Found this on the newsgroup rec.gambling.poker :

Subject: Looking for info on making poker chips
From: "Penguinfan" anonymous@zoominternet.net
Date: 08/28/2004 5:23 AM Pacific Daylight Time
Message-id:

I am sure I am just looking in the wrong places, but does anyone know
where I can find info on making poker chips? I have pretty much
everything I think I need to make custom sets and am trying to figure the
cost involved to decide if it is worth it. I see people getting a pretty
good price on Ebay and other web-site on what amounts to plastic chips
dressed up. Those sets are OK for home games, but I think I could make
some pretty nice custom sets for not a whole lot more. I imagine they are
baked in a kiln which I have and I have alot of experience making molds
for various things, I would like to find what the exact process is. Any
help is appreciated and possibly could be rewarded with the first RPG set
of poker chips?

Penguinfan

"1SmoothJuggalo' advises "Wow, it is tough to find information!" and another poster blames the Keebler Elves for keeping the process a secret.

When it's mentioned by "randy" that "The real clay chips are compression molded under extreme pressure and temperature. 10,000 lbs psi and 300F. it sure doesnt look very cost effective trying to do it 'their way' for a small run... you might do better to just start experamenting(sic).", Penguinfan replies:

I think I am just gonna try to play around and see what I come up with,
the 300 degree temp thing was a great help, now I just gotta figure out
how many cycles to fire these things, hhmm. Seems to me getting the edges
smooth is gonna be the hardest part, that and baking them to just the
right point where they will not be easily breakable, and still not
bendable. If I get a decent chip I will post a pic on my storage site for
you all to critique.
Thanks again

Dang Dog, just do it the old fashioned way, one chip at a time like Dave!