Do-it-yourself dice inking

[buzz]

So, inspired by the videos of Lou Zocchi explaining dice manufacture, I ordered some of his precision sets. I noticed that inked sets were in short supply, since Gamescience inks them by hand, and it's a laborious process.

The upshot is that blank Gamescience dice are cheaper and more readily in stock. The latter link above talks about how to ink the dice yourself. The idea of inking d20s seems pretty tedious (I remember it certainly was in the dice-with-a-crayon days), but if it saves me $4-$8 a set, well...

So, anyone out there ink their own dice? What kind of pens do you use? Techniques?

 

[Slander]

For whatever reason, my dice have a horrible tendancy of losing their ink, sometimes within 3-4 weeks of purchase. Chessex, Gamescience, Crystal Caste ... none survive my (apparently) corrosive touch.

So I've done a lot of hand-inking. Depending on the dice color, I'll either use extra-fine sharpie markers, or extra-fine sharpie paint pens. I'll use fingers to wipe away excess if I'm only doing a few numbers, otherwise I use a slightly damp cloth. I also add a bit of nail polish top coat to protect the ink a bit more.

 

[Obryn]

I got quite a few Gamescience dice a while back, but the inking was very faint. I ended up re-doing it myself, and boy did it take me back to my youth. (Although, in those days, I used a crayon more often than I used markers...)

For black or blue, I just use an Ultra-Fine Sharpie. They work perfectly. d20's take a little bit of time, but it's hardly labor-intensive. Maybe two minutes, at most.

White is much more difficult. I use an as-fine-as-I-can-get-it white paint marker, ink the lines, and wipe off the surface very quickly with a paper towel. The paint (at least mostly) comes off the die surface and stays in the number.

Regardless, Gamescience dice are worth the trouble. Best dice I've ever owned.

-O

 

[Nai_Calus]

I like the way they look uninked best so I usually just don't ink them, but when I do I use the crayon method since I tend to end up inking colours that black or blue won't show up on and can't find small enough white, gold or silver pens. Rub on the crayon, usually white or yellow, wipe off the excess with a tissue, done.

...It tends to stay better than sharpie anyway, which I just dissolve off. Acidic skin? I kill jewelry too.