Warped Chip Flattening Project (1 Viewer)

[pharaohone]

I've been reading up on the posts in here and at CT in preparation for flattening some old Paulson inlaid THC's recently purchased. I wanted to bounce my plan off you guys and see if anyone had any suggestions (I've noticed that approaches to this have seemed to evolve over time and there are some differing opinions, so great to tease out all suggestions). If anyone has any photos of the process, before/after pics, and/or videos taken of their flattening projects, it would be awesome if you could post them. I plan to post some of my own project once the chips arrive and I get going.

Huge shout out to @ski_ex5 , the post made here is basically what I am following, but wanted to open up to any other recommendations and document with photos along the way here. Inspiration also came from using helpful posts in the links at the bottom. In addition to @ski_ex5 , big thanks to @Sprinsd , @bentax1978 , @RainmanTrail , @Potsie1 , @RussB42 and @BGinGA for their helpful posts on this topic and everyone else I missed.

Before kicking off, I had a minor question -- any suggestions on doing this pre vs. post cleaning the chips? (does it matter at all?)

Here is my current plan of attack:

1) Going to use this clamp: Bessey LSH-10

2) Planning to place white blank ceramics in between each chip in the barrel with ceramics on the outside touching the wood clamp as well. I found these white blank ceramics online here, but does anyone know if there is a better place to buy this? I've never procured white blank ceramics before. Alternatively, if you have extra and would like to get rid of them, happy to take them off your hands . I also noted @ski_ex5 's suggestion to use 40mm vs. 39mm ceramics, but couldn't find any 40mm... anyone know if it is possible to procure these somewhere?

3) Will ducktape/pad the metal screws on the Bessey clamp

4) Plan is to run two barrels of 10 Paulson chips each in the clamps, with ceramics sandwiching them on the outsides and in between the clamp and the first paulsons on the edges (though will practice with a smaller quantity of chips for first few).

5) Will aim to use an oven temperature of approximately 120 degrees Fahrenheit (still experimenting with my oven to see if I can maintain this temp. consistently... may try @bentax1978 's method with the light bulbs if I can't regulate it)

6) Will place clamped chips in oven on cookie sheet, with a pie plate so that the clamp can be elevated, leaving the chip edges not touching the pan at all

7) Will bake for approximately 15 to 20 mins in oven

8) Will let air cool (not going to put in fridge/freezer) and VERY GENTLY tighten clamp as the chips cool/contract to ensuring they maintain tightness during flattening. This is one area that seems like practicing with a few smaller barrels will be important. I have not seen a lot of clear guidance on the tightening process (seems more of a feel it out type of thing) but given the downside risk in this phase of the process, I'd welcome any specific advice on the gentle tightening during cool down.

Any suggestions to the above? Thanks guys, and looking forward to documenting the process here.

Links from those that have come before me that are helpful:

http://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/un-warping-paulsons-few-pics.5664/#post-48450

http://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/rainmans-chip-flattening-oven.11097/#post-165071

http://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/flattening-warped-chips.3903/#post-16141

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/thre...g-to-clamp-or-not-to-clamp.17092/#post-306612

 

[RussB42]

I still go with the 170 Deg, as my oven won't go any lower.

I just watch them pretty close and tighten when needed. When I think they are flat enough, take out , tighten 1 more time and put in Freezer until cool.

I have done many 100's of chips this way and so far no probs.

Good luck with yr project.....................

 

[Bowsher]

Hey, so how did your project turn out? Did it work?

 

[BGinGA]

Didn't see this thread before, but I absolutely would NOT use duct tape in any kind of elevated temperature environment. Guaranteed to create a super-sticky gooey mess, and one that will not be easily removed from chips (or anything else).

If duct tape has a kryptonite, it's heat.

 

[RussB42]

My Paulson's came out Great !!!

The Small Crown's appear to be much harder and hard to get flat..... Still working on these....

 

[pharaohone]

Sorry for the long overdue update on the project. The headline is everything worked like a charm and the chips came out great. They stack solid as a rock for the most part (and these chips were very warped). I tried to get video, but couldn't figure out how to upload so here are some screenshots of said video with side by side to give the same effect. Overall, I am quite pleased with how they turned out. Some photos at the end on the flattening process (following the OP). I ended up keeping temperature around 110 to 150 degrees (the variance did not seem to matter). Had better results leaving in for 20 to 25 minutes vs. 15 (as I started initially). When the oven would overheat, I leaned towards 20 minutes and when it would cool, I'd lean towards longer. I kept stacking the chips that would come out of the oven underneath the prior flattened chips to keep weight on them -- I believe this is pretty important as the chips will stay warm and be malleable for some time after coming out of the oven. Hope this helps folks who like me were pretty nervous to do this. Looking back on it, I feel a little silly ever being worried. I will caveat that all of this was done with Paulsons manufactured in 1980s... can't speak for any other chip. And you should definitely start small and test your own chips before going all in.


Photos on the process:

Here you can see just how warped the chips were -- very wobbly. From left to right is the rocky motion I did to demonstrate. Once on counter top and once in hand.

And here you can see me attempting to stack the warped chips. I can only get 3 barrels of the way up and the fourth barrel was impossible to get settled. Next to it is a minty rack of THC Palazzo $1s stacked for reference. You can see me trying to struggle with each stack and the chips swaying even with just two barrels.

Here I am "flicking" the warped 3 barrel stack on the right. For comparison is an already flattened 3 barrel stack on the left (when I flicked this it would barely move). You can see the right stack swaying left to right across the 3 images.

Next I am trying to slide the warped 3 barrel stack... it doesn't work very well. You can see by contrast I was able to slide the left 3 barrel stack back and forth just fine in the side by side photo at the bottom.

And here is a simple side by side of flattened (left side) and warped (right side) 3 barrel stacks:

Here is a 115 chip stack that was pretty darn solid as after flattening... and not even that sharp of a stacking job. I was able to get this to about 160 chips high before I got scared I'd have some chips falling to my hardwood floors...

And finally, some photos on the process. The Bessy clamp worked great. Was able to do 16 chips at a time (8 chips in each barrel, with 9 ceramic blanks to keep the chips separated and avoid clay touching the wood). Note I never did end up using the duct tape around the metal pieces, it just did not need it... the chips really don't get that soft at a temp range of 110 to 150 degrees (which is where my oven stayed throughout) for bumping to matter (and really it was easy to avoid them bumping). This was done on Paulson chips manufactured in the 1980s so I can't assert a temperature that would work on any other chip. There are still a handful of chips that were super warped that I may re-flatten at a slightly higher temperature down the road (but even the super warped chips turned out pretty good imo and I am happy with the results... they stack just fine).

Good luck with your flattening projects!

 

[pharaohone]

Hey, so how did your project turn out? Did it work?

Like a charm!

 

[pharaohone]

Didn't see this thread before, but I absolutely would NOT use duct tape in any kind of elevated temperature environment. Guaranteed to create a super-sticky gooey mess, and one that will not be easily removed from chips (or anything else).

If duct tape has a kryptonite, it's heat.

Had not even thought of this. Never ended up using anything to protect chips from the metal on the clamp -- just did not matter. I think @ski_ex5 's method used duct tape and don't believe he mentioned it melting at these temps though.

 

[Bill]

Nice work

 

[RussB42]

Nice job'.............

Just wish my Small Crowns would go flat..................

 

[pharaohone]

Nice job'.............

Just wish my Small Crowns would go flat..................

Crank that heat up!

 

[RussB42]

That's what I was thinkin, as if they are not flat , they are worhtless to me or anybody......

The 1st 80 went ok, but the other 100+ justy ain't playing along !!!!!!!!!!!

 

[navels]

Great results for me. I got the Bessey LSH-10 clamp and a barrel of ceramic blanks from ABC ($9 shipped btw). My oven only goes down to 170 so I just cracked the door. Twenty minutes. I did have to tighten the clamp during the process just a smidge, otherwise the chips would slip out of the clamp when I pulled them out of the oven.

Before:



During:



After:

 

[pharaohone]

Great results for me. I got the Bessey LSH-10 clamp and a barrel of ceramic blanks from ABC. My oven only goes down to 170 so I just cracked the door. Twenty minutes. I did have to tighten the clamp during the process just a smidge, otherwise the chips would slip out of the clamp when I pulled them out of the oven.

Before:

View attachment 202883View attachment 202885

During:

View attachment 202884View attachment 202886

After:

View attachment 202887

These came out awesome!

 

[DoubleEagle]

Any reason why the Bessy HS-12 wouldn’t work as well or better?

 

[pharaohone]

I think they’re just different sized clamps so should still work, may just be a different amount of chips that fit. Any clamp would work.

 

[markleteenie]

ABC ($9 shipped btw)

Is it listed on their site, or do you just have to pm @ABC Gifts and Awards?

 

[navels]

Is it listed on their site, or do you just have to pm @ABC Gifts and Awards?

I PM-ed them directly.

 

[markleteenie]

Should you clean before flattening, or does it not matter?

 

[BGinGA]

I prefer to clean first, not wanting to "bake in" the grime making it harder to remove later.

Plus large or thick amounts of gunk could actually cause the chip to deform under heated pressure, and later removal of that gunk could leave behind such a depression in the chip.

 

[markleteenie]

I prefer to clean first, not wanting to "bake in" the grime making it harder to remove later.

Plus large or thick amounts of gunk could actually cause the chip to deform under heated pressure, and later removal of that gunk could leave behind such a depression in the chip.

Thanks, That first point was a concern I had. That second concern (I hadn't considered) but makes me like cleaning first even more.

 

[A. J. Giametta]

I've been reading up on the posts in here and at CT in preparation for flattening some old Paulson inlaid THC's recently purchased. I wanted to bounce my plan off you guys and see if anyone had any suggestions (I've noticed that approaches to this have seemed to evolve over time and there are some differing opinions, so great to tease out all suggestions). If anyone has any photos of the process, before/after pics, and/or videos taken of their flattening projects, it would be awesome if you could post them. I plan to post some of my own project once the chips arrive and I get going.

Huge shout out to @ski_ex5 , the post made here is basically what I am following, but wanted to open up to any other recommendations and document with photos along the way here. Inspiration also came from using helpful posts in the links at the bottom. In addition to @ski_ex5 , big thanks to @Sprinsd , @bentax1978 , @RainmanTrail , @Potsie1 , @RussB42 and @BGinGA for their helpful posts on this topic and everyone else I missed.

Before kicking off, I had a minor question -- any suggestions on doing this pre vs. post cleaning the chips? (does it matter at all?)

Here is my current plan of attack:

1) Going to use this clamp: Bessey LSH-10

2) Planning to place white blank ceramics in between each chip in the barrel with ceramics on the outside touching the wood clamp as well. I found these white blank ceramics online here, but does anyone know if there is a better place to buy this? I've never procured white blank ceramics before. Alternatively, if you have extra and would like to get rid of them, happy to take them off your hands . I also noted @ski_ex5 's suggestion to use 40mm vs. 39mm ceramics, but couldn't find any 40mm... anyone know if it is possible to procure these somewhere?

3) Will ducktape/pad the metal screws on the Bessey clamp

4) Plan is to run two barrels of 10 Paulson chips each in the clamps, with ceramics sandwiching them on the outsides and in between the clamp and the first paulsons on the edges (though will practice with a smaller quantity of chips for first few).

5) Will aim to use an oven temperature of approximately 120 degrees Fahrenheit (still experimenting with my oven to see if I can maintain this temp. consistently... may try @bentax1978 's method with the light bulbs if I can't regulate it)

6) Will place clamped chips in oven on cookie sheet, with a pie plate so that the clamp can be elevated, leaving the chip edges not touching the pan at all

7) Will bake for approximately 15 to 20 mins in oven

8) Will let air cool (not going to put in fridge/freezer) and VERY GENTLY tighten clamp as the chips cool/contract to ensuring they maintain tightness during flattening. This is one area that seems like practicing with a few smaller barrels will be important. I have not seen a lot of clear guidance on the tightening process (seems more of a feel it out type of thing) but given the downside risk in this phase of the process, I'd welcome any specific advice on the gentle tightening during cool down.

Any suggestions to the above? Thanks guys, and looking forward to documenting the process here.

Links from those that have come before me that are helpful:

http://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/un-warping-paulsons-few-pics.5664/#post-48450

http://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/rainmans-chip-flattening-oven.11097/#post-165071

http://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/flattening-warped-chips.3903/#post-16141

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/thre...g-to-clamp-or-not-to-clamp.17092/#post-306612

Nice plan...let us know how it does for you!