Flattening chips - question (6 Viewers)

[Colquhoun]

They came out great!
I used 39 mm ceramics that I had laying around. I have blanks on order, but it looks like any random ceramics will do. Looking at the chips under high magnification, post flattening I see no evidence whatsoever that the 39mm blanks left any sort of ridge or flattened out any of the cross hatching so I am sticking to the 39 mm ceramics vs 43 which seems to me would be tough to line up without some sort of device like the 43mm ribbed chip flattening rack. That seems unnecessary to me... whatever works, right?

I use 39mm ceramics as spacers and drop a barrel of 10 chips and 10 spacers into a rack to line them up. Then clamp.

 

[Nanook]

I use 39mm ceramics as spacers and drop a barrel of 10 chips and 10 spacers into a rack to line them up. Then clamp.

yea, only reason to use the 1.5" PVC cut in half to line things up is if you want to do more than 10 at a time (20 total including the spacers fit on a rack) With the PVC idea, you can do at least 2x as many at a time, maybe more.

 

[Nanook]

I can't find it now, but someone mentioned that even the new JACK's had some warping on the $25's so I decided to check & sure enough some of them are warped. If you hold them up to the light and you see light between some of the chips then there are some that are warped. Anyway, checked lots of other chips both new and used from TCR recent sales & even old leaded Paulson H&C's. Here are some of my findings:

Short Version - They are all warped!

Long Version:

JACK Cinci
$1's Used - Lots of Warped Chips
$2's Used - Some Warped Chips
$2.50's Used - Lots of Warped Chips
$5's Used - Lots of Warped Chips
$5's New - Some Warped Chips
$25's Used - Lots of Warped Chips
$25's New - Some Warped Chips
$100's New Secondary - Some Warped Chips
$500 New Primary - Some Warped Chips

HSI, HS Cinci, etc
I was going to do the same, but I think you get the pattern....
Just about every Paulson chip has some warping issues. I know that I will get some grief for this, because Paulson's are the holy grail of Poker chips, but I have always thought Paulson chips stack like crap (compared to the BJ S2's in my local card room) in a live card room. I always thought it was just because how they wear unevenly etc, but now I KNOW why: they are all warped!

The Good news is that they can all be fixed and flattened relatively easily, inexpensively and quickly with no evidence of flattening at all.

 

[Organista1]

Hello all,
Question do I need extra long heating pad from cvs or standard will do? Also, just bought 43 mm HSI chips that need flattening and my guess is to get 43 mm ceramic from ABC or BR. I will message about the flattening rack so I can obtain one. Just ordered clamps.. seems like an easy process. Thanks for any input

 

[Colquhoun]

Any heating pad will do. I have a fairly small one and I do 10 chips at a time.

 

[BearMetal]

Also, just bought 43 mm HSI chips that need flattening and my guess is to get 43 mm ceramic from ABC or BR.

Some people here size-up. So they'd use 43mm blanks on 39mm HSI. The thought was that the edges get crushed a little if the ceramic hard edge is digging into the clay. So maybe size up to a 47mm to do 43mm HSIs.

Personally, I've been good using the 1:1 size match, but it can't hurt to go bigger.

 

[Organista1]

Thank you all I’ll get started

 

[Colquhoun]

Just beware, once the chip is heated, it doesn’t require much clamp pressure to bring it to flat.

 

[Nanook]

I am sure I posted this somewhere else, but here is what I came up with. I can flatten a rack in about an hour or so:

I had no problem using other ceramics. When I first tried it, that is all I had so I used a variety of sample sets etc & no trouble with color transfer or breaking any chips. I put in an order for a rack of the 39mm blanks with BR Pro thinking that would be safer and have used those since.

Others have had success with the 43mm blanks and I am sure those would be fine, but then you are either going to have to get one of those little chip holder thingies or you will have trouble lining everything up.

I cut a 7" long 1.5" dia pvc pipe in half and use that to line everything up and it works great. I also experimented with increasing temp and found that as long as I didn't go above 150°F with the heating pad I did not see any deformation or damage around the edges. No need to go hotter and no need to use excessive force with the clamps.

The way I do it is 20 chips and 21 spacers at a time and that fits perfectly inside a 6" quick clamp and with 4 clamps I can do a rack in like an hour. Set the heating pad to 150°F & let it warm up to temp (maybe 5 minutes) then lay out all the chips out on the heating pad and then fold it over set at 150°F, leave it sit for 10 min and then come back and with 21 spacers and 20 chips (spacer on both ends) clamp them up, and set those aside. Then move on to the next batch of 20. Let each batch of 20 cool for minimum of 45 min with a re-tightening sometime in the middle of the cooling process and you are good to go.

I have had some chips that take 2 or 3 times of flattening to get them really flat, but eventually they all flatten out.

 

[Goldfish]

I use the same process. works great. I have the same heating pad. I did buy the ridged chip holder from @One Eyed Dollar to align the chips (ridged because I have 43 mm ceramic spacers).

 

[BearMetal]

Hey, guess what! If you are cheap and in a hurry, you can use non-blank ceramic chips and accidentally dye sublimate your Paulsons! I've always wanted a RHC / Nevada Jack Skulls hybrid...

 

[Nanook]

Hey, guess what! If you are cheap and in a hurry, you can use non-blank ceramic chips and accidentally dye sublimate your Paulsons! I've always wanted a RHC / Nevada Jack Skulls hybrid...

View attachment 751989

Looking at the top part of the chip on the right you have also for sure used too much heat & or too much pressure. I can see that you have not only transferred color but also deformed the chip. Look at the ridge that has been made right around where the outermost part of the hat is. Back off on the heat & pressure but I think mostly heat until you don't see any of this deformation. No need to go higher than 140-150°F. It gets worse, not better as you give it more heat

 

[BearMetal]

Looking at the top part of the chip on the right you have also for sure used too much heat & or too much pressure. I can see that you have not only transferred color but also deformed the chip. Look at the ridge that has been made right around where the outermost part of the hat is. Back off on the heat & pressure but I think mostly heat until you don't see any of this deformation. No need to go higher than 140-150°F. It gets worse, not better as you give it more heat

Yup; I have 43mm blanks on order, but this was for a quick sample set for a friend. I cleaned them, and then decided to flatten them since all he wanted was "real casino chips to shuffle". So this is also a good example of why you should also use 43mm vs 39mm blanks.

About the heat/pressure; I used a heating pad - so the temp was below 150. Pressure was consistent with my other chips that had no warping. Perhaps these were softer from the cleaning process? Perhaps it's because I forgot about them and left it too long.

Either way, I present to you the first ever Nevada Jack Southern Skull Horseshoe Indiana chip.

Update: He loved the chips, regardless of their new tattoos. Now he no longer has to shuffle dice chips.

 

[Colquhoun]

Looking at the top part of the chip on the right you have also for sure used too much heat & or too much pressure. I can see that you have not only transferred color but also deformed the chip. Look at the ridge that has been made right around where the outermost part of the hat is. Back off on the heat & pressure but I think mostly heat until you don't see any of this deformation. No need to go higher than 140-150°F. It gets worse, not better as you give it more heat

Yep, I had the same issue, backed way off on the pressure. Literally just enough to hold them in the clamp, no more.
Less pressure, no damage.

 

[Rieguy]

Finished flattening a rack of Cinci Snappers and a barrel of $1ks using the above method. I think they came out great but I definitely needed the chip flattening racks.

Before and after $1ks:

 

[dkellerd]

Just beware, once the chip is heated, it doesn’t require much clamp pressure to bring it to flat.

THIS…some of the THC hotstamps I flattened had dimpling on the edges due to clamping too hard.

 

[ekricket]

I think if your flattening chips you should tell future buyers what you’ve done if you sell them. There are tons of the “pinched lip” and “shrunken waistline” chips floating around now, people try to flatten and then they sell their mistakes to unsuspecting buyers.

 

[Rieguy]

Definitely. Anytime people trade or sell chips they should be upfront about condition and any changes or potential issues. Flattening is no exception.

 

[Colquhoun]

I think if your flattening chips you should tell future buyers what you’ve done if you sell them. There are tons of the “pinched lip” and “shrunken waistline” chips floating around now, people try to flatten and then they sell their mistakes to unsuspecting buyers.

But also note that the “pinched waistline” phenomena is not solely associated with flattening. A bunch of my brand new CPC’s came with a slight form of it.
None that I have flattened have it.

 

[Nanook]

I think if your flattening chips you should tell future buyers what you’ve done if you sell them. There are tons of the “pinched lip” and “shrunken waistline” chips floating around now, people try to flatten and then they sell their mistakes to unsuspecting buyers.

Agreed, but at the same time:
Correctly flattened chips >>> warped chips >>> incorrectly flattened or damaged chips

 

[turboj623]

Thank you everyone for all of the great info in this thread. I applied most of the strategies listed here and I was able to flatten some chips fairly easily. Fortunately, I live in the hot state of Arizona and didn't have to use a heating pad or my oven. I just placed one set of chips in my car outside, and the other in my garage to see which one was better. The car was great but the heat went up quickly, so I couldn't leave them in there too long. The garage worked out perfectly after 30 mins lol.

 

[Organista1]

Just wanted to update everyone, used the methods here and flattened some 43 mm chips. They came it pretty good not perfectly flat but I’d say about 98% flat and I was satisfied with that. I was moving chips around and left this barrel in my office where it gets cold, fast forward 2 months later or less chips seem to have gone back to being warped, has this happened to anyone? My guess is that I should’ve left them in the clamp for longer than an hour? Maybe a day?

I don’t know, thoughts?

 

[OfficerLovejoy]

Just wanted to update everyone, used the methods here and flattened some 43 mm chips. They came it pretty good not perfectly flat but I’d say about 98% flat and I was satisfied with that. I was moving chips around and left this barrel in my office where it gets cold, fast forward 2 months later or less chips seem to have gone back to being warped, has this happened to anyone? My guess is that I should’ve left them in the clamp for longer than an hour? Maybe a day?

I don’t know, thoughts?

Rapid/big temperature changes are what causes warping in the first place.
Your chips were fine and then warped again because they were constantly heated up and cooled down.
Flatten then again and then store them at even temperatures.

 

[ThePrototype]

my oven doesn’t go below 170 degrees. What is the work around for this? Anyone know.

Hotdog roller is worth a go

 

[Organista1]

Rapid/big temperature changes are what causes warping in the first place.
Your chips were fine and then warped again because they were constantly heated up and cooled down.
Flatten then again and then store them at even temperatures.

Makes sense, I figured that and thought maybe I needed to keep it clamped longer. Already on it and will store it in a better place. Thanks

 

[Colquhoun]

Makes sense, I figured that and thought maybe I needed to keep it clamped longer. Already on it and will store it in a better place. Thanks

When flattening, it’s always best to keep it clamped until the very middle temperature of the chip is cool. One hour may not be enough depending on ambient temps.
Overnight would definitely do it.

 

[Ben8257]

Got one for ya Jon...

So one particular rack of my 48mm Jack's Fat hats was particularly warped.

Literally tight with 19 per barrel so...

While huge and the DBs would obviously take more to heat than smaller chips I went with a 12 minutes on 170 including warm up, opened the door for 30 seconds (to let some of the heat out) set the timer for 10 minutes, let them cool 2.5 hours and

Not perfect but now a bit of wiggle room with 20 in the barrel! 98% better with a single round of hearing!

Success! Just thought I would share.

 

[BearMetal]

So this is where we are. Flattening 48mm FHCs with DBs. What's next, flattening 107mm oversized novelty chips with car rims?

Very cool Ben!!! Thank you for sharing. I would be nervous that there would be color transfer from the dealer buttons, but I guess on a black chip you wouldn't really see it anyway. Also it seems like you have your heat and time down to a science.

 

[Ben8257]

So this is where we are. Flattening 48mm FHCs with DBs. What's next, flattening 107mm oversized novelty chips with car rims?

Very cool Ben!!! Thank you for sharing. I would be nervous that there would be color transfer from the dealer buttons, but I guess on a black chip you wouldn't really see it anyway. Also it seems like you have your heat and time down to a science.

Well 49mm blank DBs are probably what $3 each and I only have 80 chips to flatten. I have extra 60mm buttons so why not use those. Timing is critical, I would much rather heat them twice than over heat them once.

I go off of chip density and weight and adjust based off of that. Not always perfect and sometimes they definitely have to go twice. I am no Pro, just learning as I go! Lol

 

[Colquhoun]

I’ve been using DDLM ceramics as spacers and have seen no transfer, even to white chips.
I’m guessing the temperature that is high enough to flatten clays is low enough to not cause an issue for printed ceramics.