RPG Spinner (D20,D12,D10,D8,D6,D4)

I started this little project with little more than a dream of making a silly toy actually do something useful for us nerds. The first version I made had 1-20 on one side and 1-10 on the other. I decided to shoot the moon and get 6 different dice sets of numbers on it when I re-designed it.

Step 1: Designing the Dial

To start with, I designed the dial for each side using Excel tables. (This is also why all of the numbers are facing the same direction) It's a complicated table, but not difficult to work out. From there I took screenshots of each side and made svg files out of them. (There's tutorials and free services out there to help with this)

Step 2: Design in Tinkercad

Once I got a good set of svg files I imported them into tinkercad and used them to make holes in a cog design. The most important thing to do when making a spinner is get the sizing right. Standard 608 bearings (this is what almost all spinners use) require a 22mm hole to be pressed into and the thickness of your design should only be 7mm.

Step 3: Design a Cap

You can either design a cap for your spinner, or do like I did and modify a cap style you like to make yours. I found one that I really liked and modded it to make the custom one you see in my pictures. The original design can be found here (https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2320555) I highly recommend his design as a starting point for designing quality caps.

Step 4: Get to Printing

Here it is, the final step. Load the files in your slicer and print them out.

Comments

[Itsatrav]

awesome idea has there been any complaints with the spacing of the numbers it seems the higher numbers are focused on one side any great idea

[TheGreyWolfe]

No complaints with this one. my first one had some complaints cause the numbers weren't randomized. The only thing I don't like is the numbers aren't aligned to the center like I'd like.

[seamster]

Very cool idea, I love that you've taken the fidget spinner and added a new level of functionality. Solid work! :)

[Greylurk]

Did you print in red, then paint the surface gold?

[TheGreyWolfe]

When I sliced it to print, I preset a pause at 1mm and again at 6mm. When it paused I just changed my filaments.

[Greylurk]

Neat! Now I'd like to see if there's a way to do 4dF and/or 2d6 on a single spinner. But that's 81 or 36 outcomes respectively, which could be ugly to fit on a single spinner.

[TheGreyWolfe]

Yeah, that might be a bit on the difficult side.

[boter2099]

OK - Awesome 'ible, and great build... but.... as a DM, I wouldn't allow it.

My problem with all of these "Dice" alternatives is that they take the randomness out of dice. This is a spinner plan and simple, like twister or wheel of fortune. And yes, if you start on a number, and spin with the right speed/ force you can get to any other number you want - sorry you can.

I also have this same gripe with dice towers. One of my buddies recently tried to cheat with one. He'd line his dice up on a little shelf thing, tip it and the dice would fall down the tower, in a predictable way. I was not impressed when I figured that out.

But I am impressed with this build!

[TheGreyWolfe]

Thanks. Sounds like you've had a lot more problems with cheating players than I have. Works pretty good with a good bearing in it I was able to get it to spin for about a minute.