Kipp's Dice Tower

Kipp's Dice Tower

Before Kipp left for Texas last week, he sent me the link below and asked if I could build this dice tower for him. I looked at it and thought I might play with the design a bit:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPpet_uOccY&t=25s

Kipp likes to play D&D (had a fun but futile time trying to explain this game to Hazem the other day) with his nephew and friends on the weekends. I have only played this game once while visiting Kipp, Theron, and Theseus at Theron's lake cottage. I think I won, but they told me I didn't do it the right way. I do remember a TV movie with Tom Hanks about a teenager who gets lost to the darkside playing D&D, so it is probably better I leave the game alone. Anyway, the game is very popular and I was intrigued by the design of the dice tower. The dice are different shapes and I wanted an internal mechanism that would tumble them sideways then propel them forward from the bottom. Here was my sophisticated design:

The hole at the top is where you would drop the dice. The dice then would hit the first baffle and bounce over to the second. Finally, the dice would hit the 45 degree ramp at the bottom, rolling them out the front of the tower. I chose walnut and maple for the tower and it didn't take me too long to construct:

I was pleased with the way it came out. I put my special oil concoction on it and the walnut and maple really looks good. The only problem at this point was that the dice come hurtling out all over the table. I thought about a solution that would catch the dice but also hold the tower horizontally as case. After lots of calculations, errors, and resizing, I came up with the box:

The tower lays over and sits in the walnut/oak box. I routed 45 degree chamfers around the inside of the box to make it easier to pull the tower out. I also made the groves for the oak bottom a bit big so I could pin it in and have sort of a trampoline effect that also produces a cool sound when the dice hit it:

Never one to leave well enough alone, I started to think of a way to distinguish this simple dice tower as one used for D&D. After a failed attempt, I created what I think is a cool turret for the top (Kipp calls it a battlement, and I have to yield to his expertise here):

https://www.dropbox.com/s/i1q6kg19qqse8lr/IMG_1249.MOV?dl=0

I had a lot of fun with this project, and I got to use the new bandsaw I purchased the other day. Our generous staff gave me a gift certificate for Home Depot and I picked up some new tools :)

A Driftwood Hall Bench

Driftwood Hall Bench

Last week, a faculty member stopped by with a big slab of old pine driftwood. It measured about 36" by 12" by 3" - something you would be hard-pressed to find new these days. He generously offered it to me, but I decided it would be better served in his small cabin near Lake Michigan. We tossed around a few ideas, then decided on some sort of bench or table. Eventually, he thought it would work well as a small bench to be put by the door for folks to take off their boots. I worked out a small sketch, then gave Hazem a call for some metal working help.

The process was a lot of fun. Hazem bought the 1" square tubing from Menards and I cut it into the requisite sizes. While he welded them, I sanded then distressed the slab with chains, pliers, and other assorted objects of mayhem laying around the shop. I sanded and painted the base, then put a coat of tung oil and shellac on the slab. I had to chisel some tenon holes on the bottom of the slab in order to center it on the base, then put it all together. It was a quick project and I learned a bit more about metal working, a goal of mine. 

Hazem welding the square tubing to make the base

The distressed slab before the finish

The finished product :)