Appreciate it as well! I have some chips currently in the mail that my reshipper @Ethan referred to as "straight up taco shells", so I definitely need to try out some flattening pretty soonThanks man! Now, I hope it's helpful to someone else and not just redundant
I'm going to do this while using the heating pad to keep me warm while I'm watching netflix.... Bam genius. Thanks for sharing this method
It worked quite well on some old, warped THC solids... it's not only for slightly off mint chips...
Hold on a minute! That would solve my lack of temperature change!
Yes, that is most probably true. Some users are reporting success just by putting some pressure on the chips at room temperature, so I'm trying that out first before ordering a heating pad.
I disassembled my shaky construction to check on the chips.
. I couldn't edited the post, so I reposted with the correction.
This is an awesome post. So u keep ur chips in the oven for 45 mins at around 130 degrees? I thought is was only 15 mins bake time.During the summer, I started to feel out the process of flattening some chips that i have, and like most people, I've tried out different methods posted here. I finally settled on what seems to work best for me to get consistent and lasting results. Some of the info is repeating the OP and others who've posted here:
DISCLAIMER: I've only used this method on Paulson THC hot stamp chips only so far. Everyone's oven will be different - some will heat up quicker and hold the heat longer.
- Chip & Clamp setup used for 20x chips (one barrel total):
- 21 chip - 43mm ribbed Chip Flattening Rack @One Eyed Dollar
- 12" POWERTEC Handscrew Clamp (These work just as fine as the Bessey and are one of the more affordable options at the moment; 2x @ $42. I also have a 12" Bessey but prices on those have spiked recently).
- 22x 43mm Blank Ceramic spacers (available from @BR Pro Poker)
- I prefer the 12" clamp and the 43mm blanks setup for a couple of reasons:
- It allows for clearance all around the chip/spacers (see pic #3 & #4), and the clamps lay flat on the oven racks without having the chips or spacers touch the metal, which makes me more comfortable.
- You're able to get more torque and even pressure when tightening (don't need to kill it though) and the 12" clamps tend to stay in place better than the 10" or less versions (all sizes of clamps will need tightening directly after baking and periodically while cooling imo, you'll need to tighten the clamp less often when using a 12").
- Note: This set up and the placement of the chips/spacers will not work with a 10" clamp using the 43mm spacers, you'll only be able to fit one row (10x chips) in between the tightening screws.
- Temperature and time (I've been using a standard, non-convection Hotpoint brand oven - means there's no fan inside the oven):
- I don't use my oven's temperature settings. I use a Polder thermometer probe and suspend the probe inside my oven (similar to @BSteck's setup), making sure the probe doesn't touch anything to get a more accurate temperature inside my oven.
- Target range is 130F to ~160F with a goal of keeping it ~140F for at least 45-60 minutes (w/o opening the oven door constantly).
- I use a temperature range, because it's nearly impossible for me to maintain an exact temperature for an extended period of time with my oven (as with most of our ovens). Instead, I do the following:
- I pre-heat my oven until the probe temp hits 143F then shut it off; the temperature will continue to rise to ~155-160F after I shut off my oven and then steadily decrease thereafter.
- Depending on the ambient temperature in my kitchen, it takes about 15 minutes for the internal oven temp to reach 130F on the probe - at this time, I'll turn on my oven again until the temp hits 143F again, shut it off and repeat this step 2 more times.
- Don't freak out if you accidently allow the temperature to go above this range. You can always open the door to release some heat and bring down the temperature quicker.
- I know some may think my temperature settings/recommendations are too high, but please see below for my reasoning.
- As mentioned above, I keep the internal temperature of my oven between 130F and 160F. I've done this for +1,000 chips so far with no damage to any of my chips. I've hit an oven temp as high as 170F for some batches with no ill effects; however, I don't recommend going over 160F. I think it's not necessary to heat the chips at that high of a temperature.
- I'm comfortable between 130F to 160F with a goal of keeping it around 140F, because even though the oven temp might seem high, the estimated outside temperature of the chips is still within the ~120F-130F range. The internal temp of the chips/spacers might be a bit higher than this range, but again, I have not had a problem so far. I've used this process on very used chips to Near Mint chips. The snapshots below were taken as soon as i opened the oven door at two different points during my heating process:
(pic taken directly out of the oven)
- Cooling:
- Right after taking the clamps from the oven, I tighten them down. No need to kill it or tighten the clams as much as possible - I just tighten them until i feel there's pressure on the chips again. Everything expands a bit in the oven, and the clamps tend to loosen slightly.
- As the chips continue to cool, I continue to tighten the clamps slightly - especially every 3-5 minutes for the first ~20 minutes after removing them from the heat. After this ~20 minute period, i tighten the clamp periodically just in case, but most of the time it's not necessary, especially after an hour of cooling.
- I let the chips completely cool to room temperature before removing from the clamps - usually takes ~3-5 hours, depending on the ambient temperature in my kitchen.
- I have tried speeding up this process by using a small fan and more tightening of the clamps in a shorter period of time, but I felt I got better results by letting them cool down naturally.
- I haven't seen too much of a difference between cooling to room temp and leaving them in the clamp for hours more; however, it doesn't hurt to keep them in the clamp for as long as you'd like. My heating process is longer than most, so the cooling time is already extended, but with that said, i have kept chips to cool for 24+ hours with the same or similar results as cooling to room temp.
Example results:
- Before heating/clamping next to a Mint barrel
- After the process next to the same Mint barrel, and then next to another pre-flattened barrel
NOTES and observations/opinions
- For my oven, heating at 120F for 20-30 minutes did not yield lasting results IMO. After cooling at room temp, some chips had flattened but there were a few that refused to flatten. Even running the same barrel again with the same process, I yielded the same results.
- For me, the process that i described above has yielded nearly all flat chips after the first pass; however, there are still the outlier chips that will need a second run.
- Keeping constant pressure and tightening the clamps while cooling is important.
- The first batch of 400 chips that i tested this process on, were all very used and very warped chips. Of the first 400 chips, nearly all needed a second run. A month after the second run, I notice that some chips reverted back to being slightly warped again - these were probably the ones that had the most extreme bends; however, 3 months later, the vast majority of this batch remains flat and stack really well.
- After utilizing this process on many chips afterwards, I noticed that regardless if the chip is very casino used or Near Mint - if the chip has extreme warping, it's possible to get them completely flat, but most likely there's a chance that they will eventually show some slight warpage as time goes on. From my experience, when these chips do revert back a bit, they haven't returned to the extreme warped state that they were previously in.
- This has happened in as short of a period of 24-48 hours after removing them from the clamp. Some have taken a week or longer to show signs of warping.
- The clamping times for these batch were the same as mentioned above - a minimum of 3-5 hours (cooled to room temp) and as long as 24+ hours. FWIW, the few chips that showed signs of warping again after 24-48 were NM and clamped for 24+ hours.
- Highly recommend cleaning beforehand, especially if you use an ultrasonic cleaner. I haven't seen consistent proof of this, but the one batch I did flatten first, then cleaned with an u/s cleaner, i noticed that the warping had returned to quite a few chips after a pre-soak and bath in the u/s.
Personally, i try to keep it around 140degrees for 45 minutes. Everyone's oven is different though, so keep that in mind. I experimented with different temps and times on multiple batches of different chips, but this time and temp target gave me the best results without damaging the chips.
looks like a reinforced edge now. I don't see the downside.
looks like a reinforced edge now. I don't see the downside.
If you're using enough pressure for the chip to flatten to the form of thr ceramic chips won't it just squish the whole chip? I guess if you measure after and it hasnt gotten wider then it isnt. What about the cross hatching?
got a real life working pic of your reinforced edge chip?
I did a few chips, these were the best example. Some chips showed no ridge at all. 43mm or nothing!
During the summer, I started to feel out the process of flattening some chips that i have, and like most people, I've tried out different methods posted here. I finally settled on what seems to work best for me to get consistent and lasting results. Some of the info is repeating the OP and others who've posted here:
DISCLAIMER: I've only used this method on Paulson THC hot stamp chips only so far. Everyone's oven will be different - some will heat up quicker and hold the heat longer.
- Chip & Clamp setup used for 20x chips (one barrel total):
- 21 chip - 43mm ribbed Chip Flattening Rack @One Eyed Dollar
- 12" POWERTEC Handscrew Clamp (These work just as fine as the Bessey and are one of the more affordable options at the moment; 2x @ $42. I also have a 12" Bessey but prices on those have spiked recently).
- 22x 43mm Blank Ceramic spacers (available from @BR Pro Poker)
- I prefer the 12" clamp and the 43mm blanks setup for a couple of reasons:
- It allows for clearance all around the chip/spacers (see pic #3 & #4), and the clamps lay flat on the oven racks without having the chips or spacers touch the metal, which makes me more comfortable.
- You're able to get more torque and even pressure when tightening (don't need to kill it though) and the 12" clamps tend to stay in place better than the 10" or less versions (all sizes of clamps will need tightening directly after baking and periodically while cooling imo, you'll need to tighten the clamp less often when using a 12").
- Note: This set up and the placement of the chips/spacers will not work with a 10" clamp using the 43mm spacers, you'll only be able to fit one row (10x chips) in between the tightening screws.
- Temperature and time (I've been using a standard, non-convection Hotpoint brand oven - means there's no fan inside the oven):
- I don't use my oven's temperature settings. I use a Polder thermometer probe and suspend the probe inside my oven (similar to @BSteck's setup), making sure the probe doesn't touch anything to get a more accurate temperature inside my oven.
- Target range is 130F to ~160F with a goal of keeping it ~140F for at least 45-60 minutes (w/o opening the oven door constantly).
- I use a temperature range, because it's nearly impossible for me to maintain an exact temperature for an extended period of time with my oven (as with most of our ovens). Instead, I do the following:
- I pre-heat my oven until the probe temp hits 143F then shut it off; the temperature will continue to rise to ~155-160F after I shut off my oven and then steadily decrease thereafter.
- Depending on the ambient temperature in my kitchen, it takes about 15 minutes for the internal oven temp to reach 130F on the probe - at this time, I'll turn on my oven again until the temp hits 143F again, shut it off and repeat this step 2 more times.
- Don't freak out if you accidently allow the temperature to go above this range. You can always open the door to release some heat and bring down the temperature quicker.
- I know some may think my temperature settings/recommendations are too high, but please see below for my reasoning.
- As mentioned above, I keep the internal temperature of my oven between 130F and 160F. I've done this for +1,000 chips so far with no damage to any of my chips. I've hit an oven temp as high as 170F for some batches with no ill effects; however, I don't recommend going over 160F. I think it's not necessary to heat the chips at that high of a temperature.
- I'm comfortable between 130F to 160F with a goal of keeping it around 140F, because even though the oven temp might seem high, the estimated outside temperature of the chips is still within the ~120F-130F range. The internal temp of the chips/spacers might be a bit higher than this range, but again, I have not had a problem so far. I've used this process on very used chips to Near Mint chips. The snapshots below were taken as soon as i opened the oven door at two different points during my heating process:
(pic taken directly out of the oven)
- Cooling:
- Right after taking the clamps from the oven, I tighten them down. No need to kill it or tighten the clams as much as possible - I just tighten them until i feel there's pressure on the chips again. Everything expands a bit in the oven, and the clamps tend to loosen slightly.
- As the chips continue to cool, I continue to tighten the clamps slightly - especially every 3-5 minutes for the first ~20 minutes after removing them from the heat. After this ~20 minute period, i tighten the clamp periodically just in case, but most of the time it's not necessary, especially after an hour of cooling.
- I let the chips completely cool to room temperature before removing from the clamps - usually takes ~3-5 hours, depending on the ambient temperature in my kitchen.
- I have tried speeding up this process by using a small fan and more tightening of the clamps in a shorter period of time, but I felt I got better results by letting them cool down naturally.
- I haven't seen too much of a difference between cooling to room temp and leaving them in the clamp for hours more; however, it doesn't hurt to keep them in the clamp for as long as you'd like. My heating process is longer than most, so the cooling time is already extended, but with that said, i have kept chips to cool for 24+ hours with the same or similar results as cooling to room temp.
Example results:
- Before heating/clamping next to a Mint barrel
- After the process next to the same Mint barrel, and then next to another pre-flattened barrel
NOTES and observations/opinions
- For my oven, heating at 120F for 20-30 minutes did not yield lasting results IMO. After cooling at room temp, some chips had flattened but there were a few that refused to flatten. Even running the same barrel again with the same process, I yielded the same results.
- For me, the process that i described above has yielded nearly all flat chips after the first pass; however, there are still the outlier chips that will need a second run.
- Keeping constant pressure and tightening the clamps while cooling is important.
- The first batch of 400 chips that i tested this process on, were all very used and very warped chips. Of the first 400 chips, nearly all needed a second run. A month after the second run, I notice that some chips reverted back to being slightly warped again - these were probably the ones that had the most extreme bends; however, 3 months later, the vast majority of this batch remains flat and stack really well.
- After utilizing this process on many chips afterwards, I noticed that regardless if the chip is very casino used or Near Mint - if the chip has extreme warping, it's possible to get them completely flat, but most likely there's a chance that they will eventually show some slight warpage as time goes on. From my experience, when these chips do revert back a bit, they haven't returned to the extreme warped state that they were previously in.
- This has happened in as short of a period of 24-48 hours after removing them from the clamp. Some have taken a week or longer to show signs of warping.
- The clamping times for these batch were the same as mentioned above - a minimum of 3-5 hours (cooled to room temp) and as long as 24+ hours. FWIW, the few chips that showed signs of warping again after 24-48 were NM and clamped for 24+ hours.
- Highly recommend cleaning beforehand, especially if you use an ultrasonic cleaner. I haven't seen consistent proof of this, but the one batch I did flatten first, then cleaned with an u/s cleaner, i noticed that the warping had returned to quite a few chips after a pre-soak and bath in the u/s.
I have used the same process and it has worked time after time for me.
I will add that when i pre heat the oven i also put the clamps in allowing the metal and wood to expand to their dimensions at that temperature.
I will also say that the Chip Flattening Rack made by 3D3P (@One Eyed Dollar ) is a must. It makes life so much easier centering the chips and ceramics. DAM it!! I purchased the first model when they were non ribbed, now I have to get the ribbed ones. I hear the ribbed ones make it a more pleasurable process
Maybe you're using to much pressure? I just checked some THC and RHC chips I've flattened and there's no evidence of this on mine
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