Master Dice Tutorial : Sanding and Polishing your masters!

Anyone getting into handmade custom dice making is eventually going to want a nice set of Master Dice. Here I show you what to expect, and how to get them ready for casting molds!
The Blue Mimic: www.thebluemimic.com/
Pottery Wheel: www.amazon.com/Pottery-Machin...
Garage Quest Dice Shop: GarageQuest.etsy.com
Instagram: @GarageQuest

[@terranaut2]

This is BY FAR the most detailed dice sanding guide I've ever seen as a beginner to dicemaking. You demonstrate each step at regular speed before timelapsing it, and explain differences in doing things by hand vs. using a pottery wheel. You talk about why each step is happening and trade-offs for not doing so. It's all in an engaging, clear and medium-paced tone of voice. I am totally following your instructions when I sand my first masters (ClericsComponents on Etsy), which I've had for months but felt too afraid to sand till I saw your video. We have the same pottery wheel, but I was having trouble figuring out how to use it well, beyond keeping the face completely level. I'd oversand one side on my dice because I didn't know when to stop and would worry it wasn't enough. Thank you for showing that placement on the wheel head of each face; I finally have a sense of timing, and also know now to trust in the process, rather than sanding obsessively. I would love to know when to throw out Zona papers or any sandpaper-when are they fully used up? Thank you for making this video! Some tutorials get so caught up in production value (music, cuts, etc.) that the essence gets lost a bit in the effects. Yours was very straightforward and funny and I appreciate that. :) Sorry this comment's awkwardly long, my mind is just blown, this has been frustrating me for months.

[@Zenith8924]

This was incredibly helpful. I really appreciate you taking the time to make this video.

[@allisoncampbell1631]

So glad I am not the only one that put my logo on the 1 face..I know too many D&D players that have an emotional response to seeing the 20

[@cookingupatizzy]

Thank you for the video! This is one of my favorite dice sanding videos out there! (I have watched a lot of them XD.)

[@p3prue]

thank you for this! it was a great tutorial

[@Miniru]

Materials required: 600 grit Dura Gold/We Dry sheets Flat surface. (Uses glass from picture frame) Water. Polishing paper - Zona Tape (attach zona paper to pottery wheel) Mini pottery wheel 1. Give every face on the die a sanding. Dip in water, tap and create small puddle on the sandpaper. 2. Circular motions, even pressure. 3. Check often to ensure not sanding off edges. 4. Polishing. Lay down the zona paper and just like with sanding, do a full minute with wet dice each face. 100 strokes in a circle each face. OR USE A POTTERY WHEEL. 5. Polish to perfection by moving the dice in an opposite direction to the wheel. Slowly complete a full circle for each face. And doing each zona paper type one after another.

[@WrokkerGaming]

Are you planning to do the next video between this and making the molds soon? Just received my Blue Mimic masters and cannot wait to get them done! :) Your tutorial is awesome, very informative and easy to follow, so thank you :)

[@GarageQuest]

The only thing that needs to be done is to drill the hole and super glue in the toothpick. let dry 24 hours and then you are ready to cast molds. Next time I have a new master to drill I can try to put a vid up for you!

[@joelwitherspoon930]

This is great. Thanks for this vid. For some reason, the sound is only coming though the left channel

[@sarahtipton7110]

You hyped up my Alexa 😂

[@illusive3150]

Thank you for that lovely guide, and well done on those dice. Thankfully I was already aware of the tools, just uncertain as to the technique. Too many edges or corners have been lost to the past pottery wheel attempts, I'm afraid - though admittedly it was a very poor quality PW. I was going about the Zona's all wrong, too. I'd try to do anywhere between 20-40 circular rotations. 100?? Yikes! But I certainly can't argue with the results! Off to buff my arm like Quagmire from Family Guy until I can get a pottery wheel!

[@GarageQuest]

well im glad you can get some useful info out of this. if your buffing your arm like Quagmire you might be doing this wrong haha

[@illusive3150]

@@GarageQuest Or simply by hand. The pottery wheel is still on the purchase list. ;)

[@alenaz2081]

Thanks so so much for this video. iI'm about to embark on my first selfmade dice journey and this has been really helpful. Quick question: the masters I ordered come specifically not completely cured. Would you do this sanding/polishing process before or after finishing the curing process? (I guess same goes for the dice that are then also cast)

[@matthewwright7256]

Fantastic video, thank you for making this. The wheel you recommend is unavailable, do you have any other recommendations?

[@macewen1]

I have the same type of small pottery wheel (just starting my dice making adventure) and it looks like the smaller of the two wheels that came with mine is about 2.5 in and the larger is a hair under 4 in. I see a lot of folks taping square pieces of polishing paper to their wheel. Have you tried using a circle die cut to cut 2in circles of your polishing paper? It may get you a better grip with your tape. I am def going to try it.

[@GarageQuest]

Thats an idea. Let me know how it goes

[@danteinferno6513]

Thank you for this vid, but I ask myself how you keep same size on all faces? I tried your method with sand paper and glass, but every time I don't manage to keep the same size on every faces, every time some faces are smaller/taller than others because I didn't sand them exactly the same time/the same way ... If one face face has got different size my master is ruined because I cannot fix it , it is a nightmare!

[@DwayneGibbs]

When you told Alexa to kick up the jams my Alexa did it too

[@GarageQuest]

thats awesome

[@GreenEcheveria]

Hey there! Thanks for this it's really helpful. I've seen some people use a polish when polishing actual dice on the last few zona papers. Do you recommend using a polish on masters? My thoughts are that it might chemically interfere with mold curing. Your masters look nice and shiny though! So I don't know that it's necessary.

[@GarageQuest]

I actually do now follow up the zona process with an extra step. I use McGuires Sratch X2. I dip each dice face into it, then I use a dremmel tool with a cotton ball tip to polish the face for about 5 seconds. Wipe it clean and move on to the next. It definitely takes your game up a bit. My dice are now almost wet looking they are so shiney.

[@a_tiny_wrld]

You caused my Alexa to start playing music

[@savannahdempsey9535]

Hope this isn’t a silly question, but isn’t the green/1st zona paper 600 grit?- meaning you do the green sheet twice, according to video (600g, then zona)? Reading the Zona package it says ‘green: 30 micron 600 grit’, not sure if ‘micron’ changes it. Thank you for the video regardless of noob question :3

[@Tyrannatoast]

I don't know how dumb of a question this is but I have zona paper and a pottery wheel and I did exactly how you explained in the video although, I noticed on my dice after the first green zona paper that the center of my dice don't seam to be getting sanded at all it gets really close to sanding the center but no matter how much I do it theirs still this pretty noticeable circle of untouched area. are my dice messed up or do I just really need to make every surface flat? I'm just afraid of removing too much material.

[@GarageQuest]

Yeah I would make sure to use a 600 grit wet dry sandpaper before zonas, like I do in the video. This will get your surface nice and flat. You don't need to do it much. But if you are losing numbers, then you've sanded too long or your masters need deeper numbers. hope this helps.

[@luciliaillustris]

can you use a vibrating tumbler to polish your masters, or is it ill-advised?

[@joelwitherspoon930]

I tried that and it worked for my colored die, but my clear die was a little fuzzy, still. I sanded my clear die first then polished and it came out better.

[@SANFRAN]

how often do you need to change out zona paper to where it is no good anymore?

[@GarageQuest]

OFTEN. I go through a lot of Zona paper. I never do two sets on the same spot. so I probably get like 10 sets out of one pack of Zonas. Also due to my polishing technique, I go through the last paper a lot faster because I use it twice. So I buy an additional package of just the white paper.

[@16-bitsocks9]

Instead of using a pottery wheel, would it be possible to get the same result with a dremel?

[@JadedPhoenix_]

I have recently purchased masters and some face edges are raised. How do I get them down without sanding the side down too much? I am a little scared to attempt it in case I ruin the masters

[@GarageQuest]

take a photo of the masters now so that if sanding causes the numbers to be lost, you can ask for new masters. if it needs to be sanded down that much, thats on the master maker.

[@TAiiNE]

Quick question: how many uses our of each sheet do you get? I've found with the zona papers that I can barley get though a d20 before it seems like I've warn the paper out and need to replace it.

[@GarageQuest]

are you sanding with a 600 grit wet/sand paper first? that helps reduce the amount of polishing needed to smooth the faces. i cut my papers into squares so they can go on top of a rotary wheel. and each square gets used for the whole set. so I would say one green zona paper lasts me about 7 or 8 sets. I do pretty small circles too. it uses less space on the sheet.

[@TAiiNE]

@@GarageQuest Yeah I start with 600 grit by hand first to clean off any edges where supports were and to smooth the faces. than use a mini pottery wheel almost like yours but not that huge box to sand with the zona papers. Though it still feels like I'm wearing through the zona paper fast, my wheels set to max speed (trying slower caused scuff marks and too hard to keep it flat) and give it a slow swirl per face. I'm not pressing down just holding it in place (wheel would slow/stop dead if pressed down on) Though I notice it don't appear as effective half way through a dice.

[@GarageQuest]

@@TAiiNE have you tried putting a mirror on top of the pottery wheel? i get little circular mirrors and hot glue it onto the rotary wheel. then polish at max speed. lots of water. apply very gentle pressure.

[@TAiiNE]

​@@GarageQuest Oh yes. Though not a mirror but I found small wooden circles meant for costars that I superglued down onto the wheel on top of a layer of double sided tape if I ever need to remove it. than used some wood carving to level off the top and sanded down all the way to 5000 grit. this gave me a flat surface and also ensured it was truly flat and level as it spun. www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0851BXRBD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Thats the wheel. nice and compact and the wood addon is just slightly smaller than the lid so it still fits (though cant close down all the way) but it does give some extra surface space to work with. Kind of jelly the blue flower design one is on sale for 15 now.

[@GarageQuest]

@@TAiiNE even finely sanded wooden has grooves. I would get a mirror. And see if that improves.

[@dustybob21]

Tried watching the video but I only have a right earbud and sadly there was no audio.

[@vampcaff]

Why wouldn't you make a set of masters for a satin finish instead of wasting time sanding every set you cast from a polished masters mold. I'm also glad to see the trend of using those pottery wheels to polish is dying off. No control and poor edge/face geometry retention. That's the difference between $60 machine polished vs $150 hand polished dice.