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How to Make Weighted Dice: Load Your Dice with this Guide

how to make weighted dice load your dice

As dice players, you always strive to achieve the expected result in 6+6 dice games, but how do we accomplish that? Learn how to make weighted dice with this guide here.

What is the best way to continually roll a six? When you use professionally loaded/weighted dice, of course! Whether your goal is – performing magic tricks or dominating craps – loading a die can come in handy.

How to Make Weighted Dice: Load Your Dice with this Guide

How to Make Weighted Dice: Load Your Dice with this Guide

This article explains how to drill, make a variable-load die, or gently melt the die to achieve the desired result – which is to make weighted dice and land on the number you desire more often than with unloaded dice.

Method 1. Drilling Holes to Make Weighted Dice

making weighted dice using drill gun

Step 1. Gather the materials needed.

The first step to making weighted dice is to use tools and supplies that you can find in any home repair store or hardware store. Buying many dice will allow you to try several different methods and get the process of loading and making weighted dice right. The materials you need include an electric drill, a small gauge drill bit, lead pellets, super glue, paint, and dice for weighting.

Step 2. Decide which side you wish to weigh.

Drilling into the plastic and weighing one side of the die is the most straightforward way to gimmick or load a dice. Thus, you should choose one side that you want to appear most often and give it more weight than the other. Having a number that neither your opponent nor you know will be effective. If you will gimmick some dice to play craps, consider weighing the dice so that the six are most likely to appear.

Step 3. Make a straight hole in the die.

Make sure you hollow out as little plastic as possible, so the gimmick will not be obvious. Drill bits that are larger than a 16th of inch should be avoided. Using it, you can gently open up the hole and make room for the weight. The die should be clamped in a vise to protect your fingers. You should never try to drill into the die while holding it simultaneously. Stay as straight as possible when drilling into the dice center so that your drilling doesn’t attract attention. Ensure that the edges of the hole are smooth to easily pass the weight through it.

Step 4. Put in a small nail or pellet of lead.

Weights such as thin nails or pins are used to load one side of the die. It usually needs to match the hole diameter, which is about sixteenths of an inch. After inserting it into the die, snip some weight off the end of the nail using wire cutters or small bolt cutters. When using tiny bearings, you can set them deeper into the die using a needle. Ideally, it should be as close to the edge as possible. Otherwise, the weight would be wasted. Make sure the end is smooth with some sandpaper or a metal file. You must smooth off any metal that extends beyond the end of the die. Rusty metal sticking out is a sure way to get caught.

Step 5. Put glue on the weight to seal it.

The end of the hole you just loaded should be sealed with a small amount of super glue. It is necessary to fill the hole with some super glue to prevent the weight from coming out again. After applying glue, let it dry thoroughly, then sand it down again to remove any bumps. Make the gimmicked spot match the other dots on the die by feeling them with your finger.

Step 6. Cover the weight with paint.

To color in the fake spot you’ve weighted, use dark ink, Sharpies, or gun-black. The spot should match the other spots as much as possible. Color placement overweight will assist in making or breaking the trick. Be careful not to mess up the color of your gimmick by getting it on the white part of the die. It is especially important to keep your coloring in the lines of the dots, making them even and uniform. 

There are usually shiny, pure black dots on standard dice. You should use ink for this purpose. The brush should have a very sharp tip and be brand new. Even thin strips of masking tape could be used to outline the dots, keeping ink from reaching the white part of the die.

Method 2. The Dice Melting Method

Step 1. Put aluminum foil on a cookie tray.

The melting method is quicker than drilling if you don’t want to drill. Make sure you line your cookie sheet with aluminum foil to prevent smelly, stuck-on plastic accumulation in your oven. While doing this, keep an eye on the die closely and ensure that the area is well ventilated with the windows open. 

You need to keep an eye out because it’s easy to go too far. The die weight can also be adjusted by melting it gently, just enough to shift slightly to the bottom of the die. You must be careful not to melt the die too much, as this will alter the appearance of the dice. The only need is to soften the plastic and widen the bottom of the opposite side to make landings more frequent on the opposite side.

Step 2. Heat a convection oven or toaster oven to around 200 degrees Fahrenheit (93 degrees Celsius).

making weighted dice using the oven method

Ensure that the temperature is on a low setting so that you don’t overdo it. Although 200 degrees isn’t much, it will be enough to soften and heat the plastic and slightly change the die’s shape. Avoid using a microwave. There’s a higher chance of warping the plastic and making it look funny because the die won’t melt as you like. Additionally, it can be dangerous. It’s best to avoid microwaving dice.

Step 3. Bake the die with the number you want facing up.

Keep an eye on the die so that you can remove it before the time expires. To prevent the plastic from melting further, remove the die immediately and dump it into the icy water. Remove the die if bubbles appear or the shape changes. You might have to practice a few times before you notice any changes. Be sure to ventilate the room properly. It is hazardous to breathe fumes from melting plastic, and you should be very careful not to burn the plastic.

Step 4. Play a few times with the dice.

Try out your new gimmicked die by rolling a few times. It’s an excellent loaded die when you land more consistently on the side you want. You may have to remelt it, or you may need to start over with a new die if it doesn’t work as you intended.

Method 3. Variable-Load Dice

Step 1. Mark several dots on the dice.

Making an adjustable die is not as simple as just opening up the inside, as you cannot change the outside of the dice. If you use a thin drill bit and drill several holes on different sides of the die, you will be able to get it right with some practice and patience.

Don’t drill too many holes. However, if you have difficulty scraping out the interior, you will need to make several holes. Hence, it may make more sense to drill out all holes so at least they are uniform.

Step 2. Drill out all holes carefully.

Dentists’ picks, or other small probing devices, are the best tools for hollowing out dies. Remove the interior of the die slowly and carefully. Use a pick to scrape out the material from various angles. Once you have done so, you will have hollowed out the entire interior. You should go as deep as possible from each angle and scrape as much as possible. From one side, you won’t be able to get all of the dice out, but you can get it by approaching it from several angles.

Step 3. Fill all of the holes.

Place a bit of super glue over the holes and let dry. That way, the weight will be contained. If the die looks different after the glue has dried, it won’t matter. After that, smooth it out with fine-grained sandpaper. Ultimately, you just need to find the right weight.

Step 4. Fill up the center of the die with lead weights.

Add a few small bearings to the center of the die. When working on your dice, you should keep a normal die nearby as a reference. You want the final weight of the die to match that of a normal die. The average handler will not notice the difference, but you must ensure the weighted die does not feel hollow or fake. Replace the bearings with small lead bearings. If necessary, add more lead bearings. Inside they’ll be rattling, but don’t be alarmed by the noise.

Step 5. Combine the paraffin and coconut oils.

With a mixture of waxes, you’ll fill the die to the point where it is hard enough to hold the bearings but soft enough that you can melt it with your body heat. Ideally, you should use paraffin and coconut oil, as both are readily available and relatively inexpensive. You will mix them to create a solid but meltable mixture that can be created quickly at home. 

You will melt your paraffin into liquid in a pan. In a bowl, combine the wax with 80% more coconut oil. Wait until it hardens. You can determine the consistency by holding some liquid mixtures in your hand and letting them melt back into liquid. Adding more coconut oil will make it easier to melt. When it melts too easily, add more paraffin. Fill the die once the wax mixture has reached the consistency you want.

Step 6. Seal the final hole.

Make sure to thoroughly coat the hole with glue, taking care to repair any cracks, gaps, or other leaks caused by the drilling. Cleaning everything up, coloring it, and making it look like a normal die will take some time instead of the single-hole method. Don’t rush the coloring process.

Step 7. Use the palm of your hand to cheat.

Hold it firmly with the side facing up once you’re ready to use the die. Melting wax allows the weights to sink to the opposite side, weighing the die. Allow the die to sit on the counter for a few minutes, or put it in the fridge to reset the wax.

Want to Just Buy Weighted Dice Instead?

Black-Loaded-D6-Dice-1-min

Instead of going through multiple hours of trying to make loaded/weighted dice from your home, why not just buy them and save yourself the time, money, and headaches? Down below, we made an article on the best weighted dice available.

Conclusion

Good luck does occasionally help, but often it is less effective than bad luck. With professionally loaded and weighted dice, players can maximize their particular points to the maximum level. Certain outcomes seem more likely to occur with trick numbers and weighted odds. If you want to learn how to make a weighted dice, you can use the above methods. Happy dice rolling!

**We are not responsible for any property and financial losses and illegal activity that could potentially occur from the information used in this article. This article is strictly for entertainment purposes only.**

Mike Horton (head of Weighted Living)

by Mike Horton

Mike is one of the lead editors at Weighted Living and the author of this article. He's become fascinated with weighted products (a bit too much we think) and loves to see all the different ways they can improve our loves. He's written quite a few weighted product guides as well.

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