For the past few weeks, I've been testing various ultraviolet inks and methods to apply a safe, permanent UV security symbol on Key West Resort & Casino chips.
With a stock of over 10,000 chips, I think it would be a nice feature that would add value to the Key West's chips, and if we can accomplish this, I can offer the option to add your own, unique security mark to the inlays of chips you buy, effectively permanently identifying your chips among all Key Wests. If they're ever stolen, the mark would be as good as a serial number on the chip.
The start:
Around two weeks ago, I began ordering UV inks and attempting to apply them to the vinyl inlays of some test Key West chips to see if I could create a stable, consistent image on the chip that would be clear and recognizable. I tried to stencil an image on with a UV pen, but the tips of most pens were too wide for this.
Next, I tried a rubber stamp. Using an old rubber stamp kit, I added some UV ink and it worked!
Right now, we're trying various UV inks. The goal is to find an ink that is:
The image:
John at J5 Design, who created the original Key West design, made the stamp image for us.
A custom "palm tree" stamp has been ordered from a local stamp shop and should arrive in a few days. Here's the stamp image, in relief. (It will be invisible on the chip and glow blue under UV light:
And here is a mock-up of the image on the chip. It's what you would see under UV light. (Note the blue extra palm to the right of the denomination.):
We'll be doing more tests when the final stamp is ready, just to make sure the image is invisible, clean, consistent, and won't wash off easily. We're only using non-toxic, environmentally safe inks for this, so if they work, we're good. If not, we'll look at other options or ideas.
With a stock of over 10,000 chips, I think it would be a nice feature that would add value to the Key West's chips, and if we can accomplish this, I can offer the option to add your own, unique security mark to the inlays of chips you buy, effectively permanently identifying your chips among all Key Wests. If they're ever stolen, the mark would be as good as a serial number on the chip.
The start:
Around two weeks ago, I began ordering UV inks and attempting to apply them to the vinyl inlays of some test Key West chips to see if I could create a stable, consistent image on the chip that would be clear and recognizable. I tried to stencil an image on with a UV pen, but the tips of most pens were too wide for this.
Next, I tried a rubber stamp. Using an old rubber stamp kit, I added some UV ink and it worked!
Right now, we're trying various UV inks. The goal is to find an ink that is:
- safe and non-toxic
- completely invisible in normal light
- glows blue under UV light
- won't smear, wipe off, or wash off the chip
The image:
John at J5 Design, who created the original Key West design, made the stamp image for us.
A custom "palm tree" stamp has been ordered from a local stamp shop and should arrive in a few days. Here's the stamp image, in relief. (It will be invisible on the chip and glow blue under UV light:
And here is a mock-up of the image on the chip. It's what you would see under UV light. (Note the blue extra palm to the right of the denomination.):
We'll be doing more tests when the final stamp is ready, just to make sure the image is invisible, clean, consistent, and won't wash off easily. We're only using non-toxic, environmentally safe inks for this, so if they work, we're good. If not, we'll look at other options or ideas.
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