Engraving chips (1 Viewer)

LeGold

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I tried to see whether there had already been discussions on this topic, couldn't find anything (sorry if I missed it).

Hot stamps are nice, but there are a few drawbacks (such as setup price). Has as anyone tried engraving chips as an alternative?

Pros:
  • no need for custom dies
  • the detail level can be quite high depending on the graver used
  • some types of errors can be fixed by running it again
  • the design can be tested and re-tested on non-chips
Cons:
  • every chip has to be individually prepared and removed from the engraver when it is done
  • engraving is slow
  • the painting process is highly manual and tedious
  • might not be feasible for clay chips where the surface is not smooth (with regards to removing the paint from the surface)
  • if acryllic paint is used, not sure how it would withstand playing in the long run

Examples:
shutinc02.jpg voc04.jpg
 
People have done laser etching, and I believe some have used CNC to mill out labels, I think the error rate could get up there using CNC to engrave designs. Painting would be tedious as hell. Probably by the time you've engraved and painted you could have paid for several hotstamp dies with the investment in time you've made.

I'm all for testing it out though... would be neat!!!
 
Been doing CNC engraving for 10+ years now, very little error rate really. But that's mostly on smooth ABS.
As for the time spent... well, the value of getting something done myself cannot be measured in any currency :) I'm sure I'd be pretty fed up after 50 chips though :D

I'm still very fresh, have no clays other than a set of original Dunes... if anyone has some chips they'd be willing to sacrifice (preferably blanks, can be dirty), I'll be happy to give it a try!
 

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