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Paulson: Full label replacement tutorial thread (3 Viewers)

BearMetal said:
..... I find that when I hit the edge, I need to pivot the edge of the blade up to get a small piece of the laminate to rise so I can grab it with the pliers. At this point, sometimes a small bit of clay comes off the edge with it.

How do you get the laminate up to be able to grab and pull?
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I do not use the knife for this. Instead, I use a little pick which has a bend in it which makes it easy to get under and twist. I twist a little tab up which makes it easy to grab with the pliers. Here are a couple pics for reference:


 
At first I thought, “no way, I could never spend that much time to create a custom set.” Then I went deeper down the rabbit hole, saw all the gorgeous creations on PCF, and started drinking the koolaid. And finally, I remembered I’m that kind of nerd… the kind that builds my own computers and hand lubes and adds films to mechanical keyboard switches.

The question is… after you put so much love into a custom set, do you really let your friends (who have no appreciation for this craft or the rarity of your creation) play with them??
 
drawingdead said:
The question is… after you put so much love into a custom set, do you really let your friends (who have no appreciation for this craft or the rarity of your creation) play with them??
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I suppose that you are going to get different answers here, but mine is: YES. Poker chips are made to be used and played with so, at least to me, no matter how much they may be worth or how much love I have put into them I would put them into play even with people that don't appreciate them.
 
So I bought a rack of the Kash $100s for a relabel project. A previous owner had tried to remove the labels just a bit on almost all of the chips, but since I was going to relabel myself, I didn’t mind. I spent the evening without making much progress at all.

The top row is typical condition of how I received them and the bottom row is after my attempts. I believe I’m not having any success in getting under the plastic inlay to peel it up. Without that, the NPR (brand new) didn’t help me loosen the vinyl.

Any suggestions?

60BA912A-6F14-4DF2-B9B5-57E5B2B19E99.png
 
By the looks of your pic the protective laminate has already been removed from both rows of chips. What is remaining is actually Vinyl & not plastic. It will come off, but the adhesive can vary quite a lot from chip to chip. It's a bit of trial and error until you have done a lot of them, but as a general rule as long as the chip isn't bleeding color you can try leaving the nanpr on longer. Black won't normally bleed, but pink and purple are some of the worst colors for that so be careful to keep the nanpr within the recess.
 
RedRider52 said:
So I bought a rack of the Kash $100s for a relabel project. A previous owner had tried to remove the labels just a bit on almost all of the chips, but since I was going to relabel myself, I didn’t mind. I spent the evening without making much progress at all.

The top row is typical condition of how I received them and the bottom row is after my attempts. I believe I’m not having any success in getting under the plastic inlay to peel it up. Without that, the NPR (brand new) didn’t help me loosen the vinyl.

Any suggestions?

View attachment 1145791
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Just send them to @Nanook and let him deal with it. Well worth the money IMO.
 
All of the Kash stickers have been removed, so I was unsure about the plastic layer. I’m thinking that the previous owner also removed the top layer and had the same experience as me with the stubborn vinyl and gave up. I used a Q-tip to apply the npr, but maybe that didn’t get enough onto the vinyl. I guess I’ll try an eye dropper next.

There is a great vid earlier in the thread with another chipper removing the Kash/ Full Tilt stickers that went really smoothly so I was thinking my path would be the same. Not happening.

If the npr doesn’t work the first time, does it make the subsequent tries harder?
 
RedRider52 said:
.....I’m thinking that the previous owner also removed the top layer and had the same experience as me with the stubborn vinyl and gave up.
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I'm guessing you are spot on with your thoughts

RedRider52 said:
If the npr doesn’t work the first time, does it make the subsequent tries harder?
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Not usually. How long did you let the nanpr sit on there?
 
Ok, if you left it on there that long and it still isn't working then there are only 2 more things that you can try: more nanpr or a different brand.

Not all nanpr will react with the adhesive in the same way.

Unfortunately, sometimes it is a bit of a trial and error sort of thing
 
RedRider52 said:
20-30 min
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The sweet spot for NPR for me was always something between 15 and 30 seconds.
After 1 or 2 minutes the NPR had mostly dissipated and the glue would be hard again.

I applied the NPR so that the remaining sticker was decently wet and after a few seconds started to try and lift it up with an exacto knife.
I could always feel the moment when the glue was softened by the NPR and the lable would start to come off easily.
 
allforcharity said:
I thought some others had success with using ethanol hand sanitizer as a substitute for NANPR.
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I did try a spray hand sanitizer that was like 90% ethanol. It was very "thin" and not gooey like standard pump hand sanitizers are. I figured I didn't want all of the added junk and lotions added to the ones we use on our hands. But it didn't really work all that well. I then tried just Ethanol in a bottle from Walmart for sterilization purposes and it worked great on some chips; others not so much.

However, there was ZERO color fading/running ... so it's my go-to now. I start with pure ethanol and if it works, then great! The chips have no color issue and no smell. If it doesn't, then I resort to NPR.
 
OfficerLovejoy said:
The sweet spot for NPR for me was always something between 15 and 30 seconds.
After 1 or 2 minutes the NPR had mostly dissipated and the glue would be hard again.

I applied the NPR so that the remaining sticker was decently wet and after a few seconds started to try and lift it up with an exacto knife.
I could always feel the moment when the glue was softened by the NPR and the lable would start to come off easily.
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Different nanpr will evaporate in different amounts of time & it can vary A LOT. Once the nanpr has evaporated then the adhesive starts hardening again just like what you say. My experience with different nanpr is that some will do their work in as little as 15 seconds and others might take as long as 30 minutes on certain chips. Another good example of this is isopropyl alcohol. 70% will evaporate MUCH more slowly than 90%. Just try it and you will see what I am talking about.
allforcharity said:
I thought some others had success with using ethanol hand sanitizer as a substitute for NANPR.
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Hand sanitizer is more of a substitute for isopropyl alcohol and that is only because hand sanitizer is loaded with isopropyl alcohol. You can certainly try the hand sanitizer, but a much cheaper way of doing the same thing is just go to walmart and buy a jug of 70% isopropyl alcohol for like $3.

Both isopropyl alcohol and hand sanitizer will work on some chips. The benefits of using one of those two things is that neither will risk discoloring the chips. The downside is that on most chips, they don't soften the adhesive nearly as effectively as nanpr does.
 
BearMetal said:
I did try a spray hand sanitizer that was like 90% ethanol. It was very "thin" and not gooey like standard pump hand sanitizers are. I figured I didn't want all of the added junk and lotions added to the ones we use on our hands. But it didn't really work all that well. I then tried just Ethanol in a bottle from Walmart for sterilization purposes and it worked great on some chips; others not so much.

However, there was ZERO color fading/running ... so it's my go-to now. I start with pure ethanol and if it works, then great! The chips have no color issue and no smell. If it doesn't, then I resort to NPR.
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haha...
we were both basically saying the exact same thing at the exact same time
 
Nanook said:
haha...
we were both basically saying the exact same thing at the exact same time
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Great minds :)

However, I feel validated in my observations that you have similar recommendations. I've murdered a few thousand ... but The Great and Powerful Nanook must be into the 100k range by now, right? :)

Actually, I'd love to know what tools you use for slicing/pulling. I've gone through so many different types of blades trying to find the best combination of flex and strength; not to mention pliers; I'm using some curved needle-nose ones right now.
 
I appreciate all of the feedback on my project. I now have 2 new / different nanprs to try. I didn’t realize the timing between applying the npr and working the labels was such a critical input. I just thought the longer they soaked in the better.

So now I have a variety of new options lined up. We’ll see how they go.
 
Update on my first relabel project. After a lot of experimentation, several College World Series games and WAY more time than I care to admit, I finally got through my first rack. I gave them a good scrub with the Magic Eraser today and here they are!

I still have a couple of clean ups, but most of the “fun” part is done. Next question is about oiling. If I want to get some oil on them. Should I do it before I put on the labels, or should I wait and do it afterwards? Not sure if that will affect the adhesion of the new vinyl.

99690324-7E4D-4EFE-B40A-EA97BA05D09E.jpeg
 
RedRider52 said:
I still have a couple of clean ups, but most of the “fun” part is done. Next question is about oiling. If I want to get some oil on them. Should I do it before I put on the labels, or should I wait and do it afterwards? Not sure if that will affect the adhesion of the new vinyl.
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I would oil now, and then wait a week or two before applying the labels.
 
I'm curious about inlay replaced THCs. When I look at good pictures of them, I can always tell that they're replacements (and not overlabels) because you can see the label sitting deeper in the recess than factory paulson inlays. I always assumed that the recess was just milled a hair too deep. But when I was thinking about it today, I realized that there's no milling at all with inlay replacements. So it's just a matter of the replacement lables not being as thick as the multi-layer inlays they're replacing? Has anybody looked into having thicker labels produced, to better fill that hole where the inlay once was?
 
upNdown said:
I'm curious about inlay replaced THCs. When I look at good pictures of them, I can always tell that they're replacements (and not overlabels) because you can see the label sitting deeper in the recess than factory paulson inlays. I always assumed that the recess was just milled a hair too deep. But when I was thinking about it today, I realized that there's no milling at all with inlay replacements. So it's just a matter of the replacement lables not being as thick as the multi-layer inlays they're replacing? Has anybody looked into having thicker labels produced, to better fill that hole where the inlay once was?
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I'll put two in to bump them up. Helps immensely
 
Josh Kifer said:
We're working in millimetres here. Using two and doubling it up makes a noticeable difference imo.
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I was just saying that I'm surprised paulson inlays are twice as thick as Gear laminated labels. I would have thought they were closer to being the same thickness. So thanks, this is good information to have.
 

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