diffferent materails for different hands and games?


I used the Cigar hardware for these pens. I did not put the top on a scale, but decided to compare it to a regular Cigar top end piece. Actually there is not a whole lot of difference. the Dice piece is ever so slightly heavier. I've canceled the tru-stone bottom, due to added weight as you have mentioned. There are different dice for different games, however, I opted for the 16mm because they were opaque. I ordered the 19mm because they were translucent and found they would indeed be too big for this application.



Rfturner said:


> interesting idea I think that it would look better set at 45 degrees to each other


I've glued up a 45 deg stack but haven't done anything with it yet. THe only thing holding me up is the clip. I'm not certain how I want it to look when complete.



boxerman said:


> Very cool pen.


Thank you very much.


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## navycop (Dec 9, 2010)

Drstrangefart said:


> Drilled the top die just past the halfway mark to make the cap.


 
How did you get the tube in? Did you drill halfway on both ends of the top die?[/quote]

Nope. Put the dice on one by one. The top was last. It's a longer tube than normal to accomodate 4 dice.[/quote]
 Okay call me slow. I just cann't get the concept of the top die. It has to have a hole on both ends-1 for the tube and 1 for the clip?


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## Mark (Dec 9, 2010)

navycop said:


> Drstrangefart said:
> 
> 
> > Drilled the top die just past the halfway mark to make the cap.
> ...



Mike, There was another pen, with no clip, posted to this thread that I had nothing to do with. If you are asking about that pen, see this thread and I'm certain your questions will be answered. http://www.penturners.org/forum/showthread.php?t=71632

If you are asking about the pair I did, then yes, the Dice were drilled just as you would drill an acrylic, glued to the tube and then assembled (clip and all)


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## workinforwood (Dec 9, 2010)

That's very cool Mark.


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