Poker chip box or cart (2 Viewers)

[T_Chan]

I'm going to building a chip box for myself to house my PCA set. I'm lucky enough to have a decently large set of PCA secondaries which deserve a proper home. They're currently sitting in loose plastic racks in a plywood box on the floor of my living room. I'm planning to build a nice box to house them all and looking for some inspiration for the box.

My first dilemma is do I build a box or a cart? I don't really have a spot to display the box if I build it, so I'm thinking a cart or cabinet. A cart would be nice so that I can roll it around to where I need it, but I feel like putting casters on it would make it look cheap.

I'm going to also either laser engrave, or CNC with epoxy resin some designs into it. I might do this on just the trays/inserts but I have a feeling that this storage solution will be for just my PCA chips.

I'd like to also incorporate some sort of puzzle lock on it. It doesn't have to be super complex, but something that would take some time to figure out if you've never opened it before. Maybe even just a dummy lock but placing the actual lock somewhere hidden.

I'll post photos of my progress as well as design sketches. I'll be doing this in my spare time after hours so it'll be a slow project.

It needs to be decently large. Also not pictured is another 2 racks of $1's, a rack of $25's and a barrel of $500's.

 

[Huskerchipper]

Looking forward to seeing this!

 

[T_Chan]

I'm just trying to find some free time to do some designing. I'll mock it up in CAD first and post some renders for feedback.

 

[p0kerch1pf0rumrick]

President Casino on the Admiral. That brings back memories.

 

[abby99]

Have you considered a cabinet with hidden or recessed casters? I also saw a cabinet with retractable wheels/casters bit it's difficult to imagine that working with a cabinet loaded with PCAs.

 

[T_Chan]

That sounds like a neat idea. Maybe some retractable wheels with a hidden mechanism on the side or back that would raise/lower the casters into place. That would make the cabinet look more permanent when it's not being moved around.

My rental season has finally finished up so I can actually commit some time to this long overdue project now.

 

[T_Chan]

My first mock up so far. I waffled a lot between designs and decided to make this a display cabinet for both my chips and some miniature models that my wife and I both build (gundams). The bottom 3 shelves are tilted 15 degrees and the cabinet will be illuminated so that you can see the chips and models. The top shelves are flat for the gundams.

The doors are black walnut, the shelves are cherry with walnut front strips. The strips are useful for the bottom shelves because they're tilted but aren't really needed on the top ones, but I put them in to match the rest of the shelves. I might do a brass/epoxy inlay in the doors to make it pop a little more. It looks a little plain at the moment, but then again sometimes simple is elegant. The sides are painted black which I might change.

I think I'll add some cross braces on the doors, at least one. I would still like to incorporate a hidden lock somehow for the doors. I decided against wheels, I think there's enough space in my poker room for the cabinet to stay in one spot. The trays will be removable for me to bring chips to the table.