A while ago I watch this old guy rant about the state of the dice indertstry, and it got me thinking is he on to some thing. But first the videos:
Part I
Part Two
So I got out my trust Vernier Calipers (what that you say), and measured my d20, sure enough they were not the same dimensions all around. I have since lost that data, but here today I will present you with the findings of analyzing two sets my d6. Both sets were bought together, so logic would say manufactured at the same plant. I will compare them to a casino dice. Do note that all the graph have the same 0.04" range, to help with the visual comparison.
The Casino Die (The Best)
Side
1-6
0.703
2-5
0.702
3-4
0.703
Avg.
0.7027
Avg. Dev.
0.0004
Hand Forge Iron Dice (The Worst)
1
2
Avg.
Avg. Dev.
1-2
0.481
0.4855
0.4833
0.0023
3-5
0.5055
0.5100
0.5078
0.0023
4-6
0.5070
0.5100
0.5085
0.0015
Avg.
0.4978
0.5018
0.4998
Avg. Dev.
0.0112
0.0109
0.0111
Large White Dice
In this set, one is near the same all three axis, while two are way off. It the 3-4 side that the worse, as a lot all eight dice were .0057" average deviation from each other.
Die
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
Avg.
Avg. Dev.
1-6
0.617
0.620
0.618
0.626
0.622
0.618
0.620
0.620
0.6201
0.0019
2-5
0.630
0.616
0.625
0.626
0.614
0.617
0.620
0.625
0.6216
0.0049
3-4
0.636
0.615
0.624
0.640
0.640
0.618
0.628
0.622
0.6279
0.0081
Avg.
0.6277
0.6170
0.6223
0.6307
0.6253
0.6177
0.6227
0.6223
0.6232
Avg. Dev.
0.0071
0.0020
0.0029
0.0062
0.0098
0.0004
0.0036
0.0018
0.0057
Small Black Dice
This group was the best, not counting the Casion Die, with an average deviation of 0.0013". I have another set of these in a different colour, so at some point I see how the two set compare.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Avg.
Avg. Dev.
1-6
0.4735
0.4705
0.4750
0.4740
0.4705
0.4705
0.4705
0.4725
0.4730
0.4730
0.4715
0.4730
0.4725
0.4723
0.0012
2-5
0.4710
0.4685
0.4700
0.4710
0.4700
0.4695
0.4680
0.4705
0.4695
0.4700
0.4710
0.4725
0.4700
0.4701
0.0008
3-4
0.4725
0.4695
0.4720
0.4730
0.4700
0.4710
0.4710
0.4740
0.4715
0.4720
0.4725
0.4715
0.4705
0.4716
0.0010
Avg.
0.4723
0.4695
0.4723
0.4727
0.4702
0.4703
0.4698
0.4723
0.4713
0.4717
0.4717
0.4723
0.4710
0.4713
Avg. Dev.
0.0009
0.0007
0.0018
0.0011
0.0002
0.0006
0.0012
0.0012
0.0012
0.0011
0.0006
0.0006
0.0010
0.0013
Large Blue Dice
This group was a off to, not as much as the dime store dice, but much worse then smaller diceby the same company. Here the average deviation was 0.0034".
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
Avg.
Avg. Dev.
1-6
0.6185
0.6245
0.6250
0.6190
0.6200
0.6200
0.6175
0.6220
0.6210
0.6200
0.6225
0.6240
0.6212
0.0020
2-6
0.6220
0.6225
0.6350
0.6250
0.6280
0.6255
0.6215
0.6155
0.6185
0.6165
0.6185
0.6255
0.6228
0.0041
3-4
0.6180
0.6230
0.6230
0.6165
0.6180
0.6175
0.6135
0.6280
0.6180
0.6230
0.6285
0.6215
0.6207
0.0038
Avg.
0.6195
0.6233
0.6277
0.6202
0.6220
0.6210
0.6175
0.6218
0.6192
0.6198
0.6232
0.6237
0.6216
Avg. Dev.
0.0017
0.0008
0.0049
0.0032
0.0040
0.0030
0.0027
0.0042
0.0012
0.0022
0.0036
0.0014
0.0034
What does this mean, not sure, the amount un-square is in the thousands of inches, maybe if I was building a car engine this would matter, but for dice, don't know. I wonder why we geeks are not more at arms about this, but I think we like pretty things over practicality. As I said I not sure what this means, but I will leave you with this post I came across while researching this piece.
