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Not a mini, but hobby related-Dice cup and help needed

863 views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  Silens 
#1 ·
Howdy folks!

So, this is actually two things rolled into one. The first part is this dice cup I'm working on for my Ork army. I made it using some scrap leather we have at the shop and did a little bit of tooling (something I haven't done in years :laugh: ) on it. Here's what I have so far:




Now, the second part (the more important one) is I need some help. I'm making one for a friend but I need some ideas on how to sort out a bit or two on it. She is an amputee so the cup I make will need to be easy to use with one hand. This is my conundrum. The cup itself will be simple enough. It is how to make it easy to use, as in shaking it without the dice falling out all over the place and being able to pour out the dice without them rolling all over the place. Basically, it comes down to control. I've had a few ideas.

My first thought was to make something like the one above, only tapering it to fit her smaller hand. I would either have a knot or a loop on the lid to help in opening it. The problem comes in with doing it easily enough to do it repeatedly. The knot would probably work better but there's still the issue of getting it opened properly. The loop has the additional problem of getting a finger out of it to reuse it for other following rolls.

My second idea was to give the lid a lip, allowing her to shake it and flip it open to pour out the dice. Again, the problem is ease of use (as I see it, anyways). Given that she wears a prosthetic on her other arm, I see it being a pain, but perhaps the lesser of two evils.

The third idea is the most radical; making it hinge down the middle instead of having a lid.

Any ideas would be most appreciated in this!

Good luck and good gaming,

Nate
 
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#2 ·
Have you seen those folding leather money pouches they sell at hippy-stores? (You know the ones, all incense, tie-dyed clothes and Buddha statues ;p)
Perhaps a folding 'lid' for shaking like that only with a finger loop so you can hold it one handed.

I could kill for a visual aid right now...

when standing on the table it would be much like a normal cup with a finger loop, say, a cm down from the lip. if you punched a line vertically from the lip, under the finger loop and down to around a third or half way down, then a curved line from the bottom of the line to the rim on both (and opposite sides from each other), the cup should fold down over the top when along those lines..

so if that made any sense at all, you could reach out one handed, slipping a thumb in to the loop, use your thumb to fold the near side over the top, shake, open with said thumb and deposit your dice on the table!
not perfect, but should help with the one handed dicing..

I hope that made some sense! :D
 
#3 ·
Actually, it made perfect sense! I'm adding that to potential ideas. The only other really good one I've had was someone suggesting I make it similar to a beer stein so she could use her thumb to open and close the lid.

Thanks for the suggestion bud! I might make one of those for myself just to try out something different! :D

Good luck and good gaming,

Nate
 
#4 ·
I would go with a cup similar to what you have already, hinge the lid on one side only so it is easy to hold closed while shaking but will open when the cup is turned upside down. As long as the cup isn't too wide, she should be able to hold her thumb over the lid or a finger while she shakes the dice. Maybe include a push stud on the opposite side to the hinge so once done gaming she can pop her dice inside and pop it shut?
 
#5 ·
I had a rather strange idea; A hollow "sphere" with a mouth-like slit that opens when pressure is applied to the far corners of the "mouth", the rigidity of the leather keeping the sphere closed when not in use. The "Pac man" could also be used to pick dice off the table one-handed. I see something about the size of a softball, but much lighter. You'd probably need to flatten one side so it wouldn't roll... Knowing your fondness for all things Orkoid, you could even make it look like a squig...
 
#6 ·
I advise pretty much what you have but fitted so she can hold it with one hand and still have, say, her pointer figure over a lid. Oh yeah, there's a lid. Then she can just take her finger off to roll the dice! IDK it might not work whatever happens GLHF and good gaming.

*EDIT* oh someone basically suggested that. Well then :D
 
#9 ·
Thanks fellas! All lovely ideas. Norm, given that her's will be much smaller than mine (I had to make mine big enough to hold enough dice for an ork players...which by the by, it can hold around five blocks of GW dice in it..not much shake room but... :biggrin: ) and it will taper to fit her hand. Her's will be two inches wide at the bottom and two and a half inches wide at the top so she should be able to easily just hold the lid closed if I made one similar to mine. The push stud idea sounds ace too. I'll have to remember that one!

Deneris...ye olde vile traitorous dog, you... :ireful2: Err.. Ahem... Sorry. Old habits and such... :biggrin: I'm liking your idea more and more. It's in line with Typhoid's (which ironically has been suggested as well! :) ) and would be an interesting way of doing it. I could score the center a little bit, make it hemispherical and it would allow her to both shake, open easy and pick up dice. Genius fellas... Genius! As for making it look like a squig (just because my orkish tendencies get the better of me, oh vile and traitorous heathen xeno-loving filth :biggrin: ), shant be doing that. It must have a Sisters of Battle motiff. However, working along the lines of your idea, I could tool it to look like arches in a cathedral, adding Imperial icons in each of them. The only problem would be ensuring durability. While the leather we use is thick (13-17 ounce), even it would start to wear down swiftly after repeated use. On top of that, creating a pouch large enough to hold plenty of dice would make it difficult to both shape the dome and keep it the right size for her hand. A softball would be too large I think. Somewhere between a baseball and a softball might work though. Still, the issues of durability and getting it into shape (and it keeping that shape after use) would need looking in to (something I shall be working on to see if I can get it to work). If I can get it to work, I'll let you know bud. All of this has gotten me to thinking about game aids to help the handicapped. The ideas I've gathered so far will be kept in a folder and as I get time, I'll test them out to see if I can't find what would be the most useful for someone who could use them.

Again, thanks all around fellas!

Good luck and good gaming,

Nate
 
#10 ·
Maybe have the cup wider at the bottom than at the top? No lid involved. The angle should make it so that dice won't go flying everywhere without the top being covered (They shouldn't anyway unless you go completely crazy with it) and when you roll the dice, any of those particularly eager are going to hit the other side of the cup as the near the mouth and get bounced down to the table. I keep thinking of Aragorn's mug in Rohan at the celebration of (I think) the king being free of Saruman's spell.
 
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