# How thick is a deck of cards?



## MrsN

How thick is a deck of cards? I am trying to make a storage spot for a deck of cards in a cribbage board and left my cards at work. I can find the hight and width of a card online but cant find how thick a whole deck is. 
Thanks for your help.
Mrs.N


----------



## patron

the dimensions are ,

W - 2 1/2" 
L - 3 1/2" 
T - 5/8"

for the box too add 1/8"


----------



## MrsN

thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!
you are the greatest!!
MrsN


----------



## patron

as you know ,
they get slightly thicker as you use them ,
thats why i say to add the 1/8" .

and a finger slot to the side/end ?


----------



## MrsN

yep, my plan is to have a finger slot in the side to make it easied to get the cards out. I am designing the cribbage board and my brother is going to help me make it and give to his girlfriend for christmas. It is the first time my brother has taken an interest in any type of woodworking. It should be a good project.


----------



## RyanLee

Thanks again! this is still great info all these years later.


----------



## John Smith_inFL

.

hmmmmmm - - - playing cards at WORK ??

.

.


----------



## Ocelot

maybe she works in a casino.


----------



## Jeff28078

I know it's a ridiculously old post but my first thought was why nobody suggested she actually measure the deck? Or since she knows one card thickness a good estimate is found by multiplying by 52 (or 54 with Jokers). Seems too easy to me. But again I'm replying to something 9 years old.


----------



## AlaskaGuy

> .
> 
> hmmmmmm - - - playing cards at WORK ??
> 
> .
> 
> .
> 
> - John Smith


We deserve it.

https://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=93364&page=1


----------



## SawDust1982

My friends father was completely blind but he loved playing cards my friend told me that each card has its own thickness. I am doubting this part know but I believe he said the queen of spades was the thickest card in the deck


> I know it s a ridiculously old post but my first thought was why nobody suggested she actually measure the deck? Or since she knows one card thickness a good estimate is found by multiplying by 52 (or 54 with Jokers). Seems too easy to me. But again I m replying to something 9 years old.
> 
> - Jeff


----------



## AuntieLisa

> I know it s a ridiculously old post but my first thought was why nobody suggested she actually measure the deck? Or since she knows one card thickness a good estimate is found by multiplying by 52 (or 54 with Jokers). Seems too easy to me. But again I m replying to something 9 years old.
> 
> - Jeff


Hi -Jeff- the post is very-very-very old now LOL….She did not have the deck of cards handy, she had left them, at work. She did NOT know the thickness of a single card. She had only been able to find length and width, same for a deck or of a single card, out of the box.
No one answered her with the "thickness" of a card, I think, because it is such a small number; especially, if you are using imperial inches and fractions of an inch. 
A single playing card thickness, is about .23 mm. or LESS, when brand new. That's =a quarter of a millimeter= very small # in imperial it's= 0.0094 inches. Difficult for a fractions builder, reading this, to picture or work with…. 
BUT, when multiplied by 52 cards-oops 54 w/jokers, it is just about exactly .50 or 1/2 an inch., a very American "standard" or "imperial" friendly number. 
We can guess she'd build a box for at least one whole deck; so, she need not worry about that teeny tiny number and can just multiply # of decks by .50 then add a bit extra room for 'usage expansion'. more if they'll be boxed.

*I LOVED your question*. I was looking for a single playing card's thickness, to figure out how many to use for shims, like to keep the gap around drawer fronts equal on all sides.… I would have seriously under estimated how many playing card shims I needed… Your question led me to a caliper and calculator to get a precise per card answer. Thanks SO much,~ Lisa


----------



## SawDust1982

> I would have seriously under estimated how many playing card shims I needed… Your question led me to a caliper and calculator to get a precise per card answer. Thanks SO much,~ Lisa
> 
> - AuntieLisa


Actually each card has its own thickness with the queen spades being the thickest it's how the cards are made I had a friend who's father was blind who told me he loved to play cards use cards as shims with care


----------



## Dark_Lightning

> I would have seriously under estimated how many playing card shims I needed… Your question led me to a caliper and calculator to get a precise per card answer. Thanks SO much,~ Lisa
> 
> - AuntieLisa
> 
> Actually each card has its own thickness with the queen spades being the thickest it's how the cards are made I had a friend who's father was blind who told me he loved to play cards use cards as shims with care
> 
> - SawDust1982


I'll go mike some cards. I suspect that your friend's father was, as we say. blowing smoke. Was he able to reliably throw some cards? I'll do some measuring, as I'm in the camp of "trust, but verify". My mike goes to .0001"


----------

