What does boiling do and why is not legal?

OK Guys,
Rookie question,what happens when you boil a base?If it makes it faster how does it make it faster?Why is not legal to use a boiled bases?I think I read somewhere that not everyone knows how to boil a base.Can you tell by the appearence of the base it has been boiled?Does boiling disfigure the base?
Thanks Ive been curious about this for a while.
Erick

[Kansas Bill]

Originally Posted by 19Alworth71

OK Guys,
Rookie question,what happens when you boil a base?If it makes it faster how does it make it faster?Why is not legal to use a boiled bases?I think I read somewhere that not everyone knows how to boil a base.Can you tell by the appearence of the base it has been boiled?Does boiling disfigure the base?
Thanks Ive been curious about this for a while.
Erick

I have boiled bases for my solitaire league teams. But I am in NO way an authority on boiled bases. I'll just give you results based on my experience.

Most of the methods I've seen involved baby oil and water... I know there's several different things people have done with the bases after they were boiled.. One thing to make the process easier for myself was this.. I left the 12 miggle rookie bases still on the sprue when I boiled them. And I boiled them in an electric skillet which gave me the extra room and better control of the temperature.

I've never boiled a base that became faster. It does add weight to the base, which may be why they are not legal in some leagues. I've seen boiling equated to "steroids" for bases.. lol And, it's pretty easy to pick off which of my bases are boiled and which are not. I wouldn't call them disfigured, they will still clip right onto a figure.. Boiling made them stronger..

Now you've made me wonder myself how the boiled bases would stack up to my bases I use in competition. (Which I just started doing in March) I've spent hours tweaking bases, but never put them up against my solitaire boiled bases.. I'll have to see how they stack up.

Hopefully someone with more knowledge in the art of boiling will find this thread and give you some more info.. Good Luck, take care.

I'm far from an expert on the subject of boiling... but I'll take a stab at it. What boiling does, is to break down the finished surface of a base. By removing this "hard" outer coating it will tend to soften up the base. By varying length of time boiled plus the amount of baby/mineral oil, it willl produce different results. From fast to strong to stronger. People that boil bases all have their own recipes.

You can usually tell a boiled base pretty easily as the base has no shine and has a powdery texture. You can also identify a boiled base if it has been boiled for a long time. As the shape of the the base will change and become somewhat larger than normal.

Does it make the base faster? Well that is not always the case... but it will usually make the base more consistant and usually stronger.

My solitaire league is comprised of about 80% boiled bases. Why did I do it this way? Because for me it is easier to boil than to tweek an entire league. Which for me is 32 teams and 45 players per team.

I hope this helps?

Thanks Ive been wanting to Know for a long time.