Hello,

I recently got some brass cups for an incredible price off of ebay but I see now why they were priced so low. They are brass Magic Makers cups and when they arrived you could tell they were probably the rejected stock, but for less than $35 including shipping they are still very nice cups. Areas along where the bead folds over are not completely round and pretty open in some areas but overall not bad. However they are just alittle shy of fitting a lacrosse sized load.

My plan was to make these my travel set so I don't destroy my Johnson cups I just bought not too long ago. The load fits into the cup, but I have to push it in until the air excapes from the top of the cup around the ball, and it's not that easy to get out, although I do not have to put much force in order to get the ball all the way into the cup. Would it be possible to sand inside the cup to make them just a hair bigger to allow the loads to fit without getting stuck?? I have a lot of different grade sand papper for dry and wet sanding applications. What should I start off with and what should I end with to give them a nice polished finish? Wet or dry? Like I said I'm not too concerned with the visual appeal of the cups and I plan to never polish them, and let the patina build up over the years. Any tips would be appreciated ;-) Thanks

Stevie D

Go to Wal-Mart and get a box of "Fun Balls." They are just a tiny bit smaller than Lacrosse balls. They are $4.88 for a box of 15 balls.

Nice thanks bill. I knew you would have a solution in one way or another. I'd still like to have the cups fit a lacrosse style load because there are some final loads I use that I really like (platform tennis balls)that I have a ton of that I'd like to use.

Stevie D

Stevie,
It might not be that simple, a lot of of the older MM brass cups I've seen the wall angle is what is keeping the lacrosse ball from fitting correctly. If you want to spend a few bux on postage, I can take down the insides for you to fit a lacrosse ball, but Bill's recomendation of the fun balls is the best route.

Very few of the cups sets I've seen from that particular line has little or no annealing done to them, sanding them may cause some serious problems depending on
how much has to be removed to get the balls to fit.

Jake

Jake, that's very nice of you to offer, but I won't burden you with anymore work that you probably shouldn't be doin ;-) Thank you very much but I'm gonna try it myself. I'm pretty handy and consider it a good skill to learn (polishing metals, not the sanding down part) and like I said, if something happens it's no big deal, infact the grunger and older looking the better. Hey Jake I thought you weren't selling the foxy 2.5's anymore? I couldn't find them on your website, and last night I saw they were still there. I really don't like the Johnson cups, it was an impulse buy at the magic shop after seeing them and using them for months and although they are great cups, there's just something about them that just doesn't do it for me. I'm really thinking about getting a set of the foxy's. You think you'll have them for a little while? I definitely can't afford them now with my coin order I just placed. But I've always liked them, and looking again I don't think there are any other cups I'd like better.

Stevie D

Use smaller load balls or lemons or something that fits easier.

How about Fab Fruit?

Would that fit???

It's funny you said that, I just bought Fab Fruit with those cups. While I really really like them, (very realistic, heavy, and spectators actually think they are real even after toching them sometimes, They really are just a little too small for paul fox style cups. The lemon is ok it is the biggest, but the potato tomato and even the lime are definitely a little small and do not pull off the illusion of filling up the cup. BUT they are smaller to fit better in the pocket, There is no problem with holding them out in your hand if need be, and are a breeze to load into a cup from the pocket so don't let that stop anyone. There is also something about the "classic" cups and balls producing large load balls at the end, it just looks sooo classy.

Stevie D

I hate to repeat this but the SIZE really doesn't matter as much as the change. If the load goes from the knit ball size to the fab fruit size that is a GREAT CHANGE. Quit worrying about a load that is so big that just barely fits. That kind of load is harder to conceal/load keep in a pocket, etc.

Test your act out on real people. They don't care how bit the load is if it is a major change/surprise.

Sanding can be difficult. I have tried it on cups and it is fiddley. It would be much better to adjust the size of the loads as recommended by the others.

Ditto and Ditto---Adjust the size of the load; sanding those cups I suspect will be a nasty business and, given what Jake has said, may just ruin the cups.

Flimnar

Boy! What a generous offer from Jake. If I had those cups, they'd be in the USPS in a New York Minute!! Nothing like having the craftmanship and knowledge of a professional doing the retro-fit.

I'm truly impressed with Jake's generous offer. Man! With all he has going on in his life, to even offer to do this (and for just return postage?) is just an amazing unselfish gesture on his part. Truly "Magician helping Magician" in the best sense of the phrase.

Way to go, Jake!!

Mike

Yes that was very generous. The wall thickness could be thin with insurmountable problems, or a perhaps days work to acheive a result for free. Truly, the people here are very helpful. I only just joined but already had a message from a well respected magician about a certain technicality