The Vlogsmith - Hand Forged Dice!

Big Sigh. (good news)
over 5 years ago – Mon, Oct 26, 2020 at 06:09:48 PM

Hey folks, sorry about the latency of this update. As I'm sure you have guessed this year has taken it's toll on me. 

I have thankfully been a bit busy forging swords and wands in the interim.

But, there is a big light at the end of the tunnel!

The dies for the press came back from heat treat and are now welded on the mounting plate to the press, as you can see below.

I machined the rods and prepped the mounting plates for both top and bottom. Now with both of them in place I heated up two steel spheres to work on as test subjects to see how well it performs.

I think they came out well but the faces can be a bit more pressed in my opinion.

Take a look at the tests:

The faces are timed well to each other which is great. Now, the machine has increments of travel which I can set on the read out. 

One issue that I will have to deal with is travel. The shortest I can put in settings is 1/8" and that isn't enough for me to get the faces tighter and the vertices of the dies a little sharper.

So I will talk to manufacturer to see if he can get me programmed closer to 1/16" or even 1/32".

Just fine tuning, really. But with the way it is, it is now possible to use the press as it was intended!

I will still be marking out the points on the spheres and eyeballing the faces with the press, but it will be much easier to form them in stages with this set up rather than doing them by hand.

So again, thank you all for your patience. I know you have waited a long time but I promise to write more updates as I can.

If you'll excuse me, I have to purchase several thousand spheres...

Cheers!

As for the other rewards, I will be shipping those out as income comes in.

-Gil

News we have all been waiting for!
over 5 years ago – Tue, Sep 01, 2020 at 10:19:57 PM

*Big sigh of relief*

Alright, folks. This year has been hard on all of us. For some more than others. But I hope you have all been keeping safe and thinking of others during this crisis.

To say I have had my share of setbacks and hurdles would be an understatement. I won't get into details as I mentioned in a previous update before for the reasons of being professional, right?

Let's get to the good news. First, the mini Gil the Blacksmith figures have been printed and sent to my shop. (unprimed, for you picky painters out there) They look gorgeous and I can't wait to see them on your table in a campaign!

So for those waiting on other items, I'm currently watching the situation with the USPS and delivery dates. As money comes in for allocating to shipment, I'll be sending them out as fast as I can.

The Biggest news!! I just received confirmation that the press top and bottom dies have been manufactured! Now, not so fast. They still need to be hardened and sent to me...

But essentially, I can go full steam ahead now! I'll be forging the dice and I won't stop until they are ALL DONE! *phew*

Thanks for being patient with me, friends. Please continue to be safe out there.

-Gil

Second Covid Update
almost 6 years ago – Thu, Jun 25, 2020 at 10:54:56 PM

Hey folks!

This year has proven to be quite a challenge to say the least. And while I can complain of all the personal hardships I have endured, I wanted to keep this as professional as possible.

On the good news front, the blacksmith figures are nearing their completion and will be in my possession in the coming month. This means I can start mailing out the smaller individual goals as I go along. (Coins, Figures, Shirts) I shall give you all an update on that later...

I wanted to let you all know that the hydraulic press is still is an issue that has yet to be remedied.  The press itself is fine but the dies were made from 1018 mild steel. This means they get wrapped easily, I have drawn up and sent CAD/CAM files to a company that is going to make me new dies that have hardened surfaces. Take a look below of the bottom die. The top one has similar damage.

And while I have sent the files to be worked on by a CNC company, they too are dealing with issues outside of their control. This ultimately is in their hands and I await new ones that will propel me forward.

I have countless ideas and projects that I have had to place on the back burner so that I mainly focus on the dice albeit slowly. And this means that there is no money coming in. the website is yet to be launched and that would have opened an avenue for me to do smaller projects on the side to make income.

The job I was looking into for a source of income has disappeared due to Covid-19 and probably wont come back any time soon. I am looking to Covid resources for small businesses.

And while California was looking to move into Phase 3 of reopening, our Governor is reconsidering due to the numbers of rising cases of infected.

Please stay safe out there and listen to guidelines. WEAR A MASK! If not for you then for the ones you love. 

-Gil

End of March update.
about 6 years ago – Tue, Mar 31, 2020 at 11:44:35 PM

Hey folks! This one will be short and sweet.

COVID-19 and Me.

Let's first talk about how the Corona Virus has affected me. As a few of you know, most non-essential businesses have closed in California and that means that materials are going to be extremely hard to come by. I will continue to work with what I have with me and cross that bridge when I get to it.

Even still, businesses are being told to keep their doors closed and are fining non-essential places with a hefty $1000 for operating. Now, I am a one man shop and I'm not allowing visitors but I still risk being fined by working inside my shop. I'm trying not to let this deter me.

As far as the Blacksmith figure this will absolutely get delayed as the printer has stopped their services until things clear up.

As always I shall inform you of any new developments as they come along.

Please above all be safe and smart with whats going on out there. Listen to credible sources and stay informed! It could save lives.

Be well,                                                                                                                                                         -Gil

February 2020 Update.
about 6 years ago – Tue, Feb 18, 2020 at 01:08:55 AM

Hey folks!

A quick update since last one. I've been busy making the dice. Currently working on D4s and D6 in Brass and then heading over to steel.

Please be aware that I don't have an income while I bust these out so I will have to take on a job to help cover overhead. Because of this there is still no estimated delivery.

For those that wish to have a video tour know that it will take time out of my week to film and edit it so I've been holding back on that. However you can see a semi tour once my episode of "All Work No Play" airs on the Critical Role twitch channel.  

Airs on 3-17-2020 at twitch.tv/CriticalRole 

Thank you for your continued support and patience.

-Gil