Oiling ASMs? How much is too much?

nygiantsfan3342 · #1 (**permalink**) 07-27-2007, 10:32 AM

My ASMs are coming on Monday and Cathy told me that they oiled them as a favor to CT members. Do they oil them well? I like oiling my chips and do a good, thorough job. I ususally fill up a big bowl with Mineral Oil and dump 100 or so chips (Samurais lately) into the oil and let them sit for a couple of hours. With my Sams (BCC, I know) there has never been any inlay troubles from the oil.

Cathy told me NOT to get the oil on the ASM Inlays. Those who have ASMs, and gotten them recently, please share your oiling experiences and suggestions...

jdunford · #2 (**permalink**) 07-27-2007, 10:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nygiantsfan3342

My ASMs are coming on Monday and Cathy told me that they oiled them as a favor to CT members. Do they oil them well? I like oiling my chips and do a good, thorough job. I ususally fill up a big bowl with Mineral Oil and dump 100 or so chips (Samurais lately) into the oil and let them sit for a couple of hours. With my Sams (BCC, I know) there has never been any inlay troubles from the oil.

Cathy told me NOT to get the oil on the ASM Inlays. Those who have ASMs, and gotten them recently, please share your oiling experiences and suggestions...

From my limited experience, ASM chips don't need much oil... not like new (chalky) BCC chips. They're somewhere between BCC and home Paulsons in this regard, but closer to home Paulsons.

If they come pre-oiled, you shouldn't need to oil them further. I assume Imthatguy's Avalons were pre-oiled (I didn't actually ask him) and they looked and felt great! (see for yourself: http://www.chiptalk.net/forum/583758-post46.html)But even samples that I have (some FDL samples, Key West on the H-mold, etc.) that weren't oiled don't really seem to need it.

links_slayer · #3 (**permalink**) 07-27-2007, 10:50 AM

The edges on my ASMs were oiled by the folks there. That's all they need IMO. They'll look great and you'll love 'em to pieces.

2_hotty · #4 (**permalink**) 07-27-2007, 11:49 AM

My ASM's are fine straight from the factory (pre-oiled).

luckychick · #5 (**permalink**) 07-27-2007, 12:07 PM

There have been pics (sorry I don't remember who/where) here of people who have soaked their ASMs and there was creep of oil into the sides of the inlay. Don't do it.

My ASMs came pre-oiled. But, after several times of playing with them, they were making my hands really dry. I took an old cloth which I dipped the end of in oil and wiped down the face and sides of each chip. I probably used a total of 5-10 mls for 1000 chips. It was plenty. Took me a couple of hours while watching T.V.

UW85 · #6 (**permalink**) 07-27-2007, 12:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nygiantsfan3342

Do they oil them well? I like oiling my chips and do a good, thorough job. I ususally fill up a big bowl with Mineral Oil and dump 100 or so chips (Samurais lately) into the oil and let them sit for a couple of hours. With my Sams (BCC, I know) there has never been any inlay troubles from the oil.

If you do happen to oil up some BCC's again, just the other day I had to oil up a bunch of Protege's but this time I used one of those yellow, soft car clothes that had dipped in mineral oil -- it was so much faster than the dump method & wipe method, which I've done myself, and you use 1/50th the oil. As far as the ASM's, sorry, don't have any.

JM · #7 (**permalink**) 07-27-2007, 01:54 PM

Take a look when you get them, oil one and see if the rest need it. IMO they won't, they'll look great right out of the box if they pre-oiled them for you.

dad604 · #8 (**permalink**) 07-27-2007, 06:32 PM

The factory will just oil the edges. The surface is not oiled. You can just put a few drops on a rag and just wipe the surface. Try to keep it away from the inserts. I think soaking them for hours in a bowl of oil is not the right thing.

AlbinoDragon · #9 (**permalink**) 07-28-2007, 01:11 AM

In the last two months, I've received two deliveries from ASM, my own customs as well as Avalons. Both were pre-oiled and look great. The only thing you may need is a really light touch up on the edges, but otherwise, no need to do anything straight out of the box other than use them.

An additional note, I had ASMs that I got before I was a CTer, so NOT pre-oiled. I can tell you from those that there really is no need to oil the faces! Maybe clean off the dust, but you don't need to go far with getting the faces done up.

Get 'em, use 'em and then decide if you want to go through the oiling hassle. My guess is you won't have to do much if anything.

CallToSee · #10 (**permalink**) 08-07-2007, 08:06 PM

I ordered two batches of ASMs - one where I mentioned I was a ChipTalk member, and one where I forgot to. Indeed, they did seem to oil the order when they knew I was a ChipTalk member, and not the other one.

Here's my two cents: The oiled chips were really fine to use out of the boxes. For the un-oiled order, I did really find it worth the time to oil them - it made a real difference in appearance. HOWEVER, 95% of that difference is on the rolling edges. ASMs have a "membrane" type of clear plastic over the inlay and the whole face of the chip, and VERY little oil will penetrate that. I had a hard time telling which faces were oiled and which weren't, whereas the edges showed dramatic difference.

I'd also be very careful about the "dump in a bucket and let them soak" method of oiling for any true clay chips. I had really good success rubbing oil on with an oil soaked towel, and after I had 20-30 chips done, I'd go back and rub them with a dry towel - it was a small amount of oil and only on the chips for a couple of minutes. This is more than enough.

Short answer, though: If you are getting yours pre-oiled, they are probably good enough as is. If you like, experiment with oiling one or two and see if it makes an appreciable difference.