AlbinoDragon
Flush
By this point, we're all pretty much aware that the Versa cages (600 and 100 chip varieties) are one of the better solutions for carrying chips in racks from one place to another, particularly if it involves carrying to and from a car or up a flight of stairs. While I have personally never had a problem with the clear acrylic cages in over 10 years of using them as my transporter, the ones I have an use have the larger full width handle "paddle" with three screws. I occasionally check the screws are tight and things are otherwise in good shape, but after hauling three full 1000 chip cages over 100 miles from home to RIA-I in October, and hauling chips to my office (where my game plays) on a regular basis from home, I figured I'd splurge and get one of the Versa cages just for the additional security.
@Eloe2000 posted a nice video of the cage in use, and specifically a way to tip the bottom racks of chips to get out of the cage.
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/best-birdcage.51940/#post-1016962
I had no problem with this the first few tries and found it to work as advertised, but something in the back of my head said there had to be a different way.
I watch a lot of cooking shows (not those goofy competitions, but actual shows about cooking), and being reminded of a parchment sling to remove brownies from a baking pan sparked a moment of insight. What the Versa needs is a sling to remove the bottom racks of chips.
I took a piece of scrap speed cloth, and cut it to the width of the bottom of the Versa, with enough extra left over to stick up about two racks of chips worth:
and put it in the bottom of the Versa:
I can then put the bottom racks of chips in place on top of the sling:
When it's time to remove the bottom chips, grab the two free ends of the sling and lift the two racks out:
Alternately, you could load the racks like this last photo and lift them into place into the Versa, but I found that's almost more effort than it's worth.
To make this work, you need a somewhat stiff cloth. You want to be able to have the free ends stick up along the side of the loaded racks above the bottom so you can put the lid into place before locking it down. Some scrap denim might work, but I just happened to have the speed cloth. I'm thinking about starching the cloth to help it stand up a bit better when trying to put the lid on, but it's not yet enough of a problem that I'm too worried about that yet.
I hope the photos explain what I've done here. It's a pretty simple hack that makes removing the bottom racks from the Versa much easier. The cage has already made one trip to Phoenix and countless trips to and from the office and it's been nice having that little extra peace of mind when going to and from the car.
(Thanks to @5cent for asking about alternatives to acrylic cages and giving me the push to write this up)
@Eloe2000 posted a nice video of the cage in use, and specifically a way to tip the bottom racks of chips to get out of the cage.
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/best-birdcage.51940/#post-1016962
I had no problem with this the first few tries and found it to work as advertised, but something in the back of my head said there had to be a different way.
I watch a lot of cooking shows (not those goofy competitions, but actual shows about cooking), and being reminded of a parchment sling to remove brownies from a baking pan sparked a moment of insight. What the Versa needs is a sling to remove the bottom racks of chips.
I took a piece of scrap speed cloth, and cut it to the width of the bottom of the Versa, with enough extra left over to stick up about two racks of chips worth:
and put it in the bottom of the Versa:
I can then put the bottom racks of chips in place on top of the sling:
When it's time to remove the bottom chips, grab the two free ends of the sling and lift the two racks out:
Alternately, you could load the racks like this last photo and lift them into place into the Versa, but I found that's almost more effort than it's worth.
To make this work, you need a somewhat stiff cloth. You want to be able to have the free ends stick up along the side of the loaded racks above the bottom so you can put the lid into place before locking it down. Some scrap denim might work, but I just happened to have the speed cloth. I'm thinking about starching the cloth to help it stand up a bit better when trying to put the lid on, but it's not yet enough of a problem that I'm too worried about that yet.
I hope the photos explain what I've done here. It's a pretty simple hack that makes removing the bottom racks from the Versa much easier. The cage has already made one trip to Phoenix and countless trips to and from the office and it's been nice having that little extra peace of mind when going to and from the car.
(Thanks to @5cent for asking about alternatives to acrylic cages and giving me the push to write this up)
