On samples (1 Viewer)

warma

Full House
Joined
Dec 14, 2019
Messages
3,536
Reaction score
5,058
Location
DMV
It should be a universal truth to get samples when considering pursuing any poker chip product. Size, feel, sound, and color are rightfully highlighted as the reason to do so.

This is samples 201.

I’ve been long working on a custom project, pulling together various color combinations, base colors across the set and spot combinations. While a few folks have crushed it without a sample set (a true gift) and others have recommended some combos, I’m not that confident.

I’ve received some tremendous support from designers and tinkerers providing their more realistic digital images (they shall remain nameless to prevent an unwanted onslaught, but I’m happy to call them out if they’d like as they’re great people).

But a digital image on a monitor that may or may not be accurate is no substitute for the truth. So I broke down and went after two approaches:

1. Small samples as part of a larger order.
I realize this is not available to many, but I wanted to call it out. On top of a large limit set, I asked David if he would be willing to produce a limited number of four additional chips to help me with a future order. He was kind enough to say yes.
IMG_5991.jpeg

It was really helpful, as a couple didn’t excite me in real life as they did on the computer screen. These samples helped me eliminate what I thought would be a certain hit, avoiding heartbreak in the future.

2. Individual chip samples - CPC & casino
I have a large collection of digital images of CPC and casino chips that really appeal to me. They’ve helped inspire previous sets and are instrumental in my next one.

Getting samples of other CPC sets with interesting color combos is an excellent way to help you colors in person what you’re building on screen.

When I could get all the samples I wanted, I turned to Spinettis and bought a few reasonably priced samples of combos I’m interested in. While they may not be current CPC colors, seeing them in person and comparing them with a CPC sample color set helped me better visualize the options and get a handle on them in a way I wouldn’t have been able to do on a monitor.
IMG_6852.jpeg

For example, the SMIL is not CPC light blue or gray, but that old blue-gray color that I love so much. Green on yellow looks much better in person. The CNdP and Mapes $25 maroon is an entirely different and beautiful color- a rich burgundy, perhaps, but absolutely not CPC maroon. The Silver Slipper is almost dead-on CPC lavender and orange, while the Mapes $5 is a close CPC purple. The Dunes and Nugget are close to CPC retro lavender.

Seeing these chips has really helped, and while I spent a few dollars on the samples, it’s worth it as I’ll avoid the groans of realizing I designed poorly when a full set arrives.

For those designing older-school sets, I’d suggest considering obtaining actual casino chip samples to see what they’re like in person and if CPC colors can replicate the feel well enough for you.
 
Last edited:
Is there any chance you picked up a ST. Maarten $1 chip?

Awesome idea by the way.
 
Not CPC, but I'd agree to get samples to see in person if possible. I had people helping with pictures when I was looking for a specific green a while back, but there is no substitute to having them in person. Some chips that I swore would match did not when arriving. Paulson greens were a doozy and often came down to batch variation, age, etc...


1695234301737.png
 
Yeah, there’s variation in chip color over time and between batches, whether a slight shift in spot colors or even a white base. It can be hard to get things matching perfectly when dealing with older chips.
 
I had an idea for next level CPC samples after seeing the Matsui samples.

1. Get two CPC color samples, one inlaid, one plain.
2. Cut D14 slots in the inlaid chips, cut 14 spots out of the plain chips.
3. Piece them together to simulate what a chip would look like, like so:

cutcolorsample@4x.png


Any idea if clay chips can be cut this way?
 
Last edited:
I had an idea for next level CPC samples after seeing the Matsui samples.

1. Get two CPC color samples, one inlaid, one plain.
2. Cut D14 slots in the inlaid chips, cut 14 spots out of the plain chips.
3. Piece them together to simulate what a chip would look like, like so:

View attachment 1198171

Any idea if clay chips can be cut this way?
Maybe with a tiny fine grain hacksaw. Hmmm… I happen to have one.

Edit 1: Ah… damn… not sure how I make the perpendicular cuts. Maybe I make circular corners? But to make them consistent, I’d need a machine, which I don’t have.

Edit 2: Hmmm…. Still…
 
Last edited:
Maybe with a tiny fine grain hacksaw. Hmmm… I happen to have one.

Edit 1: Ah… damn… not sure how I make the perpendicular cuts. Maybe I make circular corners? But to make them consistent, I’d need a machine, which I don’t have.

Edit 2: Hmmm…. Still…
Can a hacksaw cut along a circular line? Can tape a trimoon pattern onto the chip and then follow the guide.

Or maybe we find someone with a scroll saw who's interested in experimenting.
 
Can a hacksaw cut along a circular line? Can tape a trimoon pattern onto the chip and then follow the guide.

Or maybe we find someone with a scroll saw who's interested in experimenting.
I might do a small drill bit/hacksaw combo on a chip for giggles. I’m looking at a narrow group of colors. If I limit to 312 patterns and a handful of colors, it might be doable. May not be pretty, but it could work. I have a few extras I can try it on.
 
I might do a small drill bit/hacksaw combo on a chip for giggles. I’m looking at a narrow group of colors. If I limit to 312 patterns and a handful of colors, it might be doable. May not be pretty, but it could work. I have a few extras I can try it on.
I assume the idea is to get an impression of the colors next to each other in roughly the right proportion. It only has to be better than stacking whole color samples on top of each other.

Would love to see some photos if you end up doing this.
 
Maybe use jeweler's tools, bench vise & coping saw, and cut so the kerf is on the waste side of the cut. Also cut the slot small and the tab big, then use sandpaper to shape to size.
 
My two biggest regrets so far in chipping: 1) ordering without getting samples (it was a Kickstarter, Paisley Cards & Gaming Chips), and 2) not holding out for what I really wanted (getting the Paisleys which were about 80% of what I wanted for about 40% of the estimated cost of what I really wanted, full customs from BR Pro).
 
Maybe use jeweler's tools, bench vise & coping saw, and cut so the kerf is on the waste side of the cut. Also cut the slot small and the tab big, then use sandpaper to shape to size.
Thanks for the tip. I don’t have any of that, so I’m going to wing it. :ROFL: :ROFLMAO: But the kerf comment is a great one. Because I know which base colors I want, I can figure out the waste side from there.

I have a few things going on, might not do anything until next week, but screw it, I’ll do it for science and focus on a combo I’ve always been interested in.
 
A fine tooth blade for a regular coping saw may work, if you don't have a jigsaw.

I like to orient my blade on my coping saw so it cuts as I pull it down.
 
I had an idea for next level CPC samples after seeing the Matsui samples.

1. Get two CPC color samples, one inlaid, one plain.
2. Cut D14 slots in the inlaid chips, cut 14 spots out of the plain chips.
3. Piece them together to simulate what a chip would look like, like so:

View attachment 1198171

Any idea if clay chips can be cut this way?

Brilliant idea :wow:

I wonder if a laser cutter would work? Super precise and minimal cut, but not sure how the chip material would react. I can have access to one, I could try when I order samples.
 
I had a few minutes and thought I’d futz. Because I’m looking at x12 patterns, I thought I’d start with an extra 312 chip, so I could use the cutouts as a stencil for future cuts.

It quickly became apparent that this is not going to work. First, the hacksaw blade made for jagged and chipped edges. Second, the length of my tiny hacksaw blade makes turning any kind of corner to impossible at this scale.

I thought I’d finish the two radial cuts and then figure things out from there. I chose wisely.

After making the second radial cut, the pink spot popped out, breaking on the edge between the two clays. It’s definitely not pretty, and doing everything by hand (no vice) made it tough. But hey, it was fun.

IMG_6862.jpeg


Now I’m thinking, I might was well finish the above chip. I can put the DG pink spots on top of another chip to get a better visual, and I can put the chips with the holes over another base color to get some idea there as well. Not perfect, but better than what I have been doing.

I have 2 312 chips and a trimoon with base and spot colors I’m interested in. So I’ll keep going as far as I can. But this is really not a solution without the proper tools.
 
I had a few minutes and thought I’d futz. Because I’m looking at x12 patterns, I thought I’d start with an extra 312 chip, so I could use the cutouts as a stencil for future cuts.

It quickly became apparent that this is not going to work. First, the hacksaw blade made for jagged and chipped edges. Second, the length of my tiny hacksaw blade makes turning any kind of corner to impossible at this scale.

I thought I’d finish the two radial cuts and then figure things out from there. I chose wisely.

After making the second radial cut, the pink spot popped out, breaking on the edge between the two clays. It’s definitely not pretty, and doing everything by hand (no vice) made it tough. But hey, it was fun.

View attachment 1199151

Now I’m thinking, I might was well finish the above chip. I can put the DG pink spots on top of another chip to get a better visual, and I can put the chips with the holes over another base color to get some idea there as well. Not perfect, but better than what I have been doing.

I have 2 312 chips and a trimoon with base and spot colors I’m interested in. So I’ll keep going as far as I can. But this is really not a solution without the proper tools.
This is awesome!

Which hacksaw and blade do you have and how much cutting timewas required? Going to level up on my saw knowledge.
 
Wow!!!!

So once I looked at it from fresh eyes, it was really easy to hack up existing "312" chips. I put the chip flat on the workbench with some overhang, created a catch for the dust, and sawed away. Really easy. I tried converting a trimoon (yellow), which didn't go so well, but I put zero thought into it, so I'm sure it could be done better. (I used some small pliers to slowly pull out the excess material that didn't easily pop out because of the smaller spot size.)

Because all the "312" spots are different, they don't all neatly fit, so the swap spot option for pre-made 312s would be tough.

I will say, even after cutting the two radial cuts around the 312 spot, several spots required some muscle and a few attempts & tools to remove. These are well built.

So yes, @GreekRedEye, totally Frankenstein project here, but immediately, I saw things that I hadn't been able to see earlier and got my first impression of color combos I've only speculated about.

Here's one of the iterations:
IMG_6871.jpeg


I think I'll finally be able to lock in a 312 set now.
 
Wow!!!!

So once I looked at it from fresh eyes, it was really easy to hack up existing "312" chips. I put the chip flat on the workbench with some overhang, created a catch for the dust, and sawed away. Really easy. I tried converting a trimoon (yellow), which didn't go so well, but I put zero thought into it, so I'm sure it could be done better. (I used some small pliers to slowly pull out the excess material that didn't easily pop out because of the smaller spot size.)

Because all the "312" spots are different, they don't all neatly fit, so the swap spot option for pre-made 312s would be tough.

I will say, even after cutting the two radial cuts around the 312 spot, several spots required some muscle and a few attempts & tools to remove. These are well built.

So yes, @GreekRedEye, totally Frankenstein project here, but immediately, I saw things that I hadn't been able to see earlier and got my first impression of color combos I've only speculated about.

Here's one of the iterations:
View attachment 1200742

I think I'll finally be able to lock in a 312 set now.

I love it. Great idea by @improviseallday and good execution by @warma
 
Wow!!!!

So once I looked at it from fresh eyes, it was really easy to hack up existing "312" chips. I put the chip flat on the workbench with some overhang, created a catch for the dust, and sawed away. Really easy. I tried converting a trimoon (yellow), which didn't go so well, but I put zero thought into it, so I'm sure it could be done better. (I used some small pliers to slowly pull out the excess material that didn't easily pop out because of the smaller spot size.)

Because all the "312" spots are different, they don't all neatly fit, so the swap spot option for pre-made 312s would be tough.

I will say, even after cutting the two radial cuts around the 312 spot, several spots required some muscle and a few attempts & tools to remove. These are well built.

So yes, @GreekRedEye, totally Frankenstein project here, but immediately, I saw things that I hadn't been able to see earlier and got my first impression of color combos I've only speculated about.

Here's one of the iterations:
View attachment 1200742

I think I'll finally be able to lock in a 312 set now.

The red + orange is hot.
 
If you triple stack the 312 cutouts and rotate slightly, does the 3D14 effect look good?
Not sure about the trike stack, but if you had 1/2” cutouts, you could align them under the open 312 base with 1/4” showing from each color in each slot. (I’ll add a photo to this comment later.)

Edit: Oh, I got it. It works, but shadows come into play. The stacking I was referring to is not fun- the spots don’t align and aligning everything is bothersome. I tried stacking on another 312, and that only helped so much.
IMG_6879.jpeg

L: retro lav, yellow, green. R: imp blue, DG pink, maroon (retro red peeking out)
 
Last edited:

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account and join our community. It's easy!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Back
Top Bottom