Flattening Warped Chips (3 Viewers)

[Colquhoun]

@BGinGA and any others reading. Looking for 11 or 22 blank ceramics. Also open to any stackers or holders to help align. I'm half way through reading this entire thread and seems like the best approach so far. If no one has any like the quote above... where's the best place buy the flattest ceramic blanks? I've got a Hodge podge of older pink fracs I'd like to flatten up. thx.

I used DDLM ceramics from BRPro…heavily saturated ink with no transfer of color, even to white chips. However, to be sure, using blanks would certainly be best.
Do not, under any circumstance, use cards mold or textured chips. The cards mold or texture will “telegraph” into the soft clay chip and ruin it.
Smooth blanks only, and 43mm to avoid edge problems.

 

[OfficerLovejoy]

@BGinGA and any others reading. Looking for 11 or 22 blank ceramics. Also open to any stackers or holders to help align. I'm half way through reading this entire thread and seems like the best approach so far. If no one has any like the quote above... where's the best place buy the flattest ceramic blanks? I've got a Hodge podge of older pink fracs I'd like to flatten up. thx.

@BR Pro Poker
I just messaged them on here and got taken care of immediately.

 

[OneGearManySpeeds]

Purchased.

https://a.co/d/71AENaW

 

[OneGearManySpeeds]

@BR Pro Poker
I just messaged them on here and got taken care of immediately.

Did you do the 40mm or 43mm? Doing paulson here myself.

Do they have the 2 barrel racks as well? Messaged the... waiting on their reply. Thx.

 

[OfficerLovejoy]

Did you do the 40mm or 43mm? Doing paulson here myself.

Do they have the 2 barrel racks as well? Messaged the... waiting on their reply. Thx.

43mm ceramic blanks to flatten 39mm Paulsons.
Works like a charm.
Videos are all from me:

 

[Colquhoun]

Purchased.

https://a.co/d/71AENaW

I would be really careful with that clamp. I use a number of small hand clamps like this:

I still need to be very careful to not clamp too tight. Just enough pressure so that the chips don’t fall out is all that’s needed. It’s too easy to crank down on it and you’ll end up getting chips with “waistbanding”, where the center is thinner than the outer edges. A smushed chip, essentially.

 

[BGinGA]

Bessey clamps are the best. Perfectly square, and very easy to make tiny adjustments during the chip flattening process.

Although Irwin clamps are my favorites for woodworking and other projects, their squeeze mechanism is not optimal for chip flattening work imo.

 

[Goldfish]

Bessey clamps are the best. Perfectly square, and very easy to make tiny adjustments during the chip flattening process.

Although Irwin clamps are my favorites for woodworking and other projects, their squeeze mechanism is not optimal for chip flattening work imo.

My plastic clamps were not square. To correct the problem I added metal plates to the clamps. The clamps work much better now.

 

[OneGearManySpeeds]

My plastic clamps were not square. To correct the problem I added metal plates to the clamps. The clamps work much better now.
View attachment 1133892

Great solution. I think the Bessey clamps are better for 3 reasons. the wood surfaces are completely flat vs the rubber. 2. With a carpenters square you can adjust until the barrel is completely 90 degrees VS the squeeze clamps with no adjustability. And 3. the option to do 2 or 3 or 4 barrels at a time. Doing multiple barrels should also better insure you're two clamping surfaces are parallel VS just one barrel. Well I just bought both so I can test this.

thanks @BGinGA I almost canceled my order for the Bessey.

 

[Colquhoun]

I guess my concern of using the big wood clamps was that it’s so easy to compress too much. The pressure needed is so little that you can actually do it with your hands (but can’t hold long enough, obviously.) I’m also wondering the best way to load multiple barrels of chips in while they’re warm, and the chance they they cool too much by the time you get it all set up.
For me, it was so easy to heat the chips, put 10 at a time between spacers and use multiple hand clamps on groups of 10. Since so little pressure is being applied, the drawbacks of hand clamps not applying even pressure are not an issue. When these chips are warm, they’re soft.

 

[OneGearManySpeeds]

Who sells the best flattening racks for sharing up all the barrels?

 

[OneGearManySpeeds]

flattening racks

Who has the best 43mm flattening racks, where do I find these? Also I have access to some pretty stellar hi fidelity 3d printers. How who has the data so I do t need to reproduce it in solid works?

 

[OneGearManySpeeds]

Good news and bad. Good news, check that box. One step closer to 4x flattening.

Bad news, the Irwin’s are too small. That’s what I get from Amazon. Heading to Home Depot this eve.

 

[OneGearManySpeeds]

can someone help me out? I know 39mm Paulson Chips are 66.7mm tall barrel height. Can someone let me know what 10 Paulson chips and 11 ceramic blanks are in terms of height. Trying to find out what the total height is if a stack of flattening chips.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/racks-unique-ent-’s-rack-4200-paulson-mold.62717/

 

[Colquhoun]

Good news and bad. Good news, check that box. One step closer to 4x flattening.

View attachment 1134550

Bad news, the Irwin’s are too small. That’s what I get from Amazon. Heading to Home Depot this eve.

View attachment 1134551View attachment 1134552

Those hand clamps are the same size as the ones I use. With ceramic blanks on the outside, it works fine.

 

[Colquhoun]

can someone help me out? I know 39mm Paulson Chips are 66.7mm tall barrel height. Can someone let me know what 10 Paulson chips and 11 ceramic blanks are in terms of height. Trying to find out what the total height is if a stack of flattening chips.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/racks-unique-ent-’s-rack-4200-paulson-mold.62717/

Ceramics aren’t dramatically different in height than clays, so any 21 chips would give you a good idea how big the stack is.

 

[BGinGA]

can someone help me out? I know 39mm Paulson Chips are 66.7mm tall barrel height. Can someone let me know what 10 Paulson chips and 11 ceramic blanks are in terms of height. Trying to find out what the total height is if a stack of flattening chips.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/racks-unique-ent-’s-rack-4200-paulson-mold.62717/

Flat Paulson clays and most ceramics are 3.3mm thick. A 21-chip combo will be at least 69.3mm, and likely larger depending on the amount of existing warpage.

 

[OneGearManySpeeds]

Flat Paulson clays and most ceramics are 3.3mm thick. A 21-chip combo will be at least 69.3mm, and likely larger depending on the amount of existing warpage.

thanks man... I'd like to get a 90 degree square to fit within the wooden clamps and need to know how tall the stacks are. Thanks.

Also trying to find out where I can get a straightening rack or two.

 

[wickedwonka121]

I'm doing a barrel at a time. Only ceramics on the ends. I'll leave the chips in my car for the day. They get up to about 140f. Let them cool to room temp and they are super flat. First I clamp them cold, and apply firm pressure until they look flat. I wouldn't do this if the chip is very warped and could snap. The beauty of clamping them cold is the applied pressure drops as they begin to flatten because the clamp is at a set size. So you won't squish the chips.

 

[Colquhoun]

I'm doing a barrel at a time. Only ceramics on the ends. I'll leave the chips in my car for the day. They get up to about 140f. Let them cool to room temp and they are super flat. First I clamp them cold, and apply firm pressure until they look flat. I wouldn't do this if the chip is very warped and could snap. The beauty of clamping them cold is the applied pressure drops as they begin to flatten because the clamp is at a set size. So you won't squish the chips.

Please, put spacers in between each chip!
If you don’t, the soft chip will get pressed into the cavity from the hat and cane of the chip next to it.
It can get real ugly, real fast.

Also, don’t clamp cold. You can crack the chip, even if it’s very slight cracks. Heat evens out the stress in the chip so it can flatten easier and stay that way once cooled.

 

[wickedwonka121]

Please, put spacers in between each chip!
If you don’t, the soft chip will get pressed into the cavity from the hat and cane of the chip next to it.
It can get real ugly, real fast.
View attachment 1192877
Also, don’t clamp cold. You can crack the chip, even if it’s very slight cracks. Heat evens out the stress in the chip so it can flatten easier and stay that way once cooled.

Thanks for the info. I'll cold clamp this lot. The gaps are fractions of mm. I can squeeze the barrel flat with one hand when cold with very little effort. Very minor. This helps me avoid over clamping when they are already hot and causing creases. And they are only getting to about 140f, not 150f or 170f as I've read from others. Also being THCs, seems like these have less chance of molding each other. These chips were pretty rough when I got them, so you can see some scratches and such in the photo. I'll be culling the best of the lot. The inspection shows 100% success rate so far for 3 barrels. I'll keep this info handy if I need to do this again. Thanks again

 

[Jawnie]

you need perfect ceramic blanks between chips. Flattening a barrel with no spacers makes them seem flat till u mix em up. Anyone whos chips had faces damaged or edges curve in got too hot and too much pressure. They need time in the clamp. You cant go back if u fk up and crush. For the sake of a day or night. Do your first batch at low temp and low pressure and dont tighten after heating then leave in clamp at room temp overnight or all day. Dont get tempted to test them early and dont squeeze tighter after you take out oven. If they are still warped then go again with a bit more heat. Ease into it or you will regret it. Oh and plastic g clamps with a bit of flex. Not steel

 

[Jawnie]

Back in the day i ordered 400+spares tmolds. They got munted on the trip over. I now have a 360 set cos i got too hot or clamped too hard. Oven temp gotta be low and chips need plenty of time to be evenly heated through. Else they rewarp. One pic shows flattend barrel vs unflattened. The other shows a green that got clamped too hard.

 

[wickedwonka121]

you need perfect ceramic blanks between chips. Flattening a barrel with no spacers makes them seem flat till u mix em up. Anyone whos chips had faces damaged or edges curve in got too hot and too much pressure. They need time in the clamp. You cant go back if u fk up and crush. For the sake of a day or night. Do your first batch at low temp and low pressure and dont tighten after heating then leave in clamp at room temp overnight or all day. Dont get tempted to test them early and dont squeeze tighter after you take out oven. If they are still warped then go again with a bit more heat. Ease into it or you will regret it. Oh and plastic g clamps with a bit of flex. Not steel

Thanks for the info. I had thought of this and shuffled them a few times to see if they were as flat as they seemed. I saw no issues. I'll mix them between barrels to confirm. I've been lucky so far.

 

[wickedwonka121]

Thanks for the info. I had thought of this and shuffled them a few times to see if they were as flat as they seemed. I saw no issues. I'll mix them between barrels to confirm. I've been lucky so far.

I mixed the barrels and found faction of a mm difference in one barrel. So we are like 99% there. I attribute the success to the minimal warping, thc mold, and using low temp with low pressure.

 

[NotRealNameNoSir]

Looking forward to doing this. I don't have blank 43mm chips though, only my 5cent pieces which are offwhite. Contacting BR about some blanks now, but my chips are 43m... so should I just get big ol' 47 or something?! Rabbit hole deepens.

 

[wickedwonka121]

Looking forward to doing this. I don't have blank 43mm chips though, only my 5cent pieces which are offwhite. Contacting BR about some blanks now, but my chips are 43m... so should I just get big ol' 47 or something?! Rabbit hole deepens.

I found it easier to use the same size, but on 39mm. I didn't have any issues. Just double check the flatness on the blanks. I found a couple spinners before I set everything up.

 

[AH77]

Anyone flatten chips that have been relabled? I have a rack of relabled fracs that I’d like to flatten a bit but I’m worried the heating process might affect the labels.

 

[Nanook]

I have with no problem. You shouldn't heat the chips beyond 140F or so & that wouldn't be nearly hot enough to do any damage

 

[Colquhoun]

There are some potential issues with using a same-sized ceramic for flattening. If the chips and spacers are not perfectly aligned, the clay chip can round over the ceramic, creating a funny ridge on the face:

Or if it’s off by even more, the effect is worse:

Now, part of this problem was that I was clamping a bit to hard at the time. I have learned to only clamp very gently, just enough to hold the chips together…it’s amazing how little clamping pressure is needed to get the job done.
I do recommend getting 1 size larger ceramic spacers than your clays anyway, as you can’t be too careful.