This is a two-digit counter intended for tabletop games - e.g. to keep scores in board games, counters in Magic: The Gathering, hit points in D&D, etc.
Features
“Ultimate” might be a hyperbole, but I truly believe this is a great model:
Compact
Approximately 45 x 33 mm footprint and 6.2 mm height, making this one of the smallest counter models out there.
Recessions on the sides allow for efficient horizontal stacking.
High visibility
The digits are 4 x 7 mm in size, similar to the digits on a full-size d10 dice.
Wide viewing angles for the digits, for everyone around the table.
Customizable
Simple to embed shapes and colors on the counter face using your slicer.
Fusion 360 files are available for easily modifying the symbols on the disk faces.
A disk with Magic: The Gathering symbols is provided as an example.
Made a useful disk? Please add it as a remix!
Double-sided - the counter is reversible
Use different colors or shapes on each face - and now you have two counters in one!
Customize the symbols on the disks differently for each side.
Easy to print, easy to assemble
No hardware or glue required. Each counter is made of 4 parts that snap together.
Both PLA and PETG work well.
Designed for the ubiquitous 0.4 nozzle.
No supports or brim needed - but make sure you have good bed adhesion.
Reliable mechanism
Simple and trusty “spring” mechanism that doesn't require high precision.
Soft action with no distracting clicking noise.
Instructions
Print two copies of the frame, at 0.1 layer height.
Print two copies of the disk, at 0.2 layer height.
For a single-color printer, you'll have to swap color at layers 0.6 and 1.6. A 3mf file is provided with these swaps already set, if you prefer.
For a dual-color printer, a step file is provided for easily assigning different materials to the different parts.
For each side:
Gently place the disk into the circular recession in the frame - some wiggling might be required. Make sure it's facing the right way - the digit should align with the “window” on the frame.
Rotate the disk back and forth, just a couple of notches each way, to ensure there are no obstructions.
Bring the two sides together by inserting the nubs at the bottom into the matching notches, then pushing the center of the frames against each other until both sides click.
Test it! If you made a mistake, disassembly is easy by inserting a wide flat-headed screwdriver into each side recession at a time, twisting it gently in each until it pops.
Customization
Face customization
Simplest to do that in the slicer. Add a modifier with some text or symbols to the face, then use it as a negative volume (for a single color printer) or as a different color. A thickness of 0.6mm works well here.
A 3mf project with an example is provided.
Disk customization
Open the full model in Fusion 360. Edit the “counterclockwise numbers” sketch (under the top component) and the “Clockwise numbers” sketch (under the Disk:1 component), the rest of the model should then update properly.
Please add your disks as remixes :-)
Convert a multicolor disk to a color-swapping disk
Take a multicolor file, then select and move the bottom numbers up 0.4mm so that the first two layers will be void. Do the same for the top numbers - move them down until the top two layers of them are empty.
See example color-swapping files for reference.
FAQ
Why make this? There are many other counters out there!
There are some great models out there, and I printed many of them throughout the years. But I couldn't find one that was easy to read from across the table while still being very compact.
Where is this design from?
It's all originally mine, except for the spring mechanism.
Where is the spring mechanism from?
I tried a lot of different mechanisms, both my own designs as well as designs from other models. And I mean, a lot. I ended up reimplementing rpgweb's excellent spring design from The PERFECT Gloomhaven/Frosthaven standee- with optional magnets - it is extraordinarily reliable regardless of tolerances, and very easy to print.
Are the disks linked? Does moving the ones disk from 9 to 0 also moves the tens disk?
No. Counters with carry-over are clever but, in my experience, (1) require very tight tolerances from your printer for their mechanisms, and (2) end up being annoying to use when you want to change the number by a large value.
Why is the Fusion 360 file so messy?
Because I'm a novice designer with very little CAD experience. Sorry about that.
Why is the action so soft? Why not make it more clicky?
I actually did make a clicky prototype, but ended up scraping it - the mechanism was less reliable, plus the constant clicking noise was not so well received by everyone around the table.
Why is the internal file name “Ulticounter 3 v34”? Just how many prototypes did you go through?
Oak
