How to polish dice
Polishing dice sounds like a daunting process, I thought so at first too. But don’t worry, it’s a straight-forward process and honestly I find it the most relaxing part about making dice.
What are raw dice?
Dice are considered ‘raw’ when they’re out of the mould and not had any extra work done to them. Often times, they have matte looking faces, mould lines, surface scratches and other cosmetic imperfections. While you could trim off the rough edges and slap some paint on the numbers to make these ready to roll, the majority of people prefer a more ‘finished’ look.
Trimming the Edges
If you’ve picked up a DiY polishing kit from us at an event, you’ll notice a nail buffing block has been packed up with your dice. This is what we recommend beginners starting with, as they’ll only trim a little off your dice at a time. If you’re more confident though, you might like to trim any mould lines away with a hobby knife.
If you’re using a nail buffer or nail file, gently brush the file along any rough edges to trim back residual resin left behind from the moulds. If you choose to use a craft knife, lightly scrape along the edges. Don’t push too hard - you may end up cutting into your dice faces or hurting yourself.
Polishing
Your polishing kit will contain 6 sheets of ZONA polishing paper. This is what we use to get a glass-like finish on our sets. It’s up to you how glossy to make your dice, you can stop at any point, and polish as many or as few faces as you like.
The polishing order is green > grey > blue > pink > aqua > white
Going through to grey or blue will result in a frosted matte finish. Continue down through the papers to white if you’re looking for a high-gloss finish.
Lay our papers on a hard, flat surface - we set ours down on a mirror or piece of glass to make sure we’ve got a smooth surface to work on. On each level of paper you’ve decided to use, moisten the paper with a few drops of water. Lightly buff your dice on the papers in a circular motion. Each face takes about 10-20 seconds on each level of paper.
Painting
You can use any acrylic paint for your dice, but we recommend Vallejo or Citadel branded paints for vibrant and long lasting colour.
Lay a damp chux cloth or paper towel out on your work-surface (if you’re doing this at the table, lay down some paper to protect your table from paint). Messily fill in a number with paint, and wipe the excess away on the cloth. Repeat on all the numbers of your dice and set them aside to dry.
Your dice are now finished, if they’re still a little messy from the paint a little isopropyl alcohol on a cloth can be used to tidy up the faces.