Filament Light Dice Tower

The Filament Light Dice Tower, modern concept for a classical accessory.

About the design:

As an engineer I mostly focus on functionality. My dice towers are build to tumble your dice well to ensure a random outcome. Therefore I test the models a lot and tweak on spiral pitch, bumpers and slope angles to ensure a good rolling behavior. Not to quick without tumbling, nor too slow to save your time.

On the other side, I'm a dice maker and love to see my dice all the time. So I worked on a design that allows the dice to be seen while rolling. On other towers I could achieve this with plexiglas tubes. On this tower, I got inspired by a vase I saw years ago, that had slots for filament to slide in as a coloration option. And lately I stumbled across filament combined with LEDs as lights.

So I put everything together, made a nice narrow spiral with filament slots. Added a tray and some space underneath for electronics and here we are.

I added an arduino demo file to use with addressable LED rings. But you can also zip tie the filament ends together and glue some LEDs directly to them. I put a lot of space underneath the tray to minimize any constraints. Or just use whatever color you like and don't add any lights to it. Be creative and I can't wait to see your results.

Disclaimer: The dice in the pictures are my own creation, if you're interested in that, check out my Instagram profile and contact me there. Same for print on demand. I don't have a shop and do commissions and print on demand as my time allows.

The files:

• FLDT_Tower_single.stl, is just the tower. This gives you the opportunity to add it to whatever base you like.
• FLDT_Tower_based.stl, is the tower already attached to a base plate.
• FLDT_Tray.stl, is a lower profile frame if you don't want to add any electronics.
• FLDT_Tray_Electro.stl, is a higher profile frame to give you enough room for all sorts of electronics, like arduino, battery, switches and of cause some LEDs.
• FLDT_Tray_Cable.stl, is the same as electro, but with a cut out for a cable, if you want to power your electronics via cable.
• FLDT_LED_Adapter_*.stl, an adapter for adressable LED rings in 38mm and 50mm diameter.

Instructions:

Towers, also come with 3mf files

• Perimeter 2
• Layerheight 0.15mm
• Infill 15%
• Supports yes
• Support angle 30°
• Support style organic or snug
• A support blocker cylinder 41mm diameter in the center of the tower is needed to ensure only the critical parts are supported.

It is also recommended to make some test prints to ensure a nice fit of the filament. Just print the single tower up to 40mm height. Then you can check the fit of the filament and the support interface.

Trays

• Perimeter 2
• Layerheight 0.2mm
• Infill 15%
• Supports No

Assembly No Electronics:

You need CA glue, flush cutter and a Filament of choice.

Take some 1.75mm filament, make sure no extruder marks are left. Feed the filament from the top down to the bottom.

Make sure not to bend the filament. You might need to straighten it as its curved from the spool.

Push the filament through all slots. It can be helpful to leave a bit of extra material at this point.

Repeat this process for all ten slots.

Set all end to the bottom level. A drop of CA glue can help to keep the filament in place.

Cut the extra filament at the top for a clean look.

For the tray frame, simply push the filament through the holes like pictured right.

When the circle is completed, trim the filament so the don't overlap. Add a drop of CA glue and slide the connection point into the frame.

Finally add some CA glue to the inner lip of the tray frame and add the tower.

Assembly With Electronics:

You need CA glue, TPU transparent filament, tweezers, flush cutter.

To get the glowing filament effect, you need TPU. This is not working with PLA or PETG. Also TPU is very helpful here, as there are some tight spots to bend around.

Cut the material at an angle and twist it while pushing around inside corners.

Start with the right of the two slots that's not going to the bottom. Inside the spiral of the tower is a tube running to the bottom.

Take the tweezers and push the filament inside the tube and push it forward. This is a tedious task. But once you're around the first corner, you can push the filament easily.

Make sure to get a 50mm (2inches) of extra length at the bottom. Repeat the same with the second slot. This will be a bit tougher, as there is already filament in the tube.

Then repeat the process the same way as without the electronics and push the filament through the slots. Leaving extra length at the bottom.

One way to add light, is using one of these LED rings. I made two adapters, 50mm and 38mm. Both have 12 holes for the filament and some wiggle room for the LED ring. As the tolerances might be wide, there is some space to shift the ring and make sure the LEDs sit perfectly on the filament to catch most of the light.  

All the extra length is no important, feed the filament ends through the adapter. Make sure to leave two spots at the back of the tower, these are for the tray frame filament later.

For the tray, you have the two back posts hollowed and connected to the inside. This again is a tedious task, twist the filament while pushing it in, to get it around the corner and out the bottom.

Leave enough extra length and feed the filament through all the posts. The last post has the same inner connection to the bottom. Same method as the first one.

Make sure to pull the filament straight. There is one gap left, that will be covered by the tower later.

Now add the tray filament to the adapter. You need to pull there completely through the adapter and cut them later.

Add some CA glue and trim the filament flush with the adapter. You can pull on the filament ends from the top of the tower to get everything inside the space under the tray.

The tower and tray frame are glued together like in the assembly without electronics.