Ceramics Question from ABCGIFTSANDAWARDS

Hi Everyone-

We've been striving to come up with the best possible custom poker chip product to bring to you, and we feel that we are very close to our goal! One question that I have for you...would you want a smooth faced ceramic that has better clarity than the normal custom chips, or a textured chip? What would be the reasons you would not want the smooth faced?

In the testing we've done, it seems that the smooth faced aren't quite as stable when stacked, although I would not say that they are "unstable". When stacked in 25 chips and placed on a table, I tap on the top of the stack and the smooth faced stack vibrates a little, the textured stack does not budge at all.

Please let me know what comments you have!
You can see a high resolution scan of these chips in the following link. Please note that the thin white line at the bottom of the smooth chip is reflection from the light of the scanner where the chip starts to round to the edge.

http://www.abcgiftsandawards.com/smoothvstextured.htm

Thanks,
Gene

Added: Photograph from digital camera, textured chip on left, smooth on right.

 

non-tex looks a lil blurry to me, and the text seems more sharp till about the 4 font. I dont have 20-20 but thats one opinon for you.

 

Hi Dissolved-

After looking at the scan again I think you're right...but in real life the smooth one is definitely a sharper image. I added a photo from the digital camera to the original post that I think shows a comparison that is more accurate to real life. The colors are also little deeper on the smooth chip. Maybe it's only a small difference, but I'm trying to get to the best overall product.

Thanks,
Gene

 

The rougher chips would probably stack a bit better because of the increased texture. I may be wrong, but I think Chipco ceramics have both a "linen" and a "smooth" inlay. I think the texture on my NJ ceramics is great, and it's not perfectly smooth.

 

once the NJ's wear a bit, then they are pretty good. my friends didnt like the NJ's i gave them, and they are used to cheap-o plastics. but after a bit of wear i think the tex chips might be the way to go. just hopeing the images dont get messed up.

 

White ring Chipco's like in the casinos are the best (flame away, clay guys). Whatever they do to them, they work great. Ask some true chip geeks but it seems that the "white ring" chipcos have that linen finish and a slight cupping to give them suction. AFAIK, no home chip comes out of chipco this way. If someone has chips that can prove me wrong, please tell me and TELL me who got them for you. White ring > full bleed.

Barring a slight concave surface (?) on the chip to provide suction, go with the rougher surface texture. I like my NJ beauties just fine. They are great home chips.

 

[edit ---deleted by CaptLego. Joe, you need to promote your chips in your own forum.]

 

Gene the image looks pretty clear on both. As long as the image isn't washed out or to blurry I would say the textured chip.

 

There is no doubt that the non-textured chip has a sharper image. The textured chip seems to affect legibility of the italic fonts more than the Arial or Times. Each font loses focus as it gets smaller, but the Arial and Times hold up down to 5 pt on either finish. At 4 pt, they both look a little blurry. Again, italic fonts fair worse.

I would guess that the non-textured chip would be more appropriate for a collector's chip, card protector, souvenir chip, etc., but that for chips meant to be use in a game the textured finish is the way to go.

 

Gene, my dealer button and card guards just arrived, and they're great.

The card guard came out darker than I ad hoped but they're ok. The dealer button came out fantastic.

I'll post images later tonight.

 

looks pretty similar to me.

if stackablility and stableness comes into play, I'd pick textured.

I just don't like how the NJ's have so much texture! Chipco linen finish is what I like.

 

Thanks for all the comments! I think for now we'll stick to the textured surface chips and maybe down the road see if we can work out the stacking with the smooth chips.

Thanks,
Gene

 

Hi WolfPack-

I didn't take pictures of your chips, so I'm curious to see the photos. I guess I was expecting the card guard chips to be dark based on the artwork. We can try again if you want to send us artwork with a lighter colored lettering if that is the part that's too dark. That's one difficult part about designing chips...the brightness of a monitor will sometimes make a contrast seem okay but when it's on the chip, there's no lcd to keep the brightness and it seems darker.

Thanks,
Gene

 

I agree...why not offer both?

Personally, the order you are working on for me is going to be for card guards, so the crisp look of the smooth chip will be better, as stackability is not an issue. But some may wish to do chips that might actually end up in play...and those people may prefer a stackable chip with a slightly less readable graphic.

Offer both...please everyone!

 

yeah it was the lettering of "card guard" the blue was to dark and the c and d on guard pretty much blend into the background.

 

[edit --- deleted by CaptLego. Joe, you need to use your own forum to promote your chips]

 

I think you can see by our photos that the sharpness of our prints on the textured chips is very good, and we get lots of compliments on the quality of our imaging. We'll have sample sets available soon so everyone can see first hand!

Thanks,
Gene

 

the dealer button and card guard.

card Guard art was just to dark, I love how the dealer buton came out.

both are very clear and have a great feel.

 

How is the shaped of the edge of the chip. Is it chipco style or BR Pro style?

 

The chip when it gets just to the edge slants at an angle, it is sharper than the chipco's, but not as sharp as the NJ skulls. I have no BR Pro's so I can't comment on those. I like it better than my Skulls, but Chipco is still king.

They are also not as textured as the NJ and the graphic is clearer.