Chipped Ceramic Chip (2 Viewers)

[Donkalope]

Last week, I received some ceramic chip samples from Apache Poker Chips. After a couple of days, I noticed that one had a noticeable chip in the surface material (image below, left edge of chip).

I don't have any history with ceramic chips, so not sure if this is something I should expect to happen often or not.

Can anyone with more experience owning/playing with ceramics comment on frequency of these being damaged?

 

[dkellerd]

I wouldn’t expect that to happen often at all…none of my 6 ceramic sets have had any chips in them.

 

[ekricket]

Percussion flake. It was hit at the proper angle with enough force to cleave a flake off. I make arrowheads like this.

Here’s a more technical description.


Conchoidal fracture describes the way that brittle materials break or fracture when they do not follow any natural planes of separation. Mindat.org defines conchoidal fracture as follows: "a fracture with smooth, curved surfaces, typically slightly concave, showing concentric undulations resembling the lines of growth of a shell".[1] Materials that break in this way include quartz, chert, flint, quartzite, jasper, and other fine-grained or amorphous materials with a composition of pure silica, such as obsidian and window glass, as well as a few metals, such as solid gallium.

 

[buzzmonkey]

None of my BRPros or Chipcos are chipped. A couple of my add-ons I bought from ChipLab after they switched from Chipcos are chipped so there are definitely some subpar blanks out there.

 

[PlaidDragon]

Percussion flake. It was hit at the proper angle with enough force to cleave a flake off. I make arrowheads like this.

Here’s a more technical description.


Conchoidal fracture describes the way that brittle materials break or fracture when they do not follow any natural planes of separation. Mindat.org defines conchoidal fracture as follows: "a fracture with smooth, curved surfaces, typically slightly concave, showing concentric undulations resembling the lines of growth of a shell".[1] Materials that break in this way include quartz, chert, flint, quartzite, jasper, and other fine-grained or amorphous materials with a composition of pure silica, such as obsidian and window glass, as well as a few metals, such as solid gallium.

I always appreciate a good science lesson!

 

[Donkalope]

Percussion flake. It was hit at the proper angle with enough force to cleave a flake off. I make arrowheads like this.

Here’s a more technical description.


Conchoidal fracture describes the way that brittle materials break or fracture when they do not follow any natural planes of separation. Mindat.org defines conchoidal fracture as follows: "a fracture with smooth, curved surfaces, typically slightly concave, showing concentric undulations resembling the lines of growth of a shell".[1] Materials that break in this way include quartz, chert, flint, quartzite, jasper, and other fine-grained or amorphous materials with a composition of pure silica, such as obsidian and window glass, as well as a few metals, such as solid gallium.

That makes sense, appreciate the explanation. I'll not let the kid bang on the table with these anymore

 

[philhut]

I had 2 chips arrive broken out if my big slot club set. They were glue back together with gorilla glue and have likely seen some action since (at least 1). No issues yet though I imagine certain floors surfaces may be disagreeable to cards mold chips (? Concrete/ ?tile) and chair roll overs. I have a laminate floor in ny basement and a few that hit the floor were fine. I still couldn't tell you which chips were used or not looking at them yet....(light use and a bug set at this point)

 

[Daniel Albarran]

A lot of my BRPROs suffered the same fate. My tip: treat them with a lot of love and don't splash the pot, even if you're in your club.

 

[Squigglerooster]

From the looks of it, chipping seems really rare. I've ordered countless ceramic samples from BRPro and the couple from Apache which have gone through some pretty extreme weather conditions and luckily none of them have chipped.

 

[bigblind]

this is why i have compression clay / CPC chips

 

[Colquhoun]

this is why i have compression clay / CPC chips

But whatever conditions damage a ceramic would absolutely destroy a clay chip.

 

[BGinGA]

But whatever conditions damage a ceramic would absolutely destroy a clay chip.

Not necessarily. A well-placed strike to a ceramic can cause a slight chipping of the material edge, and a similar action with comparable force to a clay chip can cause edge damage (nicked edge or flea bite).

Damage may be caused by a drop onto a hard surface, slapping a chip into another chip or hard surface, hard objects falling onto chips, or even from just splashing the pot if the mechanics and geometry line up just right.

Clays are more likely to be broken than ceramics, but lesser forces can cause lesser damage to both chip types.

Worth noting that some ceramic blanks are more prone to chipping or breakage, particularly those made in China and used by the Nile Club and Scroll sets. The original Chipco International blanks were virtually indestructible.