Daddy Daughter D6 Ring

She is more beautiful than music, gentler than warm air.
She gets twigs and wildflowers caught in her hair and she leaps into my arms just like she did back when she was littler and I was stronger.

She is also into dragons, big time. She loves MTG cards, though neither of us really knows how to play. I figure D&D will be the next phase she will go through. So why not be prepared with a 6-sided die... ring?

Step 1: Life Is Not Black and White: D6

There are so many trivial decisions to be made in the course of a day. When life is too subtle for coin flips, roll a D6!

You will need:

A brass nut larger diameter than your finger (but not much larger) ($1.55)

A socket that will fit it

A drill and bits

A round file or round grinding stone

A center punch ($5)

Sandpapers

Total cost for me was $7.34


First you should freehand the dots onto the sides with a Sharpie where you want the number divots to be. I decided that I wanted the faces to be more gem-like and not overtly dice-like so I planned my own divot layout.

The sides should have a specific order so that no consecutive numbers are adjacent but the opposite sides should add up to 7. From left to right as you go around the ring you should see: 1, 5, 3, 6, 2, 4. This took us an embarrassingly long time to figure out.

Second use a center punch to put divots into the marks. This is an important step because these divots will keep the drill bit from skipping over the faces, marring them.

If you don't have a center punch then I hope you'll buy one. They are indispensable and only cost about $5. You could keep one in your glove box in case of emergency-- nothing would break a car window better than a spring-loaded center punch.

Step 2: One Ring to Roll Them All

Next use a small-ish drill bit to round out the divots. I used my drill press so that I could make the depth of the holes perfectly uniform. Viv thought the shiny little holes were so beautiful!

All that remains to do is to bore out the inside. I recommend using a drill bit the size of the finger you're aiming to fit. If you don't have that you can slowly grind the threads away with a round grinding stone drill bit. This can be slow going and heats up your ring something fierce so try something that cuts like a twist bit or a coarse round file rather than something that grinds.

Give it a polish.

No one's going to carry a die around with them but that doesn't mean there isn't a use for one in just about every situation. Who gets the last cookie? Should I buy that girl a drink? Where should we stop to eat?

And for a few bucks and a little work you'll be able to sport a ring like Claramecium's D6.

Comments

[NathanSellers]

I have been thinking about making a ring out of a nut. thanks for the ideas.

[inkbladder]

I love this. I used to carry a die in my pocket to settle arguments between my kids. One was born in an even year, the other odd. Whichever the die landed on "won". I lost it in a park a while back and never replaced it. I think I'll make this for all three of us. Very cool idea. Thanks.

[emilyvanleemput]

Second Prize! Congratulations!

[claramecium]

To answer all questions, yes, I am his daughter! I wear it as a pinky ring. ;)

[HollyMann]

Congrats on being a finalist - all the prizes for this competition are AWESOME! Good job!

[donedirtcheap]

Oh, thank you for noticing. The prizes are rivaled only by the excellent entries and I'm thrilled to be a finalist. *doffs hat*

[HollyMann]

Well you deserve it! :) And you have a very lucky daughter there!

[AmyCat59]

They look great, and such a cool project to do for your child!
One question: how well do they roll? Do they usually land with a numbered side up, or on their sides with the finger-hole up?
(Even if they don't roll well enough to use regularly for gaming, I know MANY gamers who'd love rings like this just for display!)

[donedirtcheap]

Correct. Modern brass is safe to wear. The warning about copper is funny, considering how many people wear pure copper bracelets for their health benefits.

[spylock]

Copper and brass are safe,we drink water that flows through pipe of copper as well as brass fittings.I as a plumber I believe its more safe than the cpvc plastic that is being installed for water now days.

[donedirtcheap]

After taking high speed video I found that it loses its roll and flops on the side when it's on one of the corners. To eliminate that I rounded off the corners just a bit. That helped. Without that mod they flop about half the time. I had to play with how to best roll them so they wouldn't flop.
Thank you for the encouragement. I'm glad they pleased you.

[Z0M8I3]

Thank you very much for this great idea. I seen this shared on Facebook through instructables page. I loved the idea soo much I went out right after and picked up some supplies and made one for my daughter and self. She recently got into miniature gaming and requested a themed cake.Today is her 8th birthday and she LOVES the ring. It was just the thing I was looking to give her!

[donedirtcheap]

That makes me so happy. Thanks for letting me know.
DDC

[al_packer]

Bear in mind that one of the components of brass is lead, so you should not wear the rings for any extended period of time. (Copper also--remember that it's used to kill the critters that try to attach to the hull of your boat.)

[AmyCat59]

Is this still the case? I know many alloys *used* to have lead (e.g.: pewter, which is why you should never drink from an antique pewter tankard if you haven't lead-tested it), but since the '70s a lot of lead "additives" have been banned, at least in the U.S.A.

[Spokehedz]

How did you get the little secondary divots in each hole? That looks so cool, almost like there is a gemstone in each one.

[donedirtcheap]

Thanks. Since they are brass they were soft enough for a brad point drill bit which gave a little more gem-like dot than a standard twist bit would. You're the only one to notice. It's the little (cheap) details that make all the difference, right?

[Spokehedz]

Oh man that is BRILLIANT! I bet if you were super careful, with a very fine tipped needle in a 1cc syringe you could put a tiiiiiiiiny dot of nail polish/lacquer in that little divot that would make it look like a gemstone. I mean they look like stones already, but that would just be icing on the cake.

[paigeypoo]

OMG i wanted to make them with my dad and he said he will make me one but he wont where one because his fingers are to big still very cool

[donedirtcheap]

I hope he does make you one. They are very useful and pretty. Thanks for the compliment!