Counter Dial for Gaming

thingiverse

I designed these dials specifically for counting game components, utilizing small dials as wound counters in games like Warhammer or Kings of War. The large dials serve a similar purpose but also function effectively as life counters for Magic The Gathering. The laser cutting process involves using two thin pieces of material - I employed 1/16" acrylic and some 3mm cylindrical rare earth magnets, cut into 1/8" pieces. Each disk features a central hole where a magnet is inserted to secure the disks together while allowing them to rotate freely. Several options exist for displaying numbers. A raster etching method can be applied to certain plastics, but I sought increased contrast by coating my material with masking tape and conducting a vector cut around the number strokes using 17% power, 100% speed, and 5000 freq on my Epilog 75W machine. Following this step, I carefully peeled away the numbers themselves and airbrushed the remaining area for optimal appearance. These counters prove highly convenient to use and can be easily made interchangeable with precise magnet settings, further allowing for effortless stacking capabilities.