So you’ve decided to invest in a poker chip box to store all your poker chips. Before you begin, whether you build the case yourself or order a custom case from a third party, there are a few things to consider that differentiate a quality poker chip case from a simple wooden box.

SEALS

Joinery is a part of carpentry that involves joining pieces of wood together to create furniture, structures, toys, and other items. The characteristics of wood joints – strength, flexibility, toughness, etc. – are derived from the properties of the joining materials and how they are used in the joints. Therefore, different joinery techniques are used to meet different requirements. When designing a box of poker chips, you need to consider the weight of the chips, which can approach 50 pounds for a 1,000-chip box. The joints have to be strong, or the box will fall apart under the weight of the shavings.

Most commercially purchased pre-made cases use a butt joint. A butt joint is a joining technique in which two members are joined simply by butting them together. Butt-joining is the simplest joint to make, as it simply involves cutting the members to the proper length and butt-joining them. It’s also the weakest because unless some sort of reinforcement is used, it relies only on glue to hold it together. Because the orientation of the members generally presents only the end of the long-grain gluing surface, the resulting joint is inherently weak.

When building or ordering a custom chip box, you should avoid butt joints and use something stronger, like a dovetail joint. A dovetail joint is a technical joint often used in fine woodworking joinery. Known for its resistance to separation (tensile strength), the dovetail joint is commonly used to join the sides of a drawer to the front. A series of pins cut to extend from the end of one board interlock with a series of tails cut into the end of another board. The pins and tails are trapezoidal in shape. Once glued, a wood dovetail joint does not require mechanical fasteners.

Another simple and strong joint is the mortise and tenon joint, which carpenters around the world have used for thousands of years to join pieces of wood. This is commonly used when parts are at an angle close to 90°. Although there are many variations on the theme, the basic idea is that the end of one member is inserted into a hole cut in the other member. The end of the first member is called a tenon, and is usually tapered with respect to the rest of the piece. The hole in the second member is called a mortise. The joint can be glued, pinned, or wedged to secure it in place.

HARDWARE

The hardware for a poker chip box must also be durable. There are a variety of hinges and hardware available, but you should avoid a stamped hinge, which is the weakest type of hinge. When building or ordering a custom box, there are a variety of hinges you can request.

A full-length piano hinge is a long, narrow hinge that runs the full length of the two surfaces its leaves attach to. This imparts additional strength to the hinge when using a heavy solid wood top.

Concealed hinges are used for furniture doors (with or without self-closing function and with or without damping systems). They are made of 2 parts: one part is the hinge cup and arm; the other part is the mounting plate. Also called Euro/cup hinges, they give a cleaner look to the case.

FINISH

One thing to keep in mind when choosing a finish for your wooden token box is to make sure you use polyurethane or a non-soluble varnish that won’t stain or bleed into the tokens. You should avoid any type of oil finish such as Tung or Danish oil, as these oils can soak into the clay chips over time.

TRAY SIZE

Most poker chips are 39mm in size, however, large denomination chips, as well as chips based on the Paulson Inverted Hat and Cane mold, are 43mm in size. Make sure the chip trays are the right size for the type of chips you have. If you request a custom token box, please be sure to specify the size of your tokens.

So when building or designing a custom wooden poker chip case to store your chips, remember to consider the type of joints, hinges, and finishes used in your case design.