Token FAQ

Token Ordering

Finish Types

Danish Oil/Wax (Not Inkable): A blend of Linseed Danish Oil with Beeswax, this is not inkable. It is lightly water resistant and can be repaired easily using more oil/wax.

  • It cannot ever be inked for any reason! This is perfectly fine for most tokens.
  • This finish is matte, with a dull appearance and minimal shine.

Hard Finish (Inkable): Unlike other dice, these are finished with my custom blend of non toxic finishes for a hard, scratch and water resistant surface. Can be carefully inked after 30 days.

  • This semi-gloss finish has a subtle shine that refracts light differently based on the wood's grain. The effect varies by wood type and can change depending on whether you're viewing the end, face, or side grain. Our tokens are face grain so only on the beveled edges do you notice a difference between sides.

Style Choices

  • Danish Oil/Wax (Not Inkable): Finished in our Oil/Wax combo and not inked, the engraving process leaves a dark engraving (light black).
  • Hard Finish (Inkable): Finished in our Hard Finish that comes not inked, the engraving process leaves a dark engraving (light black).
  • Hard Finish & (Color) Inked : Finished in our Hard Finish that is Inked in the relevant color selected (usually white). This is a good option for dark woods (like walnut).
  • Hard Finish & Traditional Inked : Finished in our Hard Finish that is Inked in the relevant color for that game/die. Available for select tokens only.
  • Hard Finish & Infill: Filled with the selected wood mixture of our own creation to create a flat smooth engraving.

Wood Choices

  • Cherry: Cherry turns a deep reddish brown (more red) over time and is known and prized for this characteristic.
  • Maple: Light in appearance and stays white with either a tinge of yellow and black grain highlights. Oil/Wax finish brings out more yellow overtime.
  • Black Walnut: SPECIAL ORDER ONLY - Starts off black and changes to a dark chocolate brown over time (years). Laser engraving only option can be difficult to see on it at times, until the wood ages more and lightens a little.

Turn Around Time

All of our Tokens are made to order, we do not pre stock anything other than ready made blanks of limited amounts. This is due to the highly customizable nature of our tokens!

  • Oil/Wax: 5 Days to 2 Weeks before shipping
  • Hard Finish: 2 to 3 Weeks before shipping
  • Hard Finish &Infill or Inking: 2 to 4 Weeks before shipping

Care/Durability/Weight

How durable are they?

  • This depends on the wood hardness; towards the softer end of the scale such as Poplar & Cedar they can be easily dented/scratched. The Harder end of the scale, such as Maple, Hickory & White Oak they are very resistant to scratches/dents.
  • Do not store wood tokens with harder materials, such as plastic and especially metal. Storing them with other wood tokens is generally fine.
  • They are water and chemical resistant to a certain degree, the finish type and wood species dictates how much.
  • Wood in general does not like extreme changes in temperature (sudden hot/cold changes), which can lead to cracking. This process takes a little time, just don't leave them in your car or attic.
  • Prolonged direct sunlight exposure turns almost all wood gray, just look at a wood fence for an example. This process takes 1-2 years of constant exposure (don't leave outside continuously).
  • Prolonged heat causes wood to expand (think of wood floors in the summer), this is mostly impacted by prolonged exposure to high humidity (moisture in the air). This can cause it to change shape during the time of high humidity and change shape again once humidity goes back down (this can take many hours, even days depending on the finish), this change is very slight unless it's an extreme prolonged shift. Wood even protected with the highest grade finish will still absorb moisture, albeit slowly.

Answers to common questions

Where is the photo for how X looks?

Due to the extensive customization we offer, not all tokens have available photos for every style. You can refer to pictures of other sets to get an idea of their appearance.

  • If a set is shown inked, it has a hard finish.
  • The various choices we offer are described in the FAQ Tokens Ordering section with roughly how they look as well.

What makes your wood tokens different from others?

  • No ugly burnt edges as we don't use lasers to cut tokens.
  • We only use select Hardwoods that are face grain (not end grain)
  • All tokens are engraved and not printed
  • We finish all of our Tokens. Most other places apply no finish at all.
  • Bevel edge designs (on most tokens)
  • Thick tokens for ease to pickup.

Do you print the designs on the tokens?

No, everything is engraved this creates a permanent design that will never rub off. This is not a service I provide or will ever provide.

Why don't you use X species of wood?

  • What your asking about is probably an exotic species of hardwood most likely purpleheart, bubinga, osange and etc. Exotic (non-native) have a high environmental impact in both the harvesting (a lot of them are endangered) and transportation. There are also problems with exploitive labor in the places they come from. They are expensive and generally that exotic wood with the color you like? ya it's a lie, it won't stay that color as most turn brown eventually.

Do you make Plastic or Resin Tokens?

No and I will never make them.

Why is using the Face Grain so important?

  • Tokens (which are usually not that thick) made of Face grain are roughly 10+ times stronger then cheaper end grain tokens made from dowel rods.
  • If you slice a piece of wood along it's trunk and take another slice right above that that is the End Grain (the ends of the rings of the tree), this grain direction is really easy to break unless it's really thick (this is why end grain cutting boards are 1+ inches thick).
  • It looks better.

Why only use Hardwood?

  • Softwood like Pine which is extremely soft and easily damaged. Engravings also tend to be muddled on softwoods due to the uneven grain.
  • Most common ones are simply lasered Plywood which separate when they get wet, known as delamination
  • Lastly there are those that are made of MDF/HDF, which are toxic, has no water resistance, breaks easily and is known to woodworkers as literally junk wood (some don't even classify it as wood)!

Can I ink/paint the tokens myself?

  • Yes, although only with a Hard Finish can this be done. Doing this on any Wood that only has an oil or is unfinished will cause it to bleed into the surrounding area and look bad (the grain/pores act like straws and suck it to the surrounding area).
  • You must wait for at least 2 weeks (preferably 30 days) after arrival of the tokens, you can then use acrylic ink/paint and carefully paint them in. After the paint dries for a few minutes you can use a soft cloth (i.e. old t-shirt) lightly damp with water to gently wipe off the excess. Do not use crayon or latex paint.
  • Tokens with more open grain is harder than closed grain woods, getting the paint out of the grain can be hard on the open grain. It is advisable to stay within the lines on these woods. Open Grain examples are White Oak, Walnut, Hickory, Purple Heart; Closed Grain examples are Maple and Cherry.

Will all the tokens be the same?

  • Short Answer: No
  • Long Answer: Wood varies in look due to grain and density changes, this variance is the reason to use wood! Tokens are made in small batches and each batch comes from the same tree/section and will be generally close in appearance (except for grain pattern). Most orders are small enough to be fulfilled all in one batch, larger orders are spread across batches and have more variance. Tokens from different batches WILL vary from the previous batch. Each piece is hand finished, this can lead to slight variances in overall size and thickness even in the same batch of tokens.
  • Our Main FAQ covers more of this as well.
  • If you want them all to be perfectly uniform and the same, real wood is not the material you want.

Why is it so expensive to ink the tokens?

Inking wood tokens is incredibly time intensive due to the preparation, actual inking time and finishing process.

Custom Token 

How can I find out ahead of time if you can do our design?

Contact us and we will do a quick mock up/review.

Can you do custom colors instead of the base wood color?

Yes, by request we can use non toxic aniline dyes to color Maple/Birch Hardwood. Contact us for pricing, availability and options.

What type of Woods do you offer?

  • Any North American Species Hardwood.
  • Our primary woods used are Maple, Cherry, and Walnut.
  • Never used as they make terrible tokens: Red Oak & Poplar
  • For large dice orders (200+) we can review a request for a specific wood.

How long does it take?

This depends on the design, number of sides, materials, paint, backlog, etc. In general, expect at least 2 weeks after design process is completed before it is shipped. Options and Size of the order can impact this, such as inking/finishing and a small batch takes less time then a large batch.

Can you do multiple colors for the designs?

I could yes, depending on the design and colors extra fees will apply. Feel free to contact us to inquire about it.