[H4tfan]

In my last visit to the laser room I experimented with various artworks using a few different source files. The results proved that the source file plays a large roll towards the end quality of a lasered image. With the new found information and lessons I’d learned along the way I felt comfortable enough to attempt a full production run. The following article is the result of a very long day that ended with my first custom chipset. I now welcome you to Part III;

This time I focused on creating a custom tournament chipset with the intent of selling it at a later date. I felt the set needed a nice variety of color with a quantity large enough to be useful, but not so large it would take too long to produce. I decided on a 10 player T10,000 structure using 8-Green(25), 8-Black(100), 8-Purple(500) and 5-Orange(1000) per player. This resulted in a 300 piece set 80, 80, 80, 60 with 10 extra 1000’s. For the artworks I attempted to create a punched inlay look using four typical designs to correspond with the values: Scallop-25, Wheel-100, Hexagon-500 and Round-1000. As discovered in Part II, I used Corel Draw for optimum laser results.




The process went well, but was far from flawless. The laser’s motion unit would occasionally drift from left to right then left again at a .030” variance. I determined that the source of this drifting is a result of the motion unit being belt driven. The two chips below show the result of the drifting:


Overall I feel good with the results. The drifting was very frustrating to deal with, but the chips still look great. The 300 pieces took me about 7.5 hours to produce. So, if I sold the set for $35 it would result in my time being worth less than $3 an hour. Not good at all. I could’ve created these much faster if the artworks were smaller. After a while, I’ll put this set into the ‘Member to Member’ section. I have many more to laser and will create another set with new artworks in the future.

[Jambine]

Wow! Those look great

[develvjd-]

Every version gets better and better, I think you're on to something here...

[azureXsmurF]

/me raises hand

Wanna do this to my set of Fauxs? =P

[H4tfan]

Yes, I'd laser a set for you. Oldcycles asked for me to burn some for him as well. Currently, I need do nail down a cost as to what my time is worth and what the machine time will cost me. It'll be expensive. Maybe too expensive to be worth it.

The 300 pieces took 1.5min. each. That's 40/hr. So, if I agree to work for $10/hr that's .25¢ per chip. I haven't recieved a rental cost to borrow the machine yet. That would raise the cost a bit more. I'm looking at using 2 machines to chop the time in half to about .13¢ each + machine time. I'll need to get in touch with TenPercenter to see if I'll need a vender status to do this from the Forums as well. When I recieve word as to what the company expects in return for using the machines I'll post a price and go from there.

[sn0wstorm]

If you want to sell these, drop me a line

I really love how they came out... and this would be a good chance to get a set of FC's...

[azureXsmurF]

Originally Posted by H4tfan

Yes, I'd laser a set for you. Oldcycles asked for me to burn some for him as well. Currently, I need do nail down a cost as to what my time is worth and what the machine time will cost me. It'll be expensive. Maybe too expensive to be worth it.

The 300 pieces took 1.5min. each. That's 40/hr. So, if I agree to work for $10/hr that's .25¢ per chip. I haven't recieved a rental cost to borrow the machine yet. That would raise the cost a bit more. I'm looking at using 2 machines to chop the time in half to about .13¢ each + machine time. I'll need to get in touch with TenPercenter to see if I'll need a vender status to do this from the Forums as well. When I recieve word as to what the company expects in return for using the machines I'll post a price and go from there.

Keep us updated... those turned out really cool

[bigjohn]

Yeah these are really looking good!! It would be nice to have a monogramed set of clays or something !!

[H4tfan]

I talked with the laser tech from work last night. He pointed out a few ideas that could enhance the results of the artwork. We plan to get together early on Saturday to go over a few things. I have to leave for the weekend, so I plan to perform a new set of tests on the following weekend. I'll need to create a new artwork that is much more complex than what I've done so far. If this works as I hope, the complex artwork will create enhanced 3D effects.

I haven't talked with management to confirm my use of the machines yet, so there's nothing new there. The chipset posted here may have sold, It's in the process anyway. That's it so far.

[PatoLanda]

Please keep us informed,love those labels, looks like they are some kind of factory serie mold. Great chips, great idea.

Thanks man