Not made completely even, but still rollable and work. Looking for tips, vantage points, and feedback on possible values and pricing. Will be rolling out a full ruby set, as well as 2 d20s in saphire and emerald soon. So stay updated!
Due to wear and tear, there is minor chipping on the edge between the 30 and 50. The side marked "70" was not cut fully during construction. STONE DICE MAY POSE A CHOKING HAZARD FOR SMALL CHILDREN!
Open to comments and ideas
Will be rolling out a proper set of Ruby polyehdral dice in the coming month, as well as 2 d20s (one emerald, and one saphire)
Message me for more information
Due to wear and tear, there is minor chipping on the edge between the 30 and 50. The side marked "70" was not cut fully during construction. STONE DICE MAY POSE A CHOKING HAZARD FOR SMALL CHILDREN!
I got a arc hot enough to melt the aluminum oxide, but haven't managed to control it very well. So it's not very well shaped. Probably need to do some magnetic stuff to aim it.
Seems like you're ahead of me. So can you put a UV led in the middle so they floresce? Glow for a few seconds after they roll would be amazing. Charged a capacitor by shaking the die.
99% Aluminum Oxide (sold as rock polish, not the sand blasting stuff)
1% Chromium Oxide. More makes it deeper red, less is more clear. Really just a tiny amount, think drop of food dye in water.
Alternatively go 1% Titanium Oxide if you want blue (sapphires). Or some combination.
Mix and pressed into into a clear shot glass. emphasize on glass. You can use other containers but shot glass is small enough to experiment with.
8" Aluminum wire twisted into a loop, putting the ends in the mix with a little gap between them. Avoid touching the glass with it.
pack it down again.
Stick it in a microwave (1000+ watt preferably) for 45 second. Take out the rotating plate.
The gap in one of the wire should spark and fuse the mix into a ruby.
Wait 5 minutes for the microwave to cool off.
Not responsible if your microwave cooks itself. Had one break at ~65 seconds, so 45 should be safe.
If you don't get a spark, turn / move /adjust the wire / gap. Possibly try a bigger loop or adjust the wire gap. Each microwave is different so you just need to play with it to find the sweet spot.
More sparks = more ruby = more danger to the microwave.
If you really feel like hacking, add more cooling to the microwave so it can run longer. Also aim the microwaves with a parabolic reflector.
All of this is non-toxic and has no fumes. But it is abrasive. And the glass might break. And it's gets hot. So I wouldn't let little kids do it, but teens should be fine.
This (the above explanation on how to make your own homemade artificial rubies) sounds hazardous and dangerous. I would say do the above at your own risk and I absolutely do not condone it (I imagine this site doesn't either, but I don't speak for the site). WotC and Hasbro don't condone it (pretty sure on that one).
This sounds like a good way to destroy a microwave by accident. Maybe worse things than that (starting a fire, burning yourself up, etc...etc...etc).
However, the results sound cool when you pull it off.