Custom ceramics (1 Viewer)

[Wils]

Hi folks. I'm thinking of getting a set of customs like the screenshot I created using Blender - I want nice simple lines and uncluttered looks. What do you think? Also what pitfalls are there when getting ceramics? Do some colours come out drab? Etc etc!

BTW I can't see myself needing a 25k or 100k chip, just added in for fun. And yes the 500 is (unintentionally) different.

PS Pic may be darker than I wanted

 

[allforcharity]

One of the great customization advantages of ceramics is the ability to produce relatively complicated, detailed, and full-face graphics and even on the rolling edge. It would be a shame to not try to maximize some of these advantage, especially since there's a significant bump in production cost when you get to fully aligned edges, etc. You would be able to get away with a simple, clean inlay design on a China Clay for a fraction of the cost of a custom ceramic.

 

[tabletalker7]

@allforcharity is right. A design this simple on ceramics is a waste of cash, and you should be considering china clays here.

 

[BGinGA]

I disagree. You cannot create his chip design on any china clay chip ever produced to date.

One of the great customization advantages of ceramics is the ability to produce exactly what you want in a chip design. Not all companies charge extra for aligned edge artwork, and ceramics are infinitely better chips than china clays regarding customization and durability for a relative marginal increase in cost. Printed colors can be pretty vivid, and prototypes help make sure you're happy with the colors before production.

 

[Solanthos]

This. I don't want to spend $2.50-$4 per chip, but I want cool edgespots, because that's what I like about chips. Ceramics are the best option for that.

I don't understand the mentality of "You shouldn't make ceramics that look like clays because you're not maximizing what you can do with ceramic." Okay, sure... but in addition to my reasons above, I don't see anyone chastise people who like and buy solid THCs or clays with boring edgespots. They're not maximizing what they could do either... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[Wils]

It would be a shame to not try to maximize some of these advantage, especially since there's a significant bump in production cost when you get to fully aligned edges, etc.

Good points. That isn't me though. I could commission Michelangelo to do the artwork and I'd still want it to look like these

You would be able to get away with a simple, clean inlay design on a China Clay for a fraction of the cost of a custom ceramic.

Don't get too hung up on the "label." I have China clays at the moment but I prefer the feel of ceramics. And in any case custom labels wouldn't be on my preference of chip colour, spots etc.

 

[allforcharity]

I disagree. You cannot create his chip design on any china clay chip ever produced to date.

One of the great customization advantages of ceramics is the ability to produce exactly what you want in a chip design. Not all companies charge extra for aligned edge artwork, and ceramics are infinitely better chips than china clays regarding customization and durability for a relative marginal increase in cost. Printed colors can be pretty vivid, and prototypes help make sure you're happy with the colors before production.

I don't disagree. But by "relatively marginal" increase in cost, we are talking about roughly double. Not a problem for many chippers, but maybe a complete deal breaker for others. Just go into this project knowing what your final costs will be. And don't forget shipping.

I don't understand the mentality of "You shouldn't make ceramics that look like clays because you're not maximizing what you can do with ceramic." Okay, sure... but in addition to my reasons above, I don't see anyone chastise people who like and buy solid THCs or clays with boring edgespots. They're not maximizing what they could do either... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I never inferred this idea in my reply to the OP, nor have I chastised anyone. I never even mentioned clay. Ceramics have their strengths, and some designs play to those strengths, and some don't. I am very pro-ceramic. But I am cognizant that sometimes there are opportunities to get comparable or higher quality chips with a well-defined budget, or maybe similar design quality with a less expensive chip.

 

[allforcharity]

Good points. That isn't me though. I could commission Michelangelo to do the artwork and I'd still want it to look like these

Don't get too hung up on the "label." I have China clays at the moment but I prefer the feel of ceramics. And in any case custom labels wouldn't be on my preference of chip colour, spots etc.

Of course, you should get exactly what you want. The chips themselves look fine, IMO. However, you can't judge off a rendering, and you'd be better off to evaluate real prototype samples before you commit to production, especially if you're planning on a very large set. Though many colours can be dye-sub printed, the brightest colours and metallic cannot, so be aware of those limitations.

 

[Solanthos]

I never inferred this idea in my reply to the OP, nor have I chastised anyone. I never even mentioned clay. Ceramics have their strengths, and some designs play to those strengths, and some don't. I am very pro-ceramic. But I am cognizant that sometimes there are opportunities to get comparable or higher quality chips with a well-defined budget, or maybe similar design quality with a less expensive chip.

You didn't chastise. I think you gave good cohesive reasons in a reasonable way. It was more the comments about it being a "waste of cash" and that they might as well get china clays that I was speaking to... which still isn't truly "chastising," but it's the word I chose in that moment.

 

[LupodeWallStreet]

I'agree with @BGinGA , Custom chips are made for letting us chips we like....so if you like it do it
It's a really flashy Set.... and i think it is really peetty
Particularly the 500, 1K and 5K
Go on

 

[Wils]

You didn't chastise. I think you gave good cohesive reasons in a reasonable way. It was more the comments about it being a "waste of cash" and that they might as well get china clays that I was speaking to... which still isn't truly "chastising," but it's the word I chose in that moment.

Don't worry I understood the sentiment from both sides. Any and all advice in this thread is welcome. I'm still in the early stages of the design so it's all good. Particularly if it's of the "don't expect colours too bright, don't make graphics smaller than X" variety.u

 

[Beakertwang]

I absolutely dig this design! I’d want to add text of some kind to the face—Card club, city name, etc., and/or demons or text in the rolling edge.

 

[surfik]

I like it.. But prefer difrent font denominations and do the missing 1 to 5 denoms so I can use them in cashgame

 

[Kid_Eastwood]

Personnally I like this idea.
I would just probably tweek it a little bit to not require edge alignment.

 

[allforcharity]

Text or Bud Jones-style spot patterns on the ceramic rolling edge are examples of design that might not require edge alignment and the associated extra costs.

 

[BGinGA]

I don't disagree. But by "relatively marginal" increase in cost, we are talking about roughly double. Not a problem for many chippers, but maybe a complete deal breaker for others. Just go into this project knowing what your final costs will be. And don't forget shipping.

Perhaps you need to broaden your horizons.

Some ceramics are actually less expensive than china clays, and by nearly half in some instances. China clays run anywhere from 35c to 55c per chip, while ceramics can be made for as little as 27c/chip, with most pricing in the 45c to 65c range.

 

[Kid_Eastwood]

Unaligned PolyClays are 39c each and aligned are 48c each (excl. shipping).
PolyChrom unaligned are probably slightly less.

With current situation shipping price is unfortunatly insane... At least to shop to Europe.

 

[RoadRash]

Perhaps you need to broaden your horizons.

Some ceramics are actually less expensive than china clays, and by nearly half in some instances. China clays run anywhere from 35c to 55c per chip, while ceramics can be made for as little as 27c/chip, with most pricing in the 45c to 65c range.

Where can I find a list of these manufacturers? I don't necessarily need their price list, but having a list of manufacturers to get quotes from would be ideal. I have a few designs that I am considering printing/reprinting. ABC is not an option though.

 

[tabletalker7]

@SUN-FLY Poker Chips

 

[RoadRash]

Are these the only options. Sun-Fly and ABC?

 

[tabletalker7]

Are these the only options. Sun-Fly and ABC?

Doubtful, but they are the best. You will hear about brpropoker but they are the same people as ABC. If you dig really deep here at PCF you will find a few people who had success with an alibaba manufacturer, but I have no clue which one or how to contact them. I will say, that .45 to .65 per chip range others have talked about, that came from SUN-FLY

 

[surfik]

Abiatti

 

[surfik]

There are plenty of websites that offer custom ceramic but most of them are just middle man that order print in China. In USA try BR POKER

 

[tabletalker7]

most of them are just middle man that order print in China

And the only middle men who sell product worth anything at all order them from SUN-FLY

 

[surfik]

Abbiati ceramics are nice too. It a matter of good design and equipment.

 

[RoadRash]

Thanks. That's a shame. I was hoping there would be a few more by now. I was actually one of those middlemen using Sun-Fly until I shut down a while back. I just had an old customer contact me about a re-order and wanted to see if there were any options Stateside. I've tried ABC, but they keep telling me to look elsewhere.

 

[wolfpack]

You can get ceramics for around .32/chip shipped if you get regular caramics with no mold or recess by going direct to china.

 

[RoadRash]

Doubtful, but they are the best. You will hear about brpropoker but they are the same people as ABC. If you dig really deep here at PCF you will find a few people who had success with an alibaba manufacturer, but I have no clue which one or how to contact them. I will say, that .45 to .65 per chip range others have talked about, that came from SUN-FLY

Yes, I used to do a lot of work with BR Pro. That's where I got started in the custom business. I had a lot of designs and customers at the time and he had the best price at the time. It worked out great for both of us. We talked about setting up a bunch of template designs for his business and I'd get commission from each template set he sold. He got out of the business shortly after that (sold to ABC) and I mostly left it too.

Things were good back then, I had BR Pro for the bulk of my orders. I used ABC when my clients had a bigger budget or preferred a better quality chip (most of my clients wanted it as cheap as possible though). ChipCo was still respectable back then and I did some work with them until they got caught in some dirty business. Somebody bought their equipment, but they never seemed to get things back up and running - not for full-custom orders. They had templates, but no way to customize the entire chip. Palm Imports was another option back then. It was a good time to be into ceramic poker chips. There were a lot of options for textures/molds for blanks. I was never big on clay chips, but I did some custom hot stamps for a military poker club and I designed some clays with friends, but we never had them produced.

The good ol' days. I miss 'em. I wasn't very active in the chiptalk forums, but some of my regular poker friends were there all day long. I just went there when I was looking for design work. Those were good times though.

 

[GianThaMan]

Are these the only options. Sun-Fly and ABC?

Game On Chip Company (New Chipco) makes 39mm and 45mm ceramics for the home market. Fully custom.

 

[tabletalker7]

ChipCo was still respectable back then and I did some work with them until they got caught in some dirty business. Somebody bought their equipment, but they never seemed to get things back up and running

I could be mistaken, but I think the somebody who bought that equipment was ABC