Lithophane Poker Chip

This is a simple poker chip with a lithophane center. The files are the outer ring of the chip. I’ve included rings with the word “King”, “Queen”, “Ace” and “Joker”. I’ve also included a blank ring in the event you would like to add your own text.

Printing

The Chip can be printed horizontally (flat) or vertically. I used a raft and supports for vertical prints. Either way will work, but the lithophane is cleaner and the chip surface is smoother if printed vertically. (For comparison, the chip of the man was printed horizontally and the bird vertically. You can also see the difference in the side-by-side) The center of the chip is a fairly small area, so it is best to use a close up of your subject.

Horizontal Printing Preparation

This is the simpler way to print the chip. (I use Cura, so the process may differ for other slicers) Open the photo or graphic in Cura. Resize the image to a 28mm x 28mm square. Open the ring, lay it flat and carefully orient over the image until the corners are not visible and there are no gaps along the inside of the ring.

Vertical Printing Preparation

I’m learning how to use CAD, so there may be a simpler way, but here’s how I did it. Open the image in Cura. Resize the image to a 28mm x 28mm square. Export the file as an .stl. Open the file in a CAD program. I tried Fusion 360 and TinkerCAD. TinkerCAD was pretty straightforward. Import the image and ring, align and export the chip so it may be saved and printed. I was able to set up a template with the ring so that the image was automatically centered when it was imported. However, many of my files exceeded TinkerCAD’s 25 mb limit. In Fusion 360, I opened the .stl file I had created and then inserted a mesh (the ring). I then had to spend time orienting the ring and image. Once properly oriented, export, save and print.

I hope you enjoy it. I’m making chips for my kids, grandkids, and golfing buddies. I’ve only had my 3D printer for a couple of months, but I’m having fun tinkering with it.