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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Tamaracian, post: 7969705, member: 23122&quot;]Grading Services have used Slabs with different formulations over the years, some with a brittle nature, and some more pliable, so that one&#039;s appraoch to &quot;cracking it open&quot; may yield different results of effectiveness, with different levels of effort required.&nbsp; Some Slabs that were <i>not</i> effectively sonically welded will part at the Seam with little effort, leaving two halves that don&#039;t show much, if any damage.&nbsp; Some Slabs that are completely welded, and/or more pliable in nature, will be a bitch to open without twisting the ends back-and-forth, and some will splinter or suddenly fracture sending (sharp) shards of the Slab flying.</p><p><br /></p><p>After some trial-and-error using some of the aforementioned methods, I have settled on the following method which has yielded good, repeatable results, without damaging either the coin, Insert, or Label:</p><p><br /></p><p><b>First</b>, wear Safety Glasses or your regular Prescription Glasses to protect your eyes.&nbsp; <b>Second</b>, wear leather gloves or heavy duty rubber gloves while holding the Slab, again, because plastic shards can be sharp and if you don&#039;t wear protection the sudden giving-away of the Slab pieces can pinch your skin or even penetrate it.&nbsp; <b>Third</b>, use a 7 inch or longer pair of Vise Grips; using Vise Grips allows you to adjust the spacing of its Jaws so that squeezing the Handles together just causes enough of a closing movement to sufficient force to the surface--but not too much.&nbsp; <b>Fourth</b>, with the Handles of the Vise Grips in the Locked Position, turn the Adjusting Screw so that the Jaws open just slightly wider than the thickness of the Slab at its <b>Corner</b>, then position the open Jaws so that they overlap the Weld Seam (about 1/8 to 1/4 inch wide, depending upon the manufacturer) then turn the Adjusting Screw CW until the Jaws contact the Slab, then <b>STOP</b>.&nbsp; Open the Jaws by actuating the <b>Handle Release</b>, and then turn the Adjusting Screw 1/2 turn <b>CW</b>, and then grasping the Slab in your free hand squeeze the handles together over the Slab Corner until they lock--observe if the plastic at the corner has deformed or split at all.&nbsp; <i>If it has</i>, that adjustment can be used at the remaining 3 Corners, or around the periphery, until the Slab has parted enough for you to safely extract its contents.&nbsp; <i><b>If there isn&#039;t enough &quot;cracking&quot; from the first setting</b></i>, open the Jaws and turn the Adjusting Screw by 1/4 turn CW until you achieve the desired result.&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; [/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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