question about custom chip inlay for racetrack

[tonleskings]

I am in the process of building my first table and would like to mark each seat with a chip set inside the racetrack.  I have searched this site and many others and cannot find any information to help me with this. I did find one site that had this but does not have any helpful information.

http://mattscigar.com/2008/01/25/my-pride-and-joy-well-one-of-them-anyway/


Anyone with any suggestions?

Please Help Me!!!!!

[Martini]

I'd leave them out personally and if I did put them in I wouldn't use cheap dice chips in the inlay. But if you must, I would start with looking at a hole cutter bit for a drill and unless you are insanely lucky enough to find a 39mm diameter one I would think you'd have to get an adjustable unit. Drill the hole to the proper depth then you should be good to put your chip in there. I'm sure a woodworking forum would have much better info than what I gave though.

[irishpenguin]

As long as the chip you're embedding is very different from the ones in play, I think the concept works pretty well.  A few folks over at Keen's forum have done this before, either with a forstner bit or a router.  I would probably lean towards using a router with a jasper circle jig myself.  Here's a link to one of the tables that was done:

http://www.scottkeen.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=28651&highlight=first

[Lorax429]

I am in the process of building my first table and would like to mark each seat with a chip set inside the racetrack.  I have searched this site and many others and cannot find any information to help me with this. I did find one site that had this but does not have any helpful information.

http://mattscigar.com/2008/01/25/my-pride-and-joy-well-one-of-them-anyway/


Anyone with any suggestions?

Please Help Me!!!!!

Hello, that is my table you linked to there.  To inlay the chips you need to use a forstner bit and a drill press, not a hole saw bit.  You need to find one that is a diameter just barely larger than the diameter of the chip you wish to inlay.  I used standard clay poker chips.  Unfortunately I cannot remember the size of the forstner bit I used.  I do recall though that the chips fit in very very tightly I actually used fine sandpaper to sand down the inside edge of the holes I drilled and also sanded down the edge of the chips just a bit to make them fit and it was still really tight.  I also drilled a hole straight through the center of each inlay hole so that I could use a tool to pop the chips out of if I didn't get them seated just right when inserting them.  Without that access, once the chip is seated it is not coming back out without damaging the chip and the racetrack.

Hope that's helpful.

-Matt

[Martini]

Wow, how fortunate! The table builder happened to make his first post hours after OP's first post asking about inlaid chips. What are the odds?

[Lorax429]

Wow, how fortunate! The table builder happened to make his first post hours after OP's first post asking about inlaid chips. What are the odds?

I know... Freaky right....  It is almost as if I somehow knew he linked to my site from the forum or something.... 

[William]

Wow, how fortunate! The table builder happened to make his first post hours after OP's first post asking about inlaid chips. What are the odds?

I know... Freaky right....  It is almost as if I somehow knew he linked to my site from the forum or something.... 

Yeah, I see no problems here. I use statistics software which shows which links were followed to access my site, and I like to take a look at the page that displays them.

Also, it's not the manufacturer of the table, but the site which has plans to build a table. The original poster said he was building his own table.

[William]

On the topic of the table: I'm kinda curious about the concept of embedding a chip. If it's the same kind of chip as the ones in play I can see possible issues arising...

(and if anyone spammed, it was PokerDIY on Matt's blog).

[tonleskings]

Thanks for the help.  I will be trying this and hopefully it turns out as good as the Matt's table.  I will be using different chips than the ones in play.  I am making an Iowa Hawkeye themed table with gold felt, a brown rail (football) and custom hawkeye chips for the markers. I am also installing a drawer underneath the table that will hold chips, cards, etc when not in use.
Thanks again.

[austin5string]

The only problem I have with this is because i'm weird.. LOL

If I have 5 or 7 or however many players, i'd rather have them spread evenly around the table.  Having set inlays at the spots then wouldn't line up right.  While it ultimately has no effect on anything, it would bug me. 

[Martini]

The only problem I have with this is because i'm weird.. LOL

If I have 5 or 7 or however many players, i'd rather have them spread evenly around the table.  Having set inlays at the spots then wouldn't line up right.  While it ultimately has no effect on anything, it would bug me. 

I feel the same way about built in cup holders which is why I favor slide unders.

[tonleskings]

The only problem I have with this is because i'm weird.. LOL

If I have 5 or 7 or however many players, i'd rather have them spread evenly around the table.  Having set inlays at the spots then wouldn't line up right.  While it ultimately has no effect on anything, it would bug me.  

I agree with spreading people out.  In the event I have less than 8 people, the chips will act merely as decoration and not seat markers.  I haven't decided about the cup holders.  I will probably use the extra large, stainless holders and place 8 on the table.  10 seems too crowded but we'll see.

[tonleskings]

ok, next question:

I can't seem to find a site that sells college football poker chips.  I'm guessing that I won't be able to do this because colleges most likely don't want to promote gambling. Can anyone help me with this?

[Martini]

How about just Photoshopping a logo and a poker chip then printing it out then inlaying that? After everything is shellacked no one would be able to tell if there is actually a chip in there or not.

[tonleskings]

How about just Photoshopping a logo and a poker chip then printing it out then inlaying that? After everything is shellacked no one would be able to tell if there is actually a chip in there or not.

It might just come down to that.  Maybe I will just get alternating black and gold chips if I can't get it to look good.

[Lorax429]

The chips I used do not match the ones I use for game play, but even if they did, there wouldn't be an issue.  The chips are sealed below the poly finish on the racetrack.  They aren't coming out and there is no mistaking the chip is in the table and not in play.