Chip Making Process pictures (1 Viewer)

[justsomedude]

I'm worried this thread may not last very long. Pictures saved to my hard drive accordingly.

 

[WedgeRock]

Back them up to the cloud and on a thumb drive stored off site.

 

[DJ Mack]

Back them up to the cloud...

No, don't do that! Because then the black helicopter authorities will definitely know you have them!

 

[Tralmy]

EXTREMELY secretive. So much so, that I tried to save on shipping from CPC by taking a short trip to the factory to pick the chips up in person and even that was not allowed. The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't allow any cameras anywhere near or inside the factory never mind visitors.

And the "play dough" pictures is what real unpressed unfinished clay chips look like before final pressing/lathing.

I agree, the process is pretty freaking cool ... I guess when you think about the ramifications of not controlling the chip from manufacturing to issuing to a casino, it makes sense they have it on lock down!

 

[pedrofisk]

Manufacturer of many products is fascinating. I just got a tour of an ice cream factory for a project. Couldn't take photos of course. However ice cream does not have the secrecy or security of chips.

 

[Numerobis]

No wonder why these cost 10x more than any other type of chips, with all the manual intervention needed

 

[justsomedude]

Serious though, he said those pics should have never been leaked and probably had some serious consequences.

I thought CPC didn't sell to casinos anymore.

If the home market is their primary business, what are the potential consequences of folks seeing manufacture-process photos? It's not like any casino currency is/was ever put at risk. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[abby99]

IIRC, they do hold a license to produce chips for casinos, and one of their molds is reserved for casino use.

Edit: Ewing and roulette molds are reserved for casinos.

 

[72o]

I thought CPC didn't sell to casinos anymore.

If the home market is their primary business, what are the potential consequences of folks seeing manufacture-process photos? It's not like any casino currency is/was ever put at risk. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

IIRC, they do hold a license to produce chips for casinos, and one of their molds is reserved for casino use.

Edit: Ewing and roulette molds are reserved for casinos.

^^^Yeah that is my understanding as well.

 

[Mac128k]

They were kind enough to send me a couple pics of my set in production back in the day.

 

[justsomedude]

^^^^^

So cool!

 

[72o]

Man I would have paid good money for some in-process photos. Would make for some awesome poker room art. Those are so cool.

 

[Poker Zombie]

Agreed - this is just so cool, but I get it. They make money. I once worked for a company that produced coupons. No big deal right? It's still money. Their background check was incredible and thorough. How thorough? Ex-girlfriends interviewed. References heavily questioned (which they were already familiar with, because they asked the same questions when one from our group for friends got a job working for the NSA).

I don't know if CPC has to (or does) a background check that deep for new employees, but it would not surprise me one little bit. No pics or visitors is a pretty short putt.

 

[Tralmy]

They were kind enough to send me a couple pics of my set in production back in the day.

View attachment 121803 View attachment 121802

Sweet color scheme

 

[codeman00]

Since we're talking the chip making process, what caused the radial split offset of these spots? From the this thread, it seems odd that the spots would be split.

 

[bentax1978]

Since we're talking the chip making process, what caused the radial split offset of these spots? From the this thread, it seems odd that the spots would be split.
View attachment 122080

Half the of the "split" spot isn't a spot at all. It's actually printed on the (giant) inlay. So in this case, it's an inlay/spot alignment issues, not a split offset spot.

 

[Nex]

They were kind enough to send me a couple pics of my set in production back in the day.

Did you actively request them or did they just offer them to you on their initiative?

Going to place my first set order with CPC soon and I'd definitely love to get some in-the-presses pics to make photo frame prints of, like the pics from Chateau De Noix and Key West.

 

[codeman00]

Half the of the "split" spot isn't a spot at all. It's actually printed on the (giant) inlay. So in this case, it's an inlay/spot alignment issues, not a split offset spot.

Ahh...that makes perfect sense. Thanks. Carry on, all.

 

[abby99]

Did you actively request them or did they just offer them to you on their initiative?

Going to place my first set order with CPC soon and I'd definitely love to get some in-the-presses pics to make photo frame prints of, like the pics from Chateau De Noix and Key West.

I think that all of those photos came from ASM-Las Vegas, which is no longer in existence. I doubt that ASM-Maine or CPC have distributed photos of half-baked chips, so to speak.

 

[Winstonn]

EXTREMELY secretive. So much so, that I tried to save on shipping from CPC by taking a short trip to the factory to pick the chips up in person and even that was not allowed. The Nevada Gaming Commission doesn't allow any cameras anywhere near or inside the factory never mind visitors.

And the "play dough" pictures is what real unpressed unfinished clay chips look like before final pressing/lathing.

I'm wondering, if it's so secretive, how did CPC start out?
Whats the history here?

 

[Mac128k]

Did you actively request them or did they just offer them to you on their initiative?

Going to place my first set order with CPC soon and I'd definitely love to get some in-the-presses pics to make photo frame prints of, like the pics from Chateau De Noix and Key West.

They were unsolicited by me and were sent by Michael since he was hanging around learning the business in Maine.

I think that all of those photos came from ASM-Las Vegas, which is no longer in existence. I doubt that ASM-Maine or CPC have distributed photos of half-baked chips, so to speak.

See above. ASM Maine but it was during the transition. Michael was key in getting my $1 made because they didn't offer that spot at the time (2012). According to Michael, Jim would show him how to do it but he had to do them himself for me. He emailed those pics while they were on the floor.

 

[QuiQuog]

Half the of the "split" spot isn't a spot at all. It's actually printed on the (giant) inlay. So in this case, it's an inlay/spot alignment issues, not a split offset spot.

If that's the case, what a dumb way to make a chip. They could have forgone the giant inlay and just did the spots for real. No need for aligning the spots. My first thought was that is was a injection mold counterfeit. But yeah, the spots on the label have very straight edges as opposed to the rugged shape of the clay spots.

 

[Mac128k]

If that's the case, what a dumb way to make a chip. They could have forgone the giant inlay and just did the spots for real. No need for aligning the spots. My first thought was that is was a injection mold counterfeit. But yeah, the spots on the label have very straight edges as opposed to the rugged shape of the clay spots.

I've wondered myself what the deal was. Maybe to try and preserve the face better? It was a nutty decision for sure.

 

[BGinGA]

If that's the case, what a dumb way to make a chip. They could have forgone the giant inlay and just did the spots for real. No need for aligning the spots. My first thought was that is was a injection mold counterfeit. But yeah, the spots on the label have very straight edges as opposed to the rugged shape of the clay spots.

One of the worst chip design decisions ever made by Paulson, and it totally ruined several of the Crystal Park set chips imo. Take a decent RHC chip with great inlay design, add fake edge spots to the inlay, make the inlay giant-size so that it partially covers the original edge spots and makes the entire chip slick-surfaced, and then totally misalign them so it looks like shit. Great job, guys.

I'm wondering, if it's so secretive, how did CPC start out?
Whats the history here?

Portland Billiard Ball company existed back in the early 1900s, they started making poker chips and the name was later changed to Burt Company. Jim Blanchard was production manager for Burt Company, and when Alphonso Burt died, the company was sold. Jim Blanchard bought the assets in 1988 or so, and started Atlantic Standard Molding (ASM) and resumed making high-quality clay poker chips. He sold the business in 2012 or so -- it was moved to Las Vegas and renamed American Standard Molding, where it was run into the ground by mismanagement, poor quality control, and horrible customer service. David Spragg and others (including Jim Blanchard) purchased the assets, moved them back to Portland Maine, and created the Classic Poker Chips company (CPC) we know today. All is well. GFY, DR Ott.

In short, those secrets go back a LONG way in time.

 

[Poker Zombie]

If that's the case, what a dumb way to make a chip. They could have forgone the giant inlay and just did the spots for real. No need for aligning the spots. My first thought was that is was a injection mold counterfeit. But yeah, the spots on the label have very straight edges as opposed to the rugged shape of the clay spots.

On the security side, Giant inlays are much tougher to forge. You cannot simply "repaint" a $1 as a $100 and pop in a new label, because the label goes under the mold.

 

[kmccormick100]

One of the worst chip design decisions ever made by Paulson, and it totally ruined several of the Crystal Park set chips imo. Take a decent RHC chip with great inlay design, add fake edge spots to the inlay, make the inlay giant-size so that it partially covers the original edge spots and makes the entire chip slick-surfaced, and then totally misalign them so it looks like shit. Great job, guys.

Dave, do you know if the RHC Purple spot $5s (and Blue/purple $1) were done as planned secodaries or in response to the original giant inlays looking like shit?

 

[BGinGA]

Considering that there are secondary chips for all denominations (I think), it follows logically that inlay design had no bearing on the existence of a secondary set. Not sure why they'd even want one in CA, though. Except for complete rack replacement orders (which aren't really secondaries, but replacemets), most (all?) required secondary sets are initially produced at the same time as the primary set, and then held in reserve until needed.

 

[Mogobu]

Really loving all the clay in-process pics; great thread!

 

[timinater]

Really neat to see. Had an idea of how they were made, but nice to see the molds and presses a bit closed.

 

[justsomedude]

Question to the chip experts...

Are most CPC and Paulson molds actually 40mm or so, since they have to lathe off the extra material? I'd assume molding to 39mm exactly wouldn't give much margin for error on the lathing process.