Caring for Glass Go Stones?

[Kammergericht]

I have purchased this set of glass go stones from YMI:
http://www.ymimports.com/p-1619-jade-color-glass-go-stones-nano-silver-jangstone-80mm-size-30.aspx

I own a set of Yunzi Single-Convex stones, but this set, which should arrive on Friday, shall be my first set of glass stones. I have found remarkably little information on the care of glass stones, and was wondering what care they shall need apart from washing? Is oiling necessary, or beneficial? Does water temperature matter? &c.

[jdl]

I've never had to do anything to my glass stones.

[xed_over]

windex

[EdLee]

Any small amount of soap, or dishwashing detergent, or windex (xed_over), etc. would work.
Glass stones are super easy to clean. No oil necessary. Just try not to drop them on to a hard floor,
because they easily chip.

[Kammergericht]

Thank you all for the advice! Looking forward to receiving them on Friday.

[schwartzseer]

I own these stones, having purchased them a few years ago from YMI, and washing and oiling will definately improve the "feel" of the dark stones (the light "candy apple" green stones are smooth glass, so don't need oiling, but a wash couldn't hurt). The dark "seaweed" green stones come preoiled, but since I didn't know what oil was used, I felt it prudent to give them a good wash; I then oiled them with my oil of choice (mineral) since this is an edible oil that doesn't easily evaporate and doesn't get gummy or sticky (I also use mineral oil on my Yunzi stones to good effect). If you just wash and don't oil the dark stones they will look a bit "dry" and feel somewhat rough to the touch, but after the mineral oil bath (remember, just a few drops in a ziplock bag and a wipedown with a towel to remove the excess) you will find they have a velvety smoothness in appearance as well as touch!!

Now, having said all that, I should mention that the pictures don't quite capture the true colors of these stones--the "candy apple" green stones are quite intense--so "easy on the eyes" they ain't. I had originally ordered these stones to go with a YMI bamboo board, but I found the "seaweed" color of the dark stones did not have sufficient contrast against the (relatively) dark bamboo (I then got jade-colored Yunzi stones which look great on the bamboo). Similarly, these stones didn't work with a katsura board due to its darker hue, and additionally the stones were an uncomfortable fit on the Japanese grid (most Japanese stones are 21.5mm or smaller, while these Korean stones are 22mm--half a mm matters when they are laid end-to-end across a board!). I finally found a "mate" for the stones in a 2 in. Korean agathis wood board from Yutopian (discounted due to slightly dented corner: https://www.yutopian.com/yutop/cat?product=TK110-D&category=T) as the beige-colored lacquer "wash" provides just the right amount of contrast with the stones, and the stones fit perfectly on the Korean grid.

Good luck with the stones and enjoy their antibacterial qualities courtesy of the "nano-silver" technology!

[Kammergericht]

Schwartzseer, you may have given the perfect reply! Thank you for the owners' insight. I'll post pictures tomorrow evening when they arrive, but am planning to play on a new 6'' cherry floor board that I just got in today. The snap quality is diminished vs. my bamboo board due to the harder wood, but the look is pretty cool for $140 - it makes a much sharper, and higher-pitched snap, with, unhappily, less board resonance. On the other hand, From what you said, it sounds fortunate that this board is lighter in colour than the bamboo boards for contrast. Thanks again.

[Koosh]

I have never seen this color set of stones before. It'd be great if you could post a picture or two.

[schwartzseer]

Tried to oblige with pictures of the stones on various wood gobans (agathis, bamboo, katsura, shin-kaya) but I got an error message that I was attaching an "invalid image file." In any case it may not matter as I was at the mercy of my digital camera's default settings, therefore the pictures do not begin to do justice to the intensity of the green in the light-colored "Nano Silver" stones. I was able to attach a lo-res picture of the Nano Silver stones next to Jade Yunzi and Japanese glass stones (moving left to right) but again the picture does not show how intensely green the light-colored stones are--you just have to see it in person, I guess. Oh well, I tried...

DarkRoom.GIF (1.26 MiB) Viewed 13261 times

( Admin. I put your 4320x3240 photo inside HIDE tags, which you could also do yourself. -- EdLee.)

[EdLee]

at the mercy of my digital camera's default settings

A few suggestions you can try:
- better lighting
- don't use the default settings of your camera. For example, at least try Macro.
- use the Hide tags when posting high-resolution photos
- I reduced your 1.2Mbytes photo to the following 14.9kbytes photo (99% reduction in size), without much loss of information:

DarkRooms.jpg (14.9 KiB) Viewed 13246 times

[schwartzseer]

Thank you, Ed Lee, for posting the picture in a more "post friendly" size!! My computer recently died, so I am using an ancient PC that doesn't have any photo-editing software on it (save for the Windows "Picture and Fax Viewer") so my options were limited. I tried various lighting situations (outdoors, indoors with fluorescent lights, indoors with natural light, etc.) and each and every time the colors "lightened". I am the first to admit I am just a "point and shoot" kinda guy, so my apologies to all concerned!

[Hare]

Oil won't do anything for them as they aren't porous, except make them slippery. Glass stones are susceptible to chipping so be gentle.

[schwartzseer]

Here's a better picture of the stones from the manufacturer's (Shinkwang Special Glass) website (http://skpaduk.en.ec21.com/Nano_Silver_Color_Jangstone--1247774_1247794.html) which will give those interested a better idea of the color of the stones:

[EdLee]

an ancient PC that doesn't have any photo-editing software on it

schwartzseer, you're welcome. Irfanview is freeware. www.irfanview.com

[bogiesan]

Here's a better picture of the stones from the manufacturer's (Shinkwang Special Glass) website (http://skpaduk.en.ec21.com/Nano_Silver_Color_Jangstone--1247774_1247794.html) which will give those interested a better idea of the color of the stones:

Ah, the ol' green stones! As you have read, there is nothing you really need to know about caring for your glass stones; a little soap when you notice they are getting dirty, some warm water, a soft towel. I don't think you'll clean them more than once every two or three years depending, of course, on your play frequency and if you can get everyone to wash their hands.

Please let us know in a new post how you like the green stones. I've often thought of getting a set but I need another set of go stones like I need another, umm, set of go stones.