Crafting Dice Box Vers. 2

Hi folks, so this post is all about my latest crafting project, a new dice box.  Now this wasn't too difficult of a job, but I did run into a few issues...namely my measuring was off in a few spots so I got creative in how I dealt with it.

To start, I got all I needed from Joann Fabrics.  As you may know they have a bunch of premade boxes, so it was a matter of just picking one.  I happened to like the box they had with a lip on the lid.

I also bought a bag of balsa wood to augment my build.  Now for those who don't know, balsa wood is a very light weight wood, and is like working with foam.  You can cut it with a knife, and considering my limited work space it was what I decided on getting.  Though in the future I'd suggest getting a better crafting wood.

The first thing I did was increase the lip on the lid of the box.  In the image above you can see that I started working on that.  Now I put quite some effort in strengthening the balsa wood here.

• First I sanded where I used contact cement to glue sticks in place, once it was all dry I did some sanding.
• Then I used a glue stick to fill in cracks, and help seal the wood.
• Later I used some wood putty to smooth over cracks.

With the outside done I began planning out the interior.  Now I initially thought I would stain just the outside of the box and leave the inside as it was.  But if there is one common problem I run into it is that I can measure and cut as perfectly as I can, and I'll still be off in my measurements.

I'm certain it has something to do with Math and I not liking each other.

But luckily for me my measurements weren't too off, just off enough to irritate me.

Now in my previous dice box I used felt for the lid and the bottom of the large box, but I figured I'd do something different this time.  I got some foam with adhesive backs, and some cork board (which we happened to have some of).  

I made some dividers with the balsa wood, and wrapped what I needed in foam, I then cut some foam for the bottom of the box where the divided areas would be.

This is where I ran into some trouble.  For my larger dividing wall, I miss judged where to cut the foam.  So when I put the bottom foam in for the main section you could see where the seem was.  In the storage areas this isn't really noticeable.

Well the solution I came up with was to use some wooden dowels and glue them into place to from some runners on the inside of the box.  I then used wood putty to try and smooth out the dowels where they met the wood side of the box.  Unfortunately, the putty didn't exactly blend in.  So I sanded and made the choice to stain the main section of the box, not the smaller pockets.

Once that was all done I got some other foam that I had, cut out spots for the storage sections, and realized that I needed an arm or something to prop the lid open if I needed.  Well I improvised.  I cut a wooden dowel in half, used some thick paper, and wound it around the dowel.  With some super glue I rolled the paper up and let the glue dry to make a holder that I glued half way on one dowel and then the other part would just slide in to form the whole prop.  I also used some extra foam to make some stops for the collapsing pole to fit in and not roll around when the box is open.

In all, the box turned out well.  I may decorate the outside or even add a bit more cork to the rolling tray.  Hell, I'm even thinking of using some of the balsa wood to make a dice tower to store inside the box and clip to the lip of the box when in use.

So, what do you think?  Not too bad, doesn't take up alot of room like the previous one where it was like having a book always open.

One section holds all the vials of my mini-dice, a second section for maybe a miniature or two, or tokens, or something else.  The main section will hold my chosen dice, like my metal dice.

That's it for now!

I've recently gotten my hands on Pathfinder 2nd Edition and I need time to read and comprehend the system.  After all, folks are going to want some conversions for it.