The Process
Our Process
Our Process dyeing discs was developed the exact same way as our process disc golfing, self taught with loads of trial and error through experimentation. Eventually after finding a helpful video or two we were able to straighten the compass a bit and start the process of trial and error through more experimentation all over again. There’s no failures in this game if you’re willing to keep your antenna high and take the lessons each experiment has to offer. Trust me, I’ve learned way more from the broken eggs along the way than the omelets.
Not unlike most stones, if you keep banging on it, it’s going to break. The lessons are easy anyways when it’s a true labor of love. Eventually they start to pile up into a database of situational knowledge that translates into a confident craftsmanship…and some pretty hot plastic! Learn more here about the ins and outs of what it is we do to take a disc from a plastic circle all the way through to someone’s prized possession.
Basement
Disc Dyeing
Trial and error, experimenting, and not being afraid of failure have been the three main additives in the fuel tank powering this machine. All of our mixes, ratios, measurements, and methods have been developed the good old fashion way…by figuring it out. None of them are perfect at this point, in fact they’re all still growing and maturing, but they’re tried and tested and straight out of the basement. We’re happy to show you what we’ve learned, but nothing replaces Doing It!
Pretty maids all lined up in a row! This is about as production line as it gets around these parts. Counter space, if nothing else, imposes its’ limits on the TDIDI Disc Dyeing Studio, as this batch of discs lay tucked all snug in their background beds eagerly awaiting a morning rinse. Just one the many steps along the way in the process of turning a piece of plastic into a someone’s prized possession.
Just like my main man “44” here working on his own Dragon Ball Z discs, every piece of plastic we dye in our makeshift studio is treated like it’s going into our own bags. The same adage we all heard growing up in “treat it like it’s your own” continues to guide us now from the first steps of planning and preparation, through the last steps of execution and delivery.
Quality and Care
I’ve always been a big fan of the classic book Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig. It explores the author’s “Metaphysics of Quality” with an incredibly deep dive that has always stuck with me. While the book deems the term ‘quality’ itself to be virtually undefinable, he describes quality and care as being two sides of the same coin saying:
“Care and Quality are internal and external aspects of the same thing. A person who sees Quality and feels it as he works is a person who cares. A person who cares about what he sees and does is a person who’s bound to have some characteristic of quality.”
Pirsig’s notions of quality and care are innately tied to his conception of work. Both what it is normally and what it could become if we had a better understanding of how quality and care affect the work we do, and the way we do it. Maybe a little heavy for a disc dyeing page, but his train of thought is the best analog I’ve found to describe our take on Quality and Care.
1 of 1 Customs
Every disc starts out as just an idea, an image in the mind’s eye begging to get out. Each progressively develops and matures into its’ own singular creation made for just one person in mind. Even discs with the same design or stamp all come out completely different taking on a life of their own. You can be confident holding your TDIDI Custom in hand that no one else on the planet has one just like it. What’s the image painted over your mind’s eye? Let’s bring it to a reality and fancy it up on some premium plastic, a 1-of-1 custom disc made for just one…you!
Packaging
and Shipping
I personally package and ship every disc myself in hopes of it making it all the way to your hands in the exact condition it left mine. Double bubble envelopes, cardboard backings, a few extra goodies, and a plea on the outside of every package to not “taco” it into the mailbox, serve to curb my nerves and anxiety while it travels the space between us. Every single disc is treated like the most valuable piece of inventory headed out of the studio.
What Our Customers Have to Say
