Festive's Fun, Finds, & Fotos (2 Viewers)

[Josh Kifer]

First custom set complete!!

Introducing “The Ginkgo Club”

This was a simple project to practice the A-Z of making a custom set and to have a customized heads-up set to play with the wife

For the last few years we’ve lived in Roslindale near Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum where we’ve come to love the stand of ginkgo trees. Enough to feature them heavily on our wedding invitations and party favors this past summer so it was obvious that should also carry over into this simple set for us. The chips these are inspired by should be obvious, it’s pretty 1:1, which I’m totally happy with for this first go at custom but I wouldn’t want to repeat.

Process started with finding the chips. These were Jatre + Co chips that @mipevi listed that were in too small a quantity for a full set but thought would be perfect for a heads up set.

The next step was expert milling from @Josh Kifer. Quick and effective service! Thank you!

@Johnny5 was great to work with on the design. Before settling on the Silver Saddle/Yosemite Inn inspo I was feeling really drawn to these chips that @Split posted about. I already had “Ginkgo Club, Roslindale” in mind and thought this could translate 1:1 pretty easily but working with J5 it became clear that the simplicity of the Little Club design really shines with a HS and so much white space wouldn’t translate over well to an inlay. John was amazing going through a bunch of iterations a tweaking the colors. Thanks also to @JeepologyOffroad who I asked for feedback a few times at this stage.

Everything came together in the magical hands of @Gear who did an impeccable job of color matching the design to the sample chips I had provided. The faux shaped inlay product that Chris offers is truly a boon to this hobby.

Thanks to everyone involved! You were each great to work with and I can’t wait for the next custom set!

Lastly, those less colorblind than me will notice a very silly mistake I made that I literally didn’t notice until I was labeling the chips… hehe lessons for next time.

I thought those were stock CPCs and was confused why I was tagged.

Nice work! Wow.

 

[FestiveKnight]

A sunny cleaning session during boring Monday am calls

 

[BarrieJ3]

First custom set complete!!

Process started with finding the chips. These were Jatre + Co chips that @mipevi listed that were in too small a quantity for a full set but thought would be perfect for a heads up set.

Oh man. So steps to nab a custom sample for this would be getting your approval, finding these Jatre + Co chips, having them milled, and asking to be allowed to order labels to label the 3 chips

 

[FestiveKnight]

17 new arrivals that just missed out on barb time. Unique $1s is now at 186! Definitely in striking distance.

Also another cleaning shot from earlier. I just can’t get enough of SD chips…

Look at the definition on the paper towel!

 

[FestiveKnight]

Oh man. So steps to nab a custom sample for this would be getting your approval, finding these Jatre + Co chips, having them milled, and asking to be allowed to order labels to label the 3 chips

Don’t know if you’re serious but…

I have some more of the Jatre chips though they’re pending to someone, if they don’t want them or all 100 then what you need is yours. I find your project admirable.

I think @mipevi might have some more too?

As for the art, labels etc, I have extras. You’ll just need to get the chips milled. So let’s see, would love to help if I can

 

[FestiveKnight]

So cleaning experts, any way to deal with this? Tagging some people who I think are good at this but others please chime in!

My usual process is brief soak in warm water with Oxyclean and then magic eraser and it doesn’t do much for these issues.

Yellow/orange staining around the edge of the inlay:

Random black spots (look towards top of chip):

@JeepologyOffroad @Nanook @RivieraDanny

 

[DMack]

So cleaning experts, any way to deal with this? Tagging some people who I think are good at this but others please chime in!

My usual process is brief soak in warm water with Oxyclean and then magic eraser and it doesn’t do much for these issues.

Yellow/orange staining around the edge of the inlay:

View attachment 1069740

Random black spots (look towards top of chip):

View attachment 1069741

@JeepologyOffroad @Nanook @RivieraDanny

@upNdown is a pure master at cleaning chips too. Might want to get his take.

 

[FestiveKnight]

@upNdown is a pure master at cleaning chips too. Might want to get his take.

Thank you! Yes, my tags were not exhaustive

 

[upNdown]

Thank you! Yes, my tags were not exhaustive

In my experience, the best way to clean white chips is with heavy doses of Oxi - I could do this with the Foxwoods $1s because they were solid white. But it will definitely fade colors (maybe even in smaller doses or shorter soaks) so I’d avoid it altogether on the chips you’ve pictured.
My preferred cleaning method on inlaid Paulsons with colors is a soak in a warm TSP substitute/dawn solution, followed by a fairly stiff bristle dish washing brush scrub , followed by magic eraser for the edges.

But what you’ve pictured, I don’t think I have any suggestions. If my methods have helped with the yellowing around the inlays, I don’t think I’ve noticed. But I’ve never been bothered by that - I just take them as a sign of age? And the tiny spots you show - are those ink? Aside from scraping (which I’d never do on a chip in that state of barely any wear) I don’t know if there’s anything you can do about that.

 

[FestiveKnight]

thank you! Some follow up:

TSP substitute/dawn solution

Does this mean a combination of the two, or one or the other?

I’ve never been bothered by that - I just take them as a sign of age?

I’m not sure I am bothered by it either, but if there was some track to cleaning it, I would probably do it.

are those ink?

I’m not really sure… But there are other chips with similar small marks on them like that that didn’t come away easily with oxi plus magic eraser. I’ll snap some other photos later.

 

[upNdown]

Does this mean a combination of the two, or one or the other?

Both. Though I don’t have exact proportions. Probably something like a tablespoon of TSP substitute to a half gallon of warm water and a healthy squirt of dawn - soak for 10-15 minutes.
But always test with 1 first. And try to keep soaks on the shorter side for shaped inlays.

 

[Nanook]

These type of stains are tough. Like @upNdown said, oxyclean usually works, but it'll fade the inserts so that's probably not the best idea.

I have had some success on white chips with bleach. Don't use it undiluted. But @2:1 or 3:1 with water "might" do some good. Be careful though as you don't want bleach to get on the inserts or on anything else of value. Go slow and try it on just one chip to start with.

 

[FDLmold]

water, fels naptha, toothbrush
it's how i clean all the gunk from all of my chips
if a chunk of crud is too stubborn, then a toothpick or x-acto knife comes out and i get a little medieval

 

[FestiveKnight]

water, fels naptha, toothbrush
it's how i clean all the gunk from all of my chips
if a chunk of crud is too stubborn, then a toothpick or x-acto knife comes out and i get a little medieval

Any risk of affecting colors with the fels naphtha like oxiclean? Assuming not because you use it but figured I’d ask.

I was using first an electric toothbrush-like contraption and then a regular toothbrush but found it was annoying how much the soapy water sprayed all over the place so magic eraser + elbow grease has been the way for me but I can see the ease of brushes like you both mention

 

[FDLmold]

No danger at all with the fels. I scrub on the original soap layer and sometimes forget about it for a couple days, never a problem. Fels attacks the organic hooker juice and similar substances, but not the chip.

 

[FestiveKnight]

Another lot for the RR set. Up to 191* unique $1s, whose going to help me bring it to 200???


*well I’m still deciding if the Red Lion fits in. I wanted to get a single light blue chip to see how I’d feel. I think seeing it with others and sandwiched in different places in the white $1 racks I don’t think it works.

@FDLmold, I ordered some fels and I’m excited to see what it can do for that Barona chip. Definitely going to avoid the oxiclean on spotted chips after what you and @upNdown have said.

Also received this chip and two great RR DBs from @calfdemon. Thanks so much for making and sending along the buttons.

 

[FestiveKnight]

Picked these up from the Spinettis sale a few days ago. Some nice new RR additions. Tomorrow I think I’ll try and post an accounting of the current set and very soon I have about 300 various extras that I’m going to start listing.

 

[FestiveKnight]

 

[FestiveKnight]

The wife helped with this round of packing chips up from my sale thread and insisted that everyone get a sticker on their package. Working on ratrod, and thus dealing in singles, has definitely made me up my shipping efforts

 

[FestiveKnight]

The boh is coming along nicely for the RR set. Been cycling chips out and some new ones in as I get to a set of 20 distinct, exciting and beautiful chips. I imagine this set might always be in flux.

 

[FDLmold]

The boh is coming along nicely for the RR set. Been cycling chips out and some new ones in as I get to a set of 20 distinct, exciting and beautiful chips. I imagine this set might always be in flux.

View attachment 1128530

I feel the same way about my rack of $25s. 100 chips seems like a good number. I just got my 119th. I *may* start cycling some out. Rat Rod - always in flux - I like it.

 

[FestiveKnight]

Little status update.

188 $1s! These have been the hardest so far and I’ve got a bunch more on the way from folks who have responded to my wanted ad. 200 is the goal, which I know is possible, but then I’ll be looking to cycle out the chips that are further from white. Not sure 200 just white THC $1s even exist.

200+ $5s! I always knew these would be easiest. I may rest here and just cycle chips in and out for quality or interest or I might seek 300, which I sense should be possible. A few more aren’t shown.

33 $25s! For now I’m taking these slow and being picky while I focus on $1s. These don’t come cheap but some are phenomenal.

Per my wife, 2 faves and 1 she loathes:

18 $100s! This is a constant project that seems to make this barrel steadily burn a bigger hole in my wallet… but a stunning burn they are!

Lastly, I’ve decided the set needs a rack of 25¢ chips to be playable for my group but have concluded it’s impossible to do so in rat Rod fashion (with my requirement for unique THC chips). So I’ll be seeking out THC solids that are already quarters, starbursts, or something I can relabel

 

[FestiveKnight]

And a family photo in these new great racks from @justincarothers!

 

[justincarothers]

I have a whole bunch of $5s if you need more

 

[FestiveKnight]

Moving this project here. I recently got a whole bunch of these nice hexagonal racks from Justin that I shared in my last post. And while they’re great, they’re slightly too tight for a set of LGK chips and my Gingko Club HHR chips.

Inside the rack are these little vertical bars:

Which narrow the slot slightly. My first attempt had been to use a sharp chisel to scrape these off. Which is pretty effective but leaves the surface scratched up:

With a little sanding, the chips fit very well, but the plastic gets all scratched up. This was sanded with 500 and then 1500 grit.

With chips in the rack, it’s really not that noticeable but I’m going to try: A) a much smaller chisel that can maybe take off only the little bars and B) researching a plastic polished option.

Let me know if you have any thoughts! I have only about 7 racks total that are too large so I’m willing to put some work into this but also don’t want to invest too heavily in it.

 

[FestiveKnight]

@Colquhoun

 

[Colquhoun]

Do you have a heat gun? Sometimes you can make cloudy acrylic clear again using a heat gun.
That may also make the vertical bars soft enough that they remove easier.
Or maybe a big mess. Worth a shot.

 

[FestiveKnight]

A whole bunch of additions from our good man Oscar @Okku. 3 new $1s!!

The $5s now push me 14 over 2 racks so it seems I may go for 3 racks after all.

 

[FestiveKnight]

Plastic polish came today. Applied it to the slot I had sanded down smooth. It didn’t have a huge impact but I think the final result is something I am quite happy with:

1/16” chisel is in the mail too which I hope to use to remove the bars neater.

So now the real question:

A) Modify 17 racks (Matsuis also don’t fit…)
B) Just use all Matsui racks
C) Use Matsui racks for larger chips and these for smaller chips.

Modifying 17 will be a ton of work and feels a bit silly. Using all Matsuis is fine but these are sturdier and smaller and I like the hex look a lot. I was hoping to avoid a mix which triggers my OCD….

Options options….

 

[FestiveKnight]

A pickup of 5 chips I’ve been hunting for a while. This brings me to 196 $1s! Truly in striking distance now.