Make Your Own Yard Dice

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In the last year or so, my family discovered the wonderful game of farkle. I don’t know if you’ve ever played it, but it is one heck of a good time when everyone gets into it! Add a few drinks and things really get out of hand 😉

Since we’ve been enjoying it so much, I thought it’d be neat to make a set of giant dice to play in the living room or yard! Read on for the full tutorial.

This really is a super simple project, though a little time consuming. Multiplying everything by 6 (or however many dice you’re making) really starts to add up!

Tools & Supplies:

• Miter Saw
• ½” Forstner Bit
• Drill
• Square
• Tape Measure
• Pencil
• Ruler

Materials:

1 |   4×4 – 6ft

Cuts:

6 |   4×4 @ 3 ½” (I made 6, but cut as many dice as you want at 3 ½”)

Step 1.

Cut your 4  x 4 at 3 ½” intervals to make the dice cubes. Make sure everything is squared before you cut so the dice will roll correctly. As always: measure twice, cut once.

Step 2.

Mark the location for the dots on each dice. It took me quite a while to finish all 6 dice here … it’s a lot of dots and I was basically seeing spots by the end of this extravaganza 😉

To ensure the dots are spaced and positioned appropriately, draw a grid around the dice in all directions:

Space the lines 7/8” apart both horizontally and vertically. Make sure to use a pencil and fairly light touch so you’ll be able to sand out the markings later. Once you finish the grid, mark the location for each dot, as shown in the dice pattern:

Step 3.

Using a ½ ” forstner bit, drill out your marked dots on all sides of the dice. I drilled about ¼ “ deep for each mark, which stands out very nicely.

Step 4.

Sanding!!! Who doesn’t love a good sanding … make those dice as smooth as a baby’s bottom 🙂

As you work around the dice, remove any pencil marks and round down the edges and corners of each dice.

Step 5.

Fill in the dice dots with black paint.

 

Once the paint is dry, finish as desired.

I used Miniwax Natural stain and Miniwax Clear Semi-Gloss polyurethane.

Let me know if you have any questions and I’ll get back to you as soon as possible!