Poker Chip Flatness / QC (1 Viewer)

[jumister5889]

Edit: I just want to say by no means am I unhappy with either of the chips below. Based on the replies seems like this is a somewhat known issue with new Paulsons. May try to flatten, but issue isn’t even that bothersome. Not like dice chip spinners. These chips are incredible.

Original post:

Hi everyone, I'm brand new to chipping and to this forum.

When I was in high school / college during the early 2000's WSOP craze and first getting into poker, flatness was the #1 most important factor to me in chips. I wanted to be able to stack 100 with no wobble. Some China clays did that. Like the old Nevada Jacks.

Fast forward to now, getting back into poker and trying to find a nice set of chips.

Just got some brand new sets of THC unleaded Paulsons, brand new. Got around 1,000 chips. All of them have some slight wobble to them. They stack "fine" at a barrel, wobble a bit at 40, and at 100 they could easily tip over. Is this normal? They are only marginally more flat than low-end China clay's like Outlaws, for example. But much better than dice chips. Been reading about warped chips etc. Mine don't seem warped to that degree, but they aren't super flat like flat plastics / China clays. Should I bother to flatten, or is this normal acceptable wobble?

I also got some CPC chips. They are noticeably flatter than the Paulsons. But the stack heights are VERY uneven. In one rack, some of the barrels are almost a full chip taller than others. No two barrels are the same height. Same issue throughout 3 racks. Is this normal?

Thanks everyone!

 

[l33tf0b]

could be factory as they’re possibly the same batch.

Ideally all chips stack like these.

 

[jumister5889]

Dang those are exactly the kinds of towers I want to build. Any wobble there? I'll see if I can take some pics / vids when I get home.

 

[upNdown]

As much as we rave about them and overpay for them, Paulsons aren’t always perfect out of the factory. And even when they are, they don’t always remain perfect. I wouldn’t be surprised about your wobbly towers at all if they’re hot stamps - seems like the hot stamping process can warp chips.

If they’re mint inlaid Paulsons, I’d be surprised but I wouldn’t be shocked. I have some inlaid Paulsons that don’t stack perfectly, but they’ve been used and bought and sold and shipped back and forth to who knows where.
The good news is that they can be flattened - you can read about that process here and do it yourself, or you can pay somebody to do it for you. And it’s possible/likely that you only have a handful of slightly warped chips that are scattered through your racks. It only takes one or two to make a stack wobbly.

 

[Felt_Lizard]

The technology for making Paulson's and CPC's are both quite old.

Many of the fabrication phases are still done by human hands.

There will likely never be flat perfection, or clay perfection, or spot perfection on high end clays.

The China clays and ceramics and hybrids probably do have much more consistent flatness, because most fabrication steps are done by machines.

A thing isn't beautiful because it's perfect...

 

[jumister5889]

The technology for making Paulson's and CPC's are both quite old.

Many of the fabrication phases are still done by human hands.

There will likely never be flat perfection, or clay perfection, or spot perfection on high end clays.

The China clays and ceramics and hybrids probably do have much more consistent flatness, because most fabrication steps are done by machines.

A thing isn't beautiful because it's perfect...

Makes sense. Exactly why I get handmade bespoke clothing for example. I love handmade imperfection.

Makes me love these chips even more.

Thanks!

 

[Tonysquander]

Pretty much all the Tigers I bought had a slight barrel wobble (1st vid). It also made the barrels tight in the Unique racks. I flattened some (2nd vid) and then mostly didn’t care after that. Would be interested to see a Faro Dunes owner do a tap test to see if those came out similar. It’s really not that unusual for Paulsons, either new or older.
1 vid
2vid

 

[BKisback]

I have a few in my 400-piece set, not many. I was more surprised by the thickness of the 500s (lt. Violet). Barrels are about half a chip taller and they don't fit 20 to a row in Paulson racks like the other denoms. Nevertheless, I'll keep them

 

[allforcharity]

I thought the wobble factor tended to be worse with hot stamped chips vs. Inlaid chips.