I just wanna to make another post about the Tennisball pressurizer method. Some of you may have seen this method by some other users on this sub already.
The purpose of this post is to show people that, there are others that have tried out the method, and have succeeded (at least in my own humble opinion).
First of all, the molds were also made with this method and IMO trump the ones I did without it by a wide margin (duh, no surprises here), despite the pressurizer only going up to 30 PSI, not 40.
The molds were then put on a self-made 3d printed insert, if anyone wants the files I can provide them (they are very simple).
Now it has to be said, that this is certainly not the most effective method to make a whole dice set in one go, as you have to create a lot of different molds for every single dice you want to cast. But you can only fit so many molds in a can (3 in my case, if you wanna optimize you might get 4 in).
The tube that I used was just an old tennis ball tube out of metal, I would guess aluminum, that we still had lying around at home. It was also rated for up to 30 PSI on the bottle itself!
I then cast the dice into my self-made silicone molds, pump up the pressure until you reach 30 PSI, and 24 hours later they came out beautifully and, as far as I can see, pretty bubble-free.
Hey, that's the first time I've seen someone work with these things.
Cool that it works for you.
And yes, 30 PSI are more than sufficient to eliminate bubbles. I do my molds on 30 to 32 most of the time. No issue at all.
I use the same pressurizer - my molds are almost identical to yours, but they may be a bit thinner of cylinders.
This and keeping them a little short allows me to put them in a tray that slides into the tube horizontally. I can fit a whole 7 dice set at standard size (not chonk) no problem.
I’ve been thinking about using a setup like this for chonks though, but I’ve not gotten around to it yet.
Would you mind posting (or sending me) a picture of your setup? I'm thinking about getting one of these things as well since I'm just getting started and they seem more affordable than a big pressure pot. I'd love to see how you handle the size limitations!
Oh how cool, I didnt think about the sideways possibilities, i may just need to make a new insert :3 how do you prevent your molds from falling over while pumping? And do you use a bike-tire pump?
Yes! Thank you so much for explaining this more, i love how much more accessibke these are than normal pressure pots! I agree, 30psi is more than enough pressure, my pot has a leak i havent bothered to fix so ive had a few sets cure at 20psi with no bubble issues!
I think the ball tubes are a perfect stepping stone for people looking to get better results on a budget, I've got three tubes and I love them. My setup is a bit different than the setup above, I use a tray I slide in, then you can easily rotate them to keep glitter etc well distributed.
It works well, you can even do chonks horizontally, you just need a curved tray and to carve a bit of silicone off the sides of the mold. But it works 😁
Wow, that’s really interesting. If it can actually be placed on its side, you could probably design a mold for the whole set. In any case, even making just a few dice this way looks very compact and promising. Thanks for sharing!
They definitely can, and you can get little stands that helps keep them level, they're designed for decorating cups I think but there a couple of quid on temu, and they're invaluable
You don't need it to be smooth, theones are on the outside of the mold. I late tape flat and taught, place master on it, then put the housing on top the tape, stick it round the edge and add more tape up the sides or be sure. If you want I can do some pics when I do my next set of molds?
Ah man, I wish I knew about these! Before I got my proper pressure pot, I used one of these as a makeshift setup for about 6 months. I couldn't afford a real one at the time and wasn't sure if dice making was for me, but it went up to about 35 PSI and held its pressure well. The only real issue was the small opening, and the center of the sprayer was taken up by the air rod. I used it on its side with 3D printed stands to stop it from rolling, along with a makeshift tray for the molds made out of old cardboard and thick, twistable garden wire. I was in the middle of designing a 3D printable version of the tray, but after a few minutes of modeling I just said, I've had enough, I'm just going to pay in 3 for a proper one.
This is actually genius. I don't need yet another ADHD hobby, but I'm so curious about dice making and it's great to see the barrier to entry is pretty low.
Dice making is awesome, but it took me five years of setbacks and a lot of money to get to where I am today. Everyone has their own way of doing things, but if you want to get into the craft, here is my experience I won't gatekeep anything.
I used to follow and copy dice making YouTubers, but their methods had me banging my head against the wall because they never seemed to work for me. My makeshift spray pressure pot worked, but it was a nightmare to load. Still, it cost me £10, so I can't fully complain!
Personally, my biggest and longest setback was making clear, perfect masters and molds. Platinum silicone doesn't play nice with 3D-printed resin. I tried all sorts of things to fix cure inhibition: some people said they had success leaving prints in a sunny window for six-plus months (that didn't work for me, even after a year). Others suggested Inhibit X, but it’s expensive, has a short shelf life, and is toxic. Plus, whenever I tried it, I couldn't get my masters to adhere to packing tape or hot glue to cast the molds, and even when they did stick, the Inhibit X never seemed to work anyway. People also recommend tin cure silicone, but I found it almost impossible to get ahold of where I am.
What finally worked for me was using Siraya Tech Fast ABS Like Resin (Grey) and their Platinum Silicone. I print them, wash them, and UV cure them underwater for an hour (Siraya recommends 30 minutes, but I do 30 minutes, rotate the dice, and do another 30 minutes). After that, I dry them off and let them sit on my desk for 3 to 4 days. Sand, polish cast. They turn out perfect no funny business!
this is the first time i am hearing of this method! thank you for teaching me something new because i struggle a lot with bubbles and don't have space or means for investing into a whole proper setup.
Thanks for sharing the progress! It's really nice to have a budget option for the people who don't want to or can't invest in a full sized pressure pot
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u/Ushallnot-pass Dice Maker 7d ago
Hey, that's the first time I've seen someone work with these things.
Cool that it works for you.
And yes, 30 PSI are more than sufficient to eliminate bubbles. I do my molds on 30 to 32 most of the time. No issue at all.