Optically Clear Acrylic (Æther)

Acrylic, or poly(methyl methacrylate), was invented in 1928 and first marketed in 1933 as safety glass thanks to its shatter resistant nature. Since its inception Methacrylate has been synthesized in about a dozen different methods leading to twice that many trademarked names for poly(methyl methacrylate). Names like Lucite, Plexiglass, ACRYLITE, and Perspex are all essentially the exact same thing with some very minor differences due in part to how the methacrylate was produced. The PMMA we use in crafting our Alchemist’s Dice is manufactured by Lucite.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-M3EdvNiRw]

Acrylics are used in many applications from aquariums, to helmet visors, and even bulletproof body panels for armored vehicle. It’s also used for aircraft canopies and in making ballistic glass. Depending on the application, acrylic is either produced in a casting process or it is extruded, as is the case with the acrylic beads used in injection molding. We chose cast acrylic rod as our base material over, the much less expensive, extruded acrylic as the casting process gives us a significantly increased optical clarity.

Each of our Acrylic dice are individually machined and the polished in 5 stages to bring back the optimal clarity and luster inherent to cast acrylic. This process is labor intensive but as you can see in the image to the right, it produces far superior results to injection molded acrylic dice.

PLEASE NOTE: We no longer use laser cut acrylic boxes. Our dice are now shipped in a round, steel tin.