Ceramic Blanks (1 Viewer)

[Kyoumatic]

Hello PCF!

I have been a forum lurker for the past few months; I enjoy fiddling with chips at the computer (mainly shuffling, thumb flicking, and twirling), but I'm on a tight budget. I thought to get around 20-50 blank ceramics so I can bring some around with me when I go out (I'm assuming they'd be at least 2-3x cheaper than printed ceramics). I have a few Nevada Jacks from my local supplier and their glossy edge makes doing chip twirls feel great (unlike my set of dice chips, which irritate my fingers after a few twirls).


Will ceramic blanks (directly from suppliers) have the same characteristics as printed ceramics, i.e. textured faces and glossy edges? What blanks do you guys recommend? I'm currently leaning towards some BR Pro (SunFly) blanks like the ones used for the Tiki Kings due to their glossy, rounded edge. I’ve read good things about GOCC chips, but I’m worried that their matte-style edge finish might be less comfortable if I twirl the chips for too long (also not sure if they’d be willing to provide such a small quantity of blanks). I’d also be interested in Nevada Jack blanks (mine have a glossy edge and aggressive face texturing), but I couldn’t find a consensus on which manufacturer's blanks are used.


I’m mainly looking for chips that feel bubbly when twirled. I don’t mind chips that are slippery (decent stackability would be a plus), but I’d like to avoid spinners if at all possible.


Thanks for your time!

 

[BGinGA]

Welcome to PCF! Un-printed ceramic blanks will not cost significantly less than printed chips (but they sure will show dirt/grime pretty quickly from constant handling). Your best bet is to just pick up a small order of in-stock Sun-Fly chips from either BRPro Poker or Old West Poker Supplies. Should be 60c per chip or less, so around $30 or so for 50 chips.

I sure would like an elaboration on your use of 'bubbly' in the sentence below. Not familiar with that term when associated with chips:

I’m mainly looking for chips that feel bubbly when twirled.

 

[Kyoumatic]

Thanks BGinGA! I feel like blanks would be nice to have since they'd disguise the rotation during chip tricks; I wouldn't mind cleaning them every so often. Is the texture of printed chips based purely on the blank, or does the ink affect the feeling as well?

By bubbly, I meant chips with filleted (rounded) edges and a glossy finish. I picked up the terminology from watching Rubik's cube videos a few years back (cubes that have no sharp edges were referred to as bubbly).

 

[BGinGA]

The printing has no effect on the chip surface texture -- it's a dye-sublimation process that essentially transfers as gas and is embedded in the chip pores.

Might be able to pick up blanks from eBay, but hard telling what brand they might be.

Sun-Fly is your best bet for bubbly. Check and see if one of their vendor re-sellers is willing to sell blanks.