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Spirit Mold China Clays (1 Viewer)

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TheShortyWann

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Well here goes nothing.. I order about 750 spirit molds from chips and games and they arrived today. They were incredibly cheap and that “you get what you pay for” saying holds true lol! Just wanted to inform anyone that may be thinking of doing the same to avoid the 2 color red/blue and they are basically unusable. They will break in half with literally no force at all. The yellow/blue seem to be in the best shape although you’ll have to remove the labels. The pink and blue colors seem to be alright but I have had a few of them break on me. Gonna spend the next few days sorting and testing to find an entire set out of these ha! I plan to do my best to create a nice little cash set with some custom labels. With that being said these are the first chips I’ve ever bought and I’m going straight into the murder and custom label process. Risky?? Maybe.. but I think it will be a fun learning experience. Im looking for any tips or tricks on how to make this easier, as well as who I should talk to about getting labels made. If anyone has dealt with these specific chips please chime in! Thanks in advance everyone!
 

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Been there done that with the Spirit Mold. I bought the Gray/Black and Green/Dark Green chips to use as bounty chips. Yes, they are soft and I have to replace them from time to time due to chips and chunks. It's pretty sad that they couldn't come up with a more durable formulation.
 
Yeah man spirit molds can be a little brittle but you can't beat them for the price. So just order more than you need, rotate your chips so you're not using the same ones all the time.
 
TheShortyWann said:
Well here goes nothing.. I order about 750 spirit molds from chips and games and they arrived today. They were incredibly cheap and that “you get what you pay for” saying holds true lol! Just wanted to inform anyone that may be thinking of doing the same to avoid the 2 color red/blue and they are basically unusable. They will break in half with literally no force at all. The yellow/blue seem to be in the best shape although you’ll have to remove the labels. The pink and blue colors seem to be alright but I have had a few of them break on me. Gonna spend the next few days sorting and testing to find an entire set out of these ha! I plan to do my best to create a nice little cash set with some custom labels. With that being said these are the first chips I’ve ever bought and I’m going straight into the murder and custom label process. Risky?? Maybe.. but I think it will be a fun learning experience. Im looking for any tips or tricks on how to make this easier, as well as who I should talk to about getting labels made. If anyone has dealt with these specific chips please chime in! Thanks in advance everyone!
Click to expand...
I recently bought a bunch of these as well…using them for my first labeling project. Agree wholly that the 2 color and the solids aren’t worth the “clay” used to press them. This also applies to the blue 4D14s ($1) chips. Those were incredibly brittle as well. The pinks were somewhat brittl….but I am finding many of the other colors to be okay/useable. That said, I have spent the last few weeks oiling all of mine. And I mean OILING. I have gone thru a bottle and a half of mineral oil on this project. They need a little love, but I think a bit of oil and elbow grease, and these will end up being a playable set.

If nothing else, they were incredibly cheap, and not that much is lost.
 
SeanGecko said:
I'll have some spirit mold for real cheap for sale
Click to expand...
Moxie Mike said:
Yeah man spirit molds can be a little brittle but you can't beat them for the price. So just order more than you need, rotate your chips so you're not using the same ones all the time.
Click to expand...
I definitely bought more than I need because I figured I’d have to toss a few. Gonna clean them up and oil them and see how they hold up. I’ll definitely have to use the rotation advice on these, thanks!
 
SeanGecko said:
I'll have some spirit mold for real cheap for sale
Click to expand...
Which colors?
bucklesbets said:
I recently bought a bunch of these as well…using them for my first labeling project. Agree wholly that the 2 color and the solids aren’t worth the “clay” used to press them. This also applies to the blue 4D14s ($1) chips. Those were incredibly brittle as well. The pinks were somewhat brittl….but I am finding many of the other colors to be okay/useable. That said, I have spent the last few weeks oiling all of mine. And I mean OILING. I have gone thru a bottle and a half of mineral oil on this project. They need a little love, but I think a bit of oil and elbow grease, and these will end up being a playable set.

If nothing else, they were incredibly cheap, and not that much is lost.
Click to expand...
Lol yes exactly.. I think I spent around .05 a chip so I really can’t complain. I have them all cleaned up for now and I’m gonna get some oil for them as well. I’m wondering if the oiling process should be done before or after applying the labels?? Not sure if that will affect the adhesive on the labels.
 
CrazyEddie said:
@TheOffalo Come share your wisdom and experiences in making Spirit Mold relabels!
Click to expand...
Lol I should really write it up when I have time. @TheShortyWann, check out the exchange between myself and @CrazyEddie for some details: https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/another-spirit-mold-concept-masterworks.84911/

That's if you want to do your own, or you could go the Sticker Mule or OnlineLabels route for something not as labor intensive, but also not as cheap as home made (but cheaper than Gear or ABC/BR Pro custom labels).

Also read this thread: https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/my-sticker-mule-labeling-experience.73483/
 
TheShortyWann said:
Which colors?

Lol yes exactly.. I think I spent around .05 a chip so I really can’t complain. I have them all cleaned up for now and I’m gonna get some oil for them as well. I’m wondering if the oiling process should be done before or after applying the labels?? Not sure if that will affect the adhesive on the labels.
Click to expand...
I’m not sure either. I am doing it before adding labels…I just felt the clay needed to get oil across the entire chip to add some strength. If the labels don’t stick on a couple tests, then I will likely doing som better cleaning of the surfaces before putting more labels on…but I thought it would be better to get oil in the whole thing, based on how brittle the blues and some others were.
 
I would almost think that oil would weaken the chip rather than strengthen it. However it might make it less brittle. It’s hard to tell chemically what a foreign substance will do to an inferior chip material. I would think it would make the labels stick less though.
 
I will add this: the Spirit Mold recess is 1.1" diameter. You can get labels that are 1 1/8" diameter, which is 1.125", which is JUST BARELY TOO BIG. Don't use them. They will almost fit. They'll look like they fit, but they'll inevitably extend just a tiny bit beyond the recess and will cause spinners and chips that don't stack cleanly.

You'll either need to use labels that are 1" and live with them being a little too small, or find a label vendor that can cut custom sizes.

I'm making labels using my wife's Cricut. I set them to 1.1" and they fit perfectly. They're very snug, so I have to be careful when applying the labels; if I'm sloppy then one side will overlap the recess edge and I'll get a spinner.
 
Whoa folks. Hold-up. The floor polish method is largely cosmetic. I am afraid there is little hope for something that's just crumbling apart....
 
CrazyEddie said:
I will add this: the Spirit Mold recess is 1.1" diameter. You can get labels that are 1 1/8" diameter, which is 1.125", which is JUST BARELY TOO BIG. Don't use them. They will almost fit. They'll look like they fit, but they'll inevitably extend just a tiny bit beyond the recess and will cause spinners and chips that don't stack cleanly.

You'll either need to use labels that are 1" and live with them being a little too small, or find a label vendor that can cut custom sizes.

I'm making labels using my wife's Cricut. I set them to 1.1" and they fit perfectly. They're very snug, so I have to be careful when applying the labels; if I'm sloppy then one side will overlap the recess edge and I'll get a spinner.
Click to expand...
I was actually measuring a few things last night and wondering what size I should go with. This is very helpful, thanks!
 
TheShortyWann said:
I was actually measuring a few things last night and wondering what size I should go with. This is very helpful, thanks!
Click to expand...
If you're not making your own and are ordering, a standard 1" size label/sticker will be much cheaper to have made, and it doesn't look bad on the spirit mold. So you just have to balance the look vs. the cost.
 
codeman00 said:
@TheShortyWann
Where did you get your spirit mold chips?
Click to expand...
Chips and Games:

https://chipsandgames.com/collectio...y-no-metal-insert-poker-chips-set-of-50-chips

https://chipsandgames.com/collectio...poker-chips-for-custom-labels-set-of-50-chips

https://chipsandgames.com/collectio...poker-chips-for-custom-labels-set-of-50-chips

https://chipsandgames.com/collectio...poker-chips-for-custom-labels-set-of-50-chips

If you buy from here (or anywhere), I'd recommend getting the ones from the first and third link, where there are two colors in the edge spots. From what I've read, even though they are more fragile compared to other types of China clay chips, they hold up better than the single-color edge spot or no edge spot Spirit Mold chips...


Shipping is pretty pricey from Chips and Games, unless you order over $100. Hit up @SeanGecko instead, he mentioned above that he's also selling them.
 

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