Measurement Tips
The Importance of Accurate Measurements
One of the most important things you can do to help reunite a wandering tile with a mahjong set is to provide accurate measurements. Vintage mahjong tiles often differ by only a few tenths of a millimeter, so a standard ruler is far too imprecise for the job. We recommend measuring every tile with a set of digital fractional calipers and recording its length, width, and thickness in both fractions of an inch and millimeters to the nearest hundredth of a millimeter. A quality set of digital fractional calipers costs only about $16 and is one of the most useful tools a mahjong collector can own. Here's an Amazon link to the calipers we use: https://a.co/d/01AUOVYt
Why Our Database Uses Fractional Inches for Searching
Our database is organized by fractional inch measurements (for example, 1", 1 1/16", 1 1/8", or 1 3/16"). This makes searching much easier because vintage mahjong tiles were produced in a relatively small number of fractional sizes. If the database were organized by millimeters, there would be hundreds of slightly different measurement categories, making it much more difficult to locate potential matches.
How to Find the Closest Possible Match
Begin by searching the database using your desired tile's fractional inch measurements. The search results will display a table of tiles that match those dimensions. For each tile in the results, you'll also see its length, width, and thickness in millimeters. Before contacting the member who listed the tile, compare those millimeter measurements with your own. Because millimeters are much more precise than fractional inches, they provide a much better indication of whether two tiles are likely to be a good match. If the millimeter measurements are close, you've found a promising candidate. At that point, you can contact the member who listed the tile to discuss a possible match. Using fractional inches to search and millimeters to verify gives everyone the best chance of successfully reuniting wandering tiles with the sets they were meant to complete.
A Note About Bone and Bamboo Tiles
Finding the right size is only part of the challenge when you're tracking down a wandering bone and bamboo tile. To blend seamlessly into the set, the replacement tile should closely match the original in size, thickness, bamboo color, and the proportion of bone to bamboo. Why does this matter? Because a tile that is noticeably different from the others can stand out during play. A replacement tile with a much lighter or darker bamboo backing, or with a significantly different ratio of bone to bamboo, may be recognizable from the back or side when the tiles are stacked or shuffled. Not only does this detract from the appearance of the set, but it can also affect fair game play. Fortunately, determining the percentage of bone is easy.
Stand the tile on its long edge so you are looking at the side.
Measure the total thickness of the tile, then measure only the bone layer.
The ratio of those two measurements gives you the approximate percentage of bone.
For example, if a tile is 12 mm thick and the antler bone layer measures 4 mm, the tile is approximately 33% bone
When searching the Society's database, use the bone percentage to help identify the closest possible match. Once you've found a promising candidate, click on the link to the e-commerce site where the tile is listed for sale. (If no link is provided, email the member directly). Compare photographs of the member's tile with the other tiles in your set. The color and grain of the bamboo, the ratio of bone to bamboo, and the overall dimensions should be as similar as possible. The closer the match, the more naturally the replacement tile will blend into the set and the less likely it is to be noticeable during play.
Some members may ask that you mail them one or more tiles from your incomplete set so that they can find the closest match for you. Other members may ask that you email them several photos of the tiles in your incomplete set, and some members will simply direct you back to the tile's e-commerce listing. Whatever method a member prefers, we ask that you be respectful of the member's time and energy. Neither the Society nor its members can guarantee an exact match, but we do our very best to help you get close!
