Ok, I went through the barrel of them and wiped the excess off the label. I didn't wipe the chip. Going to flip after 12 hours. Thanks @Jeevansluck and @allforcharity
I put mine directly into clear racks after using the wipe-on, wipe-off method.
It's like waxing a car. Wipe on, wipe off. Sometimes I use a cloth to wipe the oil off, sometimes I use my bare hands. Mineral oil is a great moisturizer, so if you suffer from dry hands in the winter like I do, winter becomes an excellent time to oil chips.I think my Royal blurples came out pretty good. After an initial panic that there was oil on my labels, I wiped it off, and let the chips sit for 12 hours, flipped, another 12, then into the racks they went with a little edge rolling. I came across this comment:
So, ok, now that I'm doing the pinks, what's the wipe-on, wife-off method exactly? Is it more than just compression oiling the chip follow by a label-only wipe? Are you actually wiping the excess off the entire chip? I think I read that would dull the faces.
I use a microfiber cloth to apply the oil, and regular paper towels to lay them out. No lint.If I were to reconsider one step of the process, I might consider using a lint-free towel next time, because super close up photos show some stray strands of lint. At the same time, terrycloth has little loops that assure the mold indentations get oil, so maybe a little lint is fine. Maybe wipe off with a lint free towel, but that is just extra laundry.
I will live with the lint. It will fall off when the chips see play.
I work a barrel at a time, so I oil wipe and stack. When the barrel is done, I rack them. There is no absorption time. Heck, I don't even have a paper towel within 50' of me.Thanks @BGinGA and @Poker Zombie. I was worried that quickly wiping the entire face of the chip would suck some of the oils back out. I definitely don't want them feeling oily going into the racks. The blurples were only a little oily on the labels, so I spun then in clean microfiber before edge oiling and racking.
I'm guessing you oil, wipe and rack immediately? No paper towel time for excess absorption?
Not entirely sure about that one. I once had an entire birdcage of blaze orange chips that would light up a small room.... looked like a damn fireplace.Paulson's dont shine.
Paulson's dont shine.
I used quite a bit of oil on my chips (although you'd never know it looking at the bottle), and the paper towels soak up almost all of whatever the chip doesn't.I was wondering about all this last night while oiling my first set of CC’s. So, I then took 20 chips and “compression oiled” them with a few drops of oil on a rag, and then thought to myself that I should refresh my memory on this technique and read this thread again. After reading I got worried when I saw the amount of oil used in the OP, and continued oiling another 20 with like five times as much oil as I previously used. Both sets stayed out on the kitchen table overnight on paper towels.
Both sets of chips looked the same this morning, but I’m anxious to check them this evening with my more-awake eyes.
I think this is correct. I had a lot of time to be patient, so I let the chips sit for a week. Plus, I don't want to do it again down the line, which was also what the OP was trying to accomplish.I think what it *might* come down to (?) is how long the chip’s bright colors will stay. That’s what the OP was trying to accomplish in the beginning; make the popping colors last for years, and not months or days. Maybe letting them sit on paper towels accomplishes that. He sure was pleased with his results. I’m just too impatient. Unfortunately.
Many of those variations are dependent upon the specific type of chips being oiled, although the common denominators are a) less oil is better than more oil, b) avoid getting oil on inlays and/or labels, and c) leave no residual oil on finished chips before use.There's such a difference in people's methods. Some let sit for weeks, while others are flipping and labeling in the same day. Some let the oil sit on the entire chip, some wipe it off, some just do edges. So ... many ... methods ...
Many of those variations are dependent upon the specific type of chips being oiled, although the common denominators are a) less oil is better than more oil, b) avoid getting oil on inlays and/or labels, and c) leave no residual oil on finished chips before use.
Clay chips tend to soak up more oil, especially BCC chips and ASM/CPC edges. Recently-cleaned chips using detergents (Dawn, TSP, or Oxi-Clean) will take on (and often need) more oil and need longer soak times.
- Ceramics -- no oil
- Plastics -- no oil
- China clays -- minimal oil, more cosmetic than protective
- Paulson chips -- minimal oil, more protective than cosmetic
- TRK chips -- minimal oil, helps both causes
- TRK, ASM/CPC chips -- minimal oil, helps both causes, really enhances rolling edges
- BCC chips -- minimal oil, helps both causes, really enhances rolling edges, can lessen the effects of batch color variation and marbling effect often found on BCC chips
Semi-oily rag is fine. A capful or teaspoon of oil is enough for an entire birdcage or two of 1000 chips. Probably three birdcages.I was using 1 capful (maybe a tsp?) of mineral oil per rack. Maybe I should just continue to use my semi-oily rag from now on and not re-apply anymore oil to it.
Correct. And not all china clays are made using the same material formula, so the absorption rates of different china clays can and do vary, including being different for different colors.Depends how porous the material is. I don’t know the composition of china clays, but they obviously aren’t as porous as real clay chips.
How do you people not get blisters from this!? I've done 400 chips and have a couple nice ones on my pointer fingers.
Either you're using too rough a cloth, or you are pressing a little too hard. I use a disposable J-cloth, pinch the chip with the hand holding the cloth, and rotate the chip with my other hand to an 8- or 10-count, then on to the tablecloth / towel / paper towel it goes. 2 minutes per barrel on average, 3 tops. If you notice excess oil that's getting onto the inlays after, I use a fresh corner and wipe it off.
I'm average 6 minutes per barrel. I do 2 rotations of the chip, which is about 10x. I was squeezing rather hard so that 1) any excess CC crud comes off and 2) in order to try to press the oil in (compression)? I'm just using some microfiber cloths from Amazon. So maybe I'm creating too much friction on the compression. I just really want that oil in there!
I personally do not buy into the "compression" requirement. So instead of continually trying to describe the process, I went on a hunt to find some chips that I had not oiled. I had to go back to a time when it was widely believed that China clay could not be oiled. As luck would have it, I found a rack of CPS red birds.I'm average 6 minutes per barrel. I do 2 rotations of the chip, which is about 10x. I was squeezing rather hard so that 1) any excess CC crud comes off and 2) in order to try to press the oil in (compression)? I'm just using some microfiber cloths from Amazon. So maybe I'm creating too much friction on the compression. I just really want that oil in there!
I personally do not buy into the "compression" requirement. So instead of continually trying to describe the process, I went on a hunt to find some chips that I had not oiled. I had to go back to a time when it was widely believed that China clay could not be oiled. As luck would have it, I found a rack of CPS red birds.
I don't have a camera stand, so I will attempt to do this one-handed, while the other holds the camera. The result: The Blair Witch Chip Oiling Project.
When completed I picked up the chips and kinds rolled them around in my bare hands, spreading out any uneven oil. That took 2 hands, so no video. They were then stacked and racked.
Seems like a common sense technique. If anything, I'd describe the notion that you can push oil into a chip's pores by squeezing with your fingers "interesting."That's an interesting technique. You've used it on other chips before that have since seen many hours of play, right? How does this method hold up over time? I thought that since oil doesn't evaporate, you needed to work it into the chip's pores. Here, you're just applying it to the surface.