March 22, 2007

Make Your Own Poker Chips

Sometimes, no matter how much customization a chip manufacturer can offer, it still isn't enough. If you have found that you just can't get what you want, or if its simply the high cost of custom chips, then the time may have come for you to take a crack at making your own chips!

We found this great tutorial over at SpazzticCrafts.com on how to make your own chips from polymer clay, like Sculpy.

The art of caning, used with a polymer clay like Fimo or Sculpey, is perfect for creating your own personalized poker chips. My poker chips never turn out quite as perfect as the machine made plastic or clay ones you can order online, but I don't mind items having that crafty look and feel. Unfortunately, this method isn't perfect. It can take a hours to make enough chips to play with if this is your first time working with canes. I also slightly prefer the feel of professionally made poker chips. I use Fimo, which ends up feeling just slightly oily (but is stronger than Sculpey). This method does have some great advantages though. It's possible to customize everything about the poker chip, from colors, to patterns, to imprints, to stamping. If you're only interested in a personalized stamp that you do yourself, it's possible to buy poker chips in bulk from a place like WorldPokerOutlet.com (I recommend the clay ones) and jump down to the later steps of this tutorial.