Model Release: Mechanical Dice Tray/Dice Jail (Patreon)

For our second model release for December, we wanted to design something that makes Dice Trays a little more interesting: introducing our Mechanical Dice Tray with a built-in Dice Jail!

On the table, it starts as a raised dice tray for regular rolling.

If (when) your dice are no longer giving you the crits you deserve, you can then twist the top outer ring of the tower and the top will open to drop your dice into the dice jail below.

The jail cell door can also be left open to function as a dice tower with mini catching tray!

Included in this release

You receive:

Mechanical Dice Tray top with articulated leaves

Pre-coloured .3MF project files for compatible multi colour printers

Larger Dice Tray variant (coming soon!)

Files for this month are provided to active Drake and Ancient Dragon patrons through Google Drive during the release month. Once the models are available on MyMiniFactory, you will receive a reward link so you can add them to your MyMiniFactory library.

Google Drive link for this month's release:

Google drive has been deactivated and model has been moved to MyMiniFactory!

Printing and Assembly

This model is designed to go together with simple push fit pins and a few optional small magnets to ensure the dice tray stays together while rolling.

The triangular dice tray pieces attach to the top of the tower using push fit pins that slot into the top assembly. Ensure the stone detailing on the rolling surface lines up with the adjacent pieces.

To help the tray stay closed during normal rolling, the design has slots for 6 mm by 2 mm round magnets installed between the triangular dice tray pieces and the top of the tower. Check magnet polarity before gluing so the dice tray pieces snap firmly into place when closed. If you're wanting to include magnets in your build, you will need 12 magnets in total.

The tower is designed to print upside down on the build plate so that all of the internal gears and channels are properly supported by the surrounding geometry.

After printing, the gear mechanism may be slightly stuck from first layer squish and minor fusion. Before full assembly, flip the tower right side up and gently press down along the outer ring at the top. This helps dislodge and free the internal gear mechanism so it moves smoothly.

Once the gears rotate freely and the magnets are in place, fit the triangular dice tray pieces and test the open and close action a few times before bringing it to the table.

Printing notes

This model is designed for FDM printing with no supports needed.

General FDM recommendations

Print the tower upside down so the gears and internal channel are self supported

Material: PLA

Nozzle size: 0.4 mm

Layer height: around 0.2 mm (finer is fine, just adjust top and bottom layers accordingly)

Top layers: 4

Bottom layers: 3

Walls: 2

Infill: 10 - 20 percent gyroid (20% lightning infill will also work to save on filament cost)

No supports required for either the tower or tray components under normal conditions

Multi-colour printing

For compatible printers, pre-coloured .3MF project files are included, so you can load them directly into your slicer and either use our colour layout or tweak it to match your own table aesthetic. Note: you can also use a pause-and-swap method for colouring the door simply by inserting pauses into your g-code at 0.2mm, 1.8mm, and 2mm layer heights.

As always, feel free to adjust settings to match your printer and filament. If you find a profile that works especially well, we would be happy to share it with the community.