A briefcase sized object that can be used as a dice tray, can hold up sheets of paper with acrylic that a marker can be used on, holds storage for aforementioned marker, for several dice sets and figurines, for cards, and several other functions, including a DM screen, having spare space for acrylic sheets for use as overlay displays, or engraved acrylic sheets as blank character sheets.

Supplies

Items

Acrylic Sheets

Handle

Hinges (5cm) x4

Iron Sheets

8'' x 8'' x3
8'' x 12'' x1

Magnets

Rectangular - 5cm x 1cm x .15cm x4
Disc - 10mm diameter, 1.5mm thickness x18

Nails

Plastic Sheet - 1mm thickness, A4 size

Sintra Board

Super Glue

Wooden Planks

For Box (Plywood)

16'' x 11'' x 0.5'' x2
16'' x 3'' x 0.5'' x4
10'' x 3'' x 0.5'' x4
10'' x 5/2'' x 0.5'' x2

For DM Screen (Natural Wood Recommended)

10'' x 15'' x0.5'' x1
10'' x 13'' x0.5'' x3

Wood Glue

Tools and Equipment

CNC Wood Router

Hand Drill

Laser Cutter

Vaquform

Step 1: Make Box Frame

There are two halves of the box with a base of 16''x11'' and its edges below it having a height of 3''. They should be connected with nails. if you lack proper support to hammer in the nails, you may first use wood glue to stick the panels together so they can support themselves.

One of the 2 halves of the box will have additional panels connected to its 2 shorter sides. Apply wood to your 10" x 2.5" planks and stick them to the edge of your half box. Remember to clamp it tightly

Step 2: Add Box Fixings

First thing we add are the hinges. They will be placed on the outside along the longer edge of the box. Align the center of the hinge to the gap between the 2 half boxes. Mark where it's holes are then drill the holes. Then screw in the hinges.

Next thing to add is the handle. The process is generally the same as the hinges

Lastly are the magnets to lock the box. Now, there may be a better way to do this out there, but I used a jigsaw to carve out small notches until I dug out a gap the size of my magnet, then sanded it till smooth. The magnets were then superglued to the box.

Step 3: Make DM Screen

I recommended using natural wood to make this, but at the size we need, it is generally quite expensive. An alternative method is to use wood glue to stick to planks together. If the seams bother you, it is possible to buy a slightly thicker wood plank and use a CNC to shave it down which generally makes the seam barely noticable. The final size of the wooden planks should be 13” x 10” and you will need 3 of them.

The next step is to CNC a pocket on one side of the DM Screen. It should be 9” x 9” with curved corners. It’s depth should be equal to the thickness of the acrylic sheet + the metal plate that you use. The degree of curvature is up to you as long as you maintain the same degree for the acrylic we will cut out later.

Simultaneously, you may choose to CNC the edges of the board to make them perfectly flat.

Next, simply glue the metal plate to the center of the board on the side that has not been CNC’d

Finally, laser cut your acrylic to the same shape as the pocket you made. At the same time cut out 4 small circles near the corner the size of your disc magnets. Superglue the disc magnets within this hole.

This will be done 3 times in total.

For the panel that acts as a kid, you will need

Step 4: Make Dice Tray

The dice tray was made using wood and felt. You will need a wooden plank that is 1.5” x 5” x 0.5” and a wooden plank that is 1.5” x 5.5” x 0.5”.

Use wood glue to make a square out of the two planks with the bottom right corner of the box. (This is the half of the box without additional planks)

Cut out an + shaped piece of felt, to be able to cover the bottom and 4 sides of the square you made. Superglue the felt to the wood.

Step 5: Make the Figurine Holder

My figurine holders were made of sintra board. With a cutter, cut out 2 pcs of sintra board that is 5.5'' x 1.5" and 3 pcs of sintra board that are 4.5'' x 1.5".

Cut out notches with a width equal to the thickness of your sintra board to the halfway point. on the 4.5" long board, it should be at the 1.5" mark and the 3" mark. As for the 5.5" long board, cut them out as desired such that the vertical pieces can be moved as necessary.

Superglue the horizontal pieces to the board.

Step 6: Make the Card Tray

The dice tray was made using a vaquform. Now to use a vaquform, the first step is to have an object with the positive shape of what you want to make. This object must have holes so that the vacuum can suck the plastic tightly to the object. At the same time, the object must first be coated in talc powder so that it will not stick to the plastic in the end. I would recommend 3D printing 2-3 card-sized rectangular boxes that we would use to cast the plastic. However, due to time constraints, I opted for a faster version which is to make a box out of wood.

I then drilled holes into that wood and that is what I used to make the dice tray. My first attempt did not go well but once you have created the plastic mold, the next step is to cut it out.

I used a cutter in order to cut out the general shape, then trimmed the edges with scissors to make a perfect rectangle

Introduction: DND DM Tool Kit