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Bicycle Tires: Has anyone tried to refurbish these chips? (1 Viewer)

CrazyEddie said:
This is a revolutionary concept.

These chips that began life in mint condition became absolutely trashed from day-in day-out casino use, and eventually they found their way into our hands. Now, for the mere cost of very modestly shrinking their diameter, we can restore them to very close to their original condition - clean, colorful, and (almost) sharp-edged. And since they're now in the hands of home-game hosts instead of casinos, they'll keep their newly-restored beautiful condition forever.

Numismatic purists would consider this sort of alteration sacrilege. But coin collectors have a very different aesthetic than we playable set maniacs. The way I see it, the chips were damaged by their use, and what we are doing here is healing them. If they must give up a bit of their size in the process, then that's merely part of the tragic consequences of having become damaged in the first place. But the fresh lathing repairs the damage, compensates for it as best as possible, and brings the chips back to their intended appearance so that they can resume their original function and return to their original purpose - as attractive and functional objects, art and utility hand in hand.
Click to expand...
You'll get no argument from me. What this will introduce to the singles market, however, is a mm diameter record for each chip, which must be measured, to make sure a chip has not had its diameter "clipped" to improve its condition. The purists will consider a clipped chip to be a damaged chip, worth perhaps 10% of its unclipped value.
 
FDLmold said:
You'll get no argument from me. What this will introduce to the singles market, however, is a mm diameter record for each chip, which must be measured, to make sure a chip has not had its diameter "clipped" to improve its condition. The purists will consider a clipped chip to be a damaged chip, worth perhaps 10% of its unclipped value.
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Point taken, but I doubt anyone will do this to singles. Chips will be restored in sets, to be used in sets, and they'll stay in the sets they were restored with (since they wouldn't match any others). Singles collectors will need to be aware of this practice, but I don't think they'll need to worry about it.

Plus, anyone could already have been doing this to singles in order to create fake-mint-condition chips... and for all we know, they have been. So at least in theory it's not a new development for the singles market. Buyer beware and all that...
 
Why not peel back the label and add the shavings to the center, then, warm and flatten to original diameter? How hard can it be?

giphy.webp
 
CrazyEddie said:
This is a revolutionary concept.

These chips that began life in mint condition became absolutely trashed from day-in day-out casino use, and eventually they found their way into our hands. Now, for the mere cost of very modestly shrinking their diameter, we can restore them to very close to their original condition - clean, colorful, and (almost) sharp-edged. And since they're now in the hands of home-game hosts instead of casinos, they'll keep their newly-restored beautiful condition forever.

Numismatic purists would consider this sort of alteration sacrilege. But coin collectors have a very different aesthetic than we playable set maniacs. The way I see it, the chips were damaged by their use, and what we are doing here is healing them. If they must give up a bit of their size in the process, then that's merely part of the tragic consequences of having become damaged in the first place. But the fresh lathing repairs the damage, compensates for it as best as possible, and brings the chips back to their intended appearance so that they can resume their original function and return to their original purpose - as attractive and functional objects, art and utility hand in hand.
Click to expand...
Yes the coin collectors have methods to see if you've even cleaned a coin, which according to their rules diminishes value whilst we scrub the shit outta chips!! I cannot say that a number of chips have given their lives in this experiment! Waiting for the folks from PETC to show up!! Or SPCC! LOL!
 
FDLmold said:
You'll get no argument from me. What this will introduce to the singles market, however, is a mm diameter record for each chip, which must be measured, to make sure a chip has not had its diameter "clipped" to improve its condition. The purists will consider a clipped chip to be a damaged chip, worth perhaps 10% of its unclipped value.
Click to expand...
You don’t really need to look at the diameter, the usage is pretty obvious from how much cross-hatching remains on the chip. Sure you can lathe down some bike tires all you want but that won’t add back the original texture on the chips. Plus for Paulsons and TRKs the original mint chips would have lathe marks, while the way @RivieraDanny is doing it leaves them uniform/clean on the edges without those telltale rings. It should be pretty easy to tell a clipped chip from a. normal one without any fancy mm diameter record, which wouldn’t work for TRKs anyway because their diameters can vary, even within the same set.
 
THRA5H3R said:
I'm sure if the major producers use this sort of technique, there's plenty of justification in some sort of expensive jig that positions everything correctly before being processed, if not a specialized machine just for it.
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Just about a guarantee they use a special machine. Maybe jigs. But my bets on a machine
 
GianThaMan said:
You don’t really need to look at the diameter, the usage is pretty obvious from how much cross-hatching remains on the chip. Sure you can lathe down some bike tires all you want but that won’t add back the original texture on the chips. Plus for Paulsons and TRKs the original mint chips would have lathe marks, while the way @RivieraDanny is doing it leaves them uniform/clean on the edges without those telltale rings. It should be pretty easy to tell a clipped chip from a. normal one without any fancy mm diameter record, which wouldn’t work for TRKs anyway because their diameters can vary, even within the same set.
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P.S. did you want the ring pattern on the edges? No problem. Lol
 
Does anyone have a sure-fire method to transform new chips to vintage-worn to match historical chips sets without destroying them? Totally serious question.
 
This is a very nice development. I hope it comes to full fruition.

With the newer cleaning methods that became popular over the last ten years, acrylic polish, and perhaps this new edging method...

A lot of players might be about to get real happy...
 
Hypothetically lets say I'm foolish enough to purchase a mini lathe and rig up some system to center the chips and keep the cutting tool at a consistent length. What type of cutting tool would leave these perfectly spaced line grooves?
20220907_133358.jpg
 
I watch this vlog sometimes. I swear these chips look like gummy candy chips. They are bad
 

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Skagglio said:
Hypothetically lets say I'm foolish enough to purchase a mini lathe and rig up some system to center the chips and keep the cutting tool at a consistent length. What type of cutting tool would leave these perfectly spaced line grooves?View attachment 982814
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I’ve always wondered if that’s 1 tool that made all those grooves at once…OR…
Is it a small tool that moves to the side creating a single spiral groove along the edge?

Anyone care to follow the groove to see if it is continuous? :ROFL: :ROFLMAO:
D6105FE9-FD2C-4DC9-B469-CFC833579BE1.gif
 
Colquhoun said:
I’ve always wondered if that’s 1 tool that made all those grooves at once…OR…
Is it a small tool that moves to the side creating a single spiral groove along the edge?

Anyone care to follow the groove to see if it is continuous? :ROFL: :ROFLMAO:
View attachment 982864
Click to expand...
As far as I can tell it's closed rings not a spiral pattern. I was thinking it was some lathe cutting tool with tiny teeth that makes the grooves like the below. However I do not see such a tool sold anywhere.
20220907_153531.jpg
 
superchromix said:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Centerless_grinding
Click to expand...

20220907_183958.jpg

Here is a side by side of mint CPC and Paulson. I believe they are different finishing processes and if I'm understanding centerless grinding correctly I'm not sure the grooves would be possible with it unless somehow the grinding wheel had them and the piece was totally stationary from side to side movement. A lathe seems more likely for Paulson in my unqualified opinion.
 
Skagglio said:
View attachment 982973
Here is a side by side of mint CPC and Paulson. I believe they are different finishing processes and if I'm understanding centerless grinding correctly I'm not sure the grooves would be possible with it unless somehow the grinding wheel had them and the piece was totally stationary from side to side movement. A lathe seems more likely for Paulson in my unqualified opinion.
Click to expand...

It really just depends on the grinding wheel. If it were a lathe, those grooves on the Paulson chip would have to form a spiral.
 

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