MTG — Mana Barrel Counter (3-Drum Hex Dial)

A 3-digit (0–999) rotating barrel counter for *Magic: the

Gathering* — hex prism with three independently-rotating drums,

each with digits 0–9 engraved around its six faces. Capped at

each end by a hex cap engraved with the player's chosen **mana

symbol** (W / U / B / R / G / colourless). Caps lock to a shared

square axle so the drums rotate freely but the caps stay put.

Use it as a life counter, commander damage tracker, **+1/+1

counter pile** for a single big creature, storm count, or

anything else where you need to track 0–999 without rummaging for

spare dice.

What you print

For one counter you need:

• 3 × shared/drum_combined.stl— the rotating drum (digits 0-9

•   around six hex faces). Print three of these — one per digit

•   position (hundreds / tens / ones).

• - 1 × shared/axle.stl— the square axle that all three drums

•   rotate on. The square cross-section locks the caps so they don't

•   spin, while the drums rotate freely.

• - 2 × end caps — pick any two of the six mana variants. Match

•   both to your deck's primary colour, or use one cap as the "active"

•   side and the other as the back.

Cap variants (pick 2):

• w/cap_combined.stl— White (sun)

• - u/cap_combined.stl— Blue (water drop)

• - b/cap_combined.stl— Black (skull)

• - r/cap_combined.stl— Red (fireball)

• - g/cap_combined.stl— Green (tree)

• - c/cap_combined.stl— Colourless (diamond)

Bambu AMS workflow (recommended)

The drum and each cap ship as ASCII multi-solid STLs with two

named solids — body(filament A) + labels(filament B):

1. Drag a *_combined.stlinto Bambu Studio.

2. 2. Right-click the imported object → Split to Parts.

3. 3. Two sub-parts appear, locked to identical coordinates.

4. 4. Assign filament A (e.g. white PLA) to body.

5. 5. Assign filament B (e.g. black for digits, gold for mana

6.    symbols) to labels.

7. 6. Slice. Print flat on the bed, no supports.

Why combined STL with named solids? Bambu's "Add Part" workflow

rearranges coordinates — the digit labels would land off-centre

from their hex faces. A single ASCII STL with two named solids +

Split-to-Parts preserves the exact alignment.

Single-colour fallback

If you don't have AMS, the engravings are recessed and stay legible

in a single filament. Use the body STLs alone drum_body.stl,

<mana>/cap_body.stl) and skip the labels.

Assembly

1. Slide the axle through one cap. The cap's square bore

2.    locks onto the axle's square stub — it can't rotate.

3. 2. Slide three drums onto the axle in order. The drum bores are

4.    round, so they rotate freely.

5. 3. Cap the other end with the second cap. Press-fit; the

6.    slotted bore in each cap snaps onto the axle's stub end.

7. 4. Spin each drum to dial in the digit you want.

Print settings

• Bambu Lab P2S or any 0.4 mm FDM

• - 0.2 mm layer height, 3 walls, 15 % infill

• - PLA Basic

• - No supports

• - Drums + caps: print flat on a hex face (the engraved face

•   prints horizontally — cleanest engraving floors)

• - Axle: print standing up on the small square end

Source

Full parametric .scadis included. Variables at the top control

drum height, hex face count, axle length, cap thickness, mana glyph

size, digit font/size, and per-cap mana choice. Add a 7th cap

variant by dropping a new SVG glyph in assets/mana/and adding a

line to the mana_capslist in barrel_counter.scad.

Mana glyphs are extracted from the standard MTG mana font; the

hex/square axle interface uses a 0.05 mm per-face clearance for a

firm rotation-locked fit in PLA at 0.4 mm nozzle.

Fan content for Magic: the Gathering by Wizards of the Coast —

not affiliated.