Building chip trays

Tonychanman

I got the itch to build something other than poker tables recently so I decided to try to make some wooden chip trays. I thought I'd share some progress and pictures.

I made a couple of blanks, roughly 2-3/4"x9-1/2"x1". Clamped them together and took them to my drill press to drill some 40mm chip sized holes.

These are just test pieces, I'm planning on making some out of laminated maple and walnut or cherry combinations, but so far not bad. They're still rough, no sanding yet.

JimmyHo

pretty nice, won't chips slide out the ends?

Tonychanman

Ah yes, they're going to have some 1/4" strips glued to the ends.

kwsteve

Hey, they look cool. Can you make me a rack for my oversized chips? They are 50mm I believe. Same size and thickness as a dealer puck. I need a rack to hold 80 chips.

Apparently chip racks of that size are not easy to get so there may be a market for them.

Tonychanman

Sure, I'm going to be building them to hold all different sized chips. I already have a friend who's getting me to build some trays to fit his 44mm chips.

moose

Oversized racks but you will have to check if yours are 44 mm or 48 mm.

Poker Chip Racks, Clay Poker Chips, Poker Chips For Sale

Tonychanman

Hey! Don't be diverting away my potential business! jk of course.

If you're looking for plastic chip trays and you have the 44mm chips, PGI has a special going on:

we also found a quantity of 44mm chip trays- most probably used at some point in time but in exc condition

27.50 for 10 plus shipping

chiptrays for sale

kwsteve

I'm pretty sure the ones I have are 50mm. At least according to this ad they are:
42 x bcc 50mm "Grand Cardroom" $20 Poker Chips Paulson Bonus | eBay
I'll have to check them for sure. Right now they are at my brother's house.
All I'll need is one tray to hold 80 chips so if you want to make one up I'll pay whatever as long as it's reasonable. I'll let you know exact measurement as soon as I can.

Tonychanman

Sure thing, I can do 4 rows of 20. It won't be ready right away or anything, I've just started doing these and I'm super busy with tables at the same time. What kind of wood do you think you would want?

kwsteve

Yeah, no problem. No rush whenever you get around to it. Don't have a preference on wood. I'll defer to your expertise. Whatever you think looks best.

moose

Tonychanman

Weeeeeeee... got some more done with laminate wood. After sanding these down and rounded the edges, 2 more strips of dark cherry will be added to the sides.

moose

Yeah those are nice. How much are you looking to charge? I'd recommend probably an oil finish since it won't harm the chips.

Tonychanman

I'll be finishing them with a few coats of polyurethane.

I'm not totally sure about how much I'm going to charge for them yet. I'm trying to figure out what's a fair price. I think the bulk of the trays I'll be building though will be made out of just 1 type of wood rather than these laminated ones.

Tonychanman

Working on your trays KW.

They've been glued and are clamped and drying. I'll trim them to size and roundover the edges then finish them off with a couple of light coats of polyurethane.

Tonychanman

Got these things finally finished off. I rounded the bottom edges as well as drilled some holes for some magnets. I added two coats of polyurethane first before adding the magnets.

Making a bunch more in the process, it's a little messy, that's only the chips from 1 set of chip trays.

wildbill7145

You Sir, are a fine carpenter. I on the other hand, am a rough wood butcher.

moose

The only thing I can build with wood is fires.

JohnnieH

moose;354770 wroteThe only thing I can build with wood is fires.

....says the guy who made his own craps table!

wildbill7145

JohnnieH;354771 wrote....says the guy who made his own craps table!

I remember that looking pretty good when Moose posted pics.

I pick one big outdoor woodworking project every year and struggle my way through it. This year it was a shed. Nearing completion.