[jimb]

To all Chip Talk readers,

I'm writing this letter to all Chip Talk readers who may be interested in purchasing ASM chips, now or in the future. Some Chip Talk customers have been requesting their chips be made to a higher standard of quality then can be produced. The equipment and process we use prevent us from making chips that hold the same tolerance as injection molded chips. Before making your purchase, please read the following description of what to expect.

If injection-molding plastic chips is science, then compression-molding clay chips is art.

What to expect from ASM chips:

1) Printed inlays will never be exactly centered in the chip. They are placed centrally before the final press operation; but under hundreds of tons of pressure, they will and do move. Because this is beyond our control, we must allow for some variation.

2) Edge spots will never be perfect. There will always be some difference in position or shape of edge spots for the same reason as stated above. It requires tons of pressure to bond the body and the edge spots together; under tons of pressure, things move.

3) Texture (aka linen finish) is applied to the mold at the time of its manufacture and varies from mold to mold. The age and condition of the mold also make a difference. Because most of the molds we use are historic molds of at least 50 years age, they tend not to make perfect chips. Some scratches and imperfections will appear on some chips made on almost any mold.

4) Thickness varies. In a perfect world every clay chip would hold to the standard thickness of .130-.131 inch. However, no clay chip will ever hold the tolerance of an injection molded plastic chip. In a set of clay chips, the random distribution of thick and thin chips averages out to the standard .130-.131. Notice I said average; some will be thinner and some will be thicker. Some will measure .125 (low end) and some will measure .136 (high end). That's a variance of +/- .005. This is a very small number. But what happens if I measure 100 chips and divide them into 2 stacks: stack A contains chips below .130 thickness and stack B contains chips above .130 thickness? If each stack held 50 chips, the under .130 stack would always be shorter than the over .130 stack. Mixing all of these chips back together results in a return to average.

5) Diameter of our chips varies depending on mold design and our ability to cut the outer edge to a uniform size. You should expect a small variation in diameter similar to the variation in thickness.

Now that you understand the variables inherent in creating a set of clay chips, you will know what to expect from our finished product.

Jim Blanchard
owner/manager

[babujit1]

Thank you for the explaination Jim.

In process of developing my inlay, and just lately ASM's seem to be taking a beating.
All the stuff listed above I think just adds to the character of a REAL CLAY chip IMO.
Still looking forward to placing my order

[verebrant]

And so so I - but still working on the colors.

Really nice to hear the manufacturers responding to the experiences of the board members!!!

/michael

[jojobinks]

thanks for the note, jim. i greatly appreciate your participation in the board.

[Q10 soooted]

The best part about this post is realizing how amazing it is that the ASM's in the custom gallery rarely ship with obvious flaws to the inlays, finish, edgespots, or coloring. Definately high quality chips.

[MacGrad]

It's an explanation like Jim's that make me more satisfied with my ASM purchase.

It's interesting to see the difference in attitudes taken by some manufacturers/retailers, and the attitudes taken by others. For example, I'm sure ASM just secured itself a number of new/repeat orders because of his professional response to the QC issues. Compare this to the attitude taken re: the InPlay clays...

[Kalimba]

I feel bad that you (Jim) felt as if some explanation was needed to address issues that were perhaps brought up by a select few here at ChipTalk. I'm certain that most members here realize that the "real clay" chip manufacturing process is not an exact science, and all of the factors you've mentioned do indeed contribute to produce a "unique" chip with each pressing. IMHO, the ASMs are the finest custom inlay clay chips that one can get these days.

BTW, I love the line "under tons of pressure, things move". If I had a way to set a signature, that'd be it.

[PocketRocket]

Do bear in mind that BPC is not a chip manufacturer, he's a reseller and may not know much about how chips are actually made. The only retailer who has come out with a statement noting the variations in compression molded chips was Nevada Jacks who also uses chips manufactured by Blue Chip, just like BPC.

From Nevada Jack's site:
"NOTE: Making clay chips is a slow and labor intensive process. Unlike inexpensive composite chips, each clay chip may vary slightly from the next. While weight and size are consistant; the appearance of colors, edge spots and inlay placement may vary slightly. This is just the characteristics of clay chips. There are NO exchanges for the above reasons. If returned, customer is responsible for all shipping and restocking fees."

It used to have something along the lines of ... if you want precision, go buy Chinese imports, but it looks that portion has been edited.

JimB's points make total sense though, as this is technology that is about a century old. Though I would differ with him about it being an art rather than a science. I think he's being modest. Its a different science, one that also requires artistic skills.

Originally Posted by MacGrad

It's an explanation like Jim's that make me more satisfied with my ASM purchase.

It's interesting to see the difference in attitudes taken by some manufacturers/retailers, and the attitudes taken by others. For example, I'm sure ASM just secured itself a number of new/repeat orders because of his professional response to the QC issues. Compare this to the attitude taken re: the InPlay clays...

[X-Files]

Nice post. I think some people have an unrealistic view. BTW I edited you original post to fix the post title.

Was:

What you should about ASM chips

Now:
What you should know about ASM chips.

[JM]

Originally Posted by PocketRocket

From Nevada Jack's site:
"NOTE: Making clay chips is a slow and labor intensive process. Unlike inexpensive composite chips, each clay chip may vary slightly from the next. While weight and size are consistant; the appearance of colors, edge spots and inlay placement may vary slightly. This is just the characteristics of clay chips. There are NO exchanges for the above reasons. If returned, customer is responsible for all shipping and restocking fees."

Thanks Pocket, I knew I'd read that somewhere, but was going crazy trying to remember where!