Oh ye of little faith.
I'm sure I can pull off a good eraser-stamp. If I can tool leather I can gouge rubber
Besides, if I mess one up it's what, $0.25 to try again? The instructions I've seen around the 'net are very straightforward, it's like a kid's project where the adult handles the sharp stuff. I figure I can x-acto the outline and use my 3/16" gouge to remove the bulk of the material. I'll find a cool freeware font and use p-shop to mirror the image, then print it on my laser printer. I'll use the tattoo trick of using speed-stick deodorant as a transfer agent and I should be able to get a clean trace onto the eraser. Let it dry and it's semi-permanent (unlike water and an ink-jet).
I figure I can gouge the stamp in about a half-hour, so that's 2 hrs just in carving
Then, there's all the stamping. stamp stamp stamp. I'm planning on doing a "faux inlay" with that cotton white opaque stuff and then picking a regular staz-on color (probably black) to do the denoms.
So labor intensive? Yes. Could I work that amount of time and buy custom chips? Probably. This'll be cool though. I'm shooting for a complete tournament setup for 24 people (8max) for under $500, tables and chairs included. Labor is not a factor, three setups of cheap copags from PI and I got my poker genie for free from
PSO. I figure I can spend some of my free time customizing and fixing if I can get the whole shebang for the price of a set of clay chips
Wish me luck, I'm already $133 into the budget and haven't bought anything for the tables! Of course, the damn chip boxes, dealer buttons (two extra), cut cards and the all-important poker dice are eating up $40... almost as much as the chips!
Thankfully I have a camera bag that was laying around to carry the stuff in, that saves $30 or so.
Now... where can I find 24 trashed stackable restaraunt chairs... hmmmm. I saw 10 yards of good vinyl on ebay for $40...
Linear Mode
