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gaffed Inner circle So far I've managed to gimmick 1817 Posts |
Sorry…no magic here and this seems like the correct forum to place this in. This is more or less some practical help and tips on cleaning up those folding quarters, half’s and anything else that uses a latex band such as the Uni-Key, etc. and getting those blasted bands on more easily and correctly.
If you’re anything like me I tend to neglect things at times. As I mentioned in my introduction on this site I’ve been away from magic for some years. When I decided to pull down all the dusty boxes containing my tricks I found my collection of folding quarters, half’s and as mentioned, the Uni-Key. The folding coins, as old as a gimmick as they are, still have numerous applications in magic to this day. If you’re like me and have been around for some years I’m sure you have at least a few of each. Even when I was actively doing a bit of magic here and there I’d simply place the coin(s) and latex bands in a plastic box and forget them instead of removing the latex band as you should always do. But hey…us guy’s and, possibly gals (more so us guy’s) never follow instructions. Yeah, and we never get lost when driving! OK…here are a few practical hints on the care and feeding of your folding gimmicks. Number one; don’t ever place your latex bands in a plastic box! Keep them in the small plastic pouch that you more than likely got them in. After time the latex will have a chemical reaction with the plastic containers (not the pouches/bags) and will deteriorate and dry out. Want to make your own bands? I got tired of placing two bands on a quarter and or half as I wanted something just a tad tighter. Not a problem. Just go to a hobby store that carries a lot of supplies for radio controlled airplanes and purchase a length of the small soft gas tubing which is quite durable or, simply do a search on the Web for latex tubing. Here Und Here Get yourself a single edged razor and you’re all set. Just sit there and slice away as to how many and what thickness you want! Best to place it all on newspapers or a rubber cutting mat as I do and not on your wife's living room coffee table! Now to get the blasted things on! Seems as though I keep referring to the Uni-Key but that is one gimmick which uses a latex band and it can indeed be a real pain in the rear to do it properly. As it says in the instructions (heads up hear guy’s) that the band must not have any twists to it or it will not work properly. Wouldn’t ya know it….the instructions are right on! It also says to use plenty of spit to slip it on more easily….also true but that spit only goes so far and I’ve found something better that makes it sooo much easier to do. It seats the latex much more easily and helps to eliminate that dreaded twist. Just go to your local drug store and by a tube of KY Jelly! (as gaffed tries desperately to stay away from all the obvious jokes and innuendo here!) Just get a small piece of wax paper, a long tweezers and perhaps a toothpick or some similar object such as a very small jeweler’s screwdriver. Place a very small dab of the KY on the wax paper (of course you don’t have to use wax paper) and dip in the latex band to get it well covered. Place the latex band over the end of the tweezers and then spread it open and then place it over the end of the gimmick. I’ll not go into all the details as its all too difficult to describe without pictures but if you give this a try you’ll easily see just how much easier it is. After your finished just lay the quarter, half or whatever latex banded gimmick you’re using and wipe off the surface. You can if you so wish dab the cloth in a bit of acetone or mineral spirits to clean off the residue on the surface of the face/back only but don’t have it soaking as you don’t wish to have any of the chemicals being used to work itself into the cuts of the gimmick as it will dissolve the KY and possibly the latex. Also, don’t use it on the edges of the gimmick where the recess is but simply clean that with a dry cloth or tissue. One might think, hey….if KY works why not just Vaseline? It probably would work but it’s a tad harder to clean up, it’s more of a petroleum based product whereas KY is somewhat water soluble and will more than likely spread itself about making one hell of a messy coin! Yuk….not good! OK… now back to those neglected coins that you left the latex band on for too long. You decide that you want to use a folding coin or whatever metal gimmick that uses a latex band only to find out that it has dried up. When you pull the band out you notice a bunch of dried up latex remains in the recesses of the gimmick and it has hardened up. Now what? Whatever you do don’t go reaching for a needle and try to scrape it out as there is a good chance that you could possibly damage the gimmick and then, you’ll more than likely never get it all out completely anyway. Not a problem. Just get a can of acetone at your local hardware store and then drive back to the drugstore where you purchased that KY Jelly and get some dental floss and a package of dental flossers. Ya know…. those little plastic thingies with a piece of floss stretched across two plastic ends. Their pretty cheap and no need to buy a brand name and no need to buy the mint flavored ones unless you want your coins to be MINT fresh! ……get it? Sorry…..couldn’t pass that one by! Anywho, now get a small dish or bowl and pour a small amount of acetone in it. Just enough to cover the coin pieces or whatever gimmicks you’re trying to clean up. CAUTION: acetone is highly flammable so use extreme caution here and also good ventilation. It’s also best to use a tweezers or some such implement to remove the pieces as acetone can possible damage your skin. It’s a very strong solvent and can suck the moisture out of a watermelon but it will do no damage whatsoever to metal unless of course for some reason or another you have some markings on it such as any type of paint….that’s gone! Now let those pieces sit in the acetone and place some type of cover over it. Even a sheet of paper will suffice in a pinch as acetone evaporates very quickly. This so happens to be a plus as it really leaves no cleanup! Leave the coins, or whatever, in the acetone for at least a few hours. Now, take the pieces out and by the time you get them to where you’re going to work on the cleaning process the acetone will more than likely have evaporated. If not, no big thing. Now grab that plastic flosser and start rubbing and digging into all of those recessed edges. Use a sawing motion and also dig it in and scrape outwards around the perimeter of the coin on both sides of the edges. At times (if it’s really funky) I’ll take about an 8’ piece of regular floss and double it. This of course leaves a loop at one end. I then work in the floss into the recesses and pull the floss out while keeping some tension and that loop will help to clear out a lot of that dried up residue. Just amazing how all of the dried up gunk comes out as it is now softened and a good portion of it has already been dissolved by the acetone but, don’t just depend on the acetone alone to get it completely clean. Floss, floss and floss. Just keep at it and you’ll know when it’s clean and just like the day you bought it! I’ve done this for years so its time tested and works like......magic! ~gaffed~
"Half this game is ninety percent mental."
~Yogi Berra~ "To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible." ~St. Thomas Aquinas~ Twitter – "A means of proving how pathetic and lonely you are in 140 characters or less." ~Anonymous~ |
davidpaul$ Inner circle Georgetown, South Carolina 3086 Posts |
Gaffed,
Thanks for the detailed post. In reading your post I found I was doing all the wrong things. I could never get the band from twisting. Who knew KY Jelly. Great idea about the latex tubing too! You might want to post this under the "Show Me the Money" section/Trick coin trickery. I'm sure it will be appreciated. David Paul
Guilt will betray you before technique betrays you!
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gaffed Inner circle So far I've managed to gimmick 1817 Posts |
Thanks David and noted. Really wasn't at all too sure where to post this being new to the site. Not at all new to forums sites but I still have to learn how to navigate my way around here.
~gaffed~
"Half this game is ninety percent mental."
~Yogi Berra~ "To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible." ~St. Thomas Aquinas~ Twitter – "A means of proving how pathetic and lonely you are in 140 characters or less." ~Anonymous~ |
Sammy J. Inner circle Castle Rock, Colorado 1786 Posts |
Great advice, Gaffed. Thanks. I have left folding coins for years and tried to restrand them, with some difficulty. The acetone (I assume finger nail polish remover will work) and the floss tool should do the trick.
Sammy J. Teague
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gaffed Inner circle So far I've managed to gimmick 1817 Posts |
Hi Sammy,
Yeah, I had forgotten to mention the possibility of nail polish remover as it does indeed contain some acetone. It's worth a try but I can only relate my success/experience as related to pure acetone. Let me know how it works out for you if you give it a try. It's certainly cheaper! ~gaffed~
"Half this game is ninety percent mental."
~Yogi Berra~ "To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible." ~St. Thomas Aquinas~ Twitter – "A means of proving how pathetic and lonely you are in 140 characters or less." ~Anonymous~ |
JamesTong Eternal Order Malaysia 11213 Posts |
Thanks, Gaffed. Your post is certainly helpful and now our folding coins are resurrected.
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gaffed Inner circle So far I've managed to gimmick 1817 Posts |
Well I certainly don’t wish to belabor the subject it’s just that I’m sure anyone who has folding coins has ended up with this predicament. For those that use them frequently and have them included in their repertoire you will more than likely not end up with the dried up latex band as you’ll be changing the band quite frequently (I hope)! Nothing worse than doing some effect with a folding coin only to have the band break while performing! Either that or to have the folding coin end up looking like some poor soggy potato chip due to the band having not been changed frequently as it should and stretching out!
As stated in the instructions that come with a folding coin of which I’m sure we’ve all lost a long time ago that if you’re not going to use the coin for some length of time to remove the band. Sage advice and best heeded. As for folding coins you can more than likely get away with having the band have a twist or two albeit it’s best if you can avoid doing so. How I came upon the use of KY Jelly is that when banding a folding gimmick such as the Uni-Key it is imperative that there be absolutely no twist in the band. I also years ago when I first got the Uni-Key wanted to place two bands on it as I always do with my folding coins but, the slot that is on the face of the key is very narrow and I was having one heck of a time in getting one band fully seated in that recess let alone two! With the KY it works out much more smoothly, less frustration and the wide assortment of colorful expletives that I began to mumble when trying to do so! ~gaffed~
"Half this game is ninety percent mental."
~Yogi Berra~ "To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible." ~St. Thomas Aquinas~ Twitter – "A means of proving how pathetic and lonely you are in 140 characters or less." ~Anonymous~ |
Alan Munro Inner circle Kentwood, Michigan, USA 5952 Posts |
Gaffed,
You mentioned not using Vaseline because of the mess, but there's another reason. Petroleum jelly dissolves latex. KY will increase friction, because it becomes sticky when the water evaporates from it. I'm not sure if this will affect the life of the bands. KY and a number of other companies make a silicone-based lube. It is pretty hard to wash off, because it resists water, but can be mostly removed with a dry tissue. Its properties don't seem to change over time, but it does wear off. |
gaffed Inner circle So far I've managed to gimmick 1817 Posts |
Thanks for pointing that out Alan.
Like said, I was doing this years ago. Since then and after the problems of having to remove the dried up residue of latex bands when they are left on too long I've finally got it through my head to remove them when I know they won't be used for a long time. As for Vaseline I've actually never tried using it. Yes, KY will eventually dry but it certainly facilitates in having the band seat in properly and not twist which is extremely imperative with something like the Uni-Key. Also as you mentioned that even a silicone based product will eventually dry out but then again, one should never leave a band on for any long period of time anyway. With that said I'm certainly more than open in experimenting with other alternatives such as you mentioned and I'll most certainly look into it. Thanks for that bit of info. ~gaffed~
"Half this game is ninety percent mental."
~Yogi Berra~ "To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible." ~St. Thomas Aquinas~ Twitter – "A means of proving how pathetic and lonely you are in 140 characters or less." ~Anonymous~ |
Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
Glycerine would be better than KY. It is also water soluble, so you can rinse it off. Don't use ANY silicone based products on your coins. They are basically impossible to remove. They penetrate the metal.
Not all fingernail polish removers are acetone based any more. Acetone is carcinogenic, so it is gradually being replaced with other chemicals. I have found a dental pick to be of immense help when removing rubberband debris from coins.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
dsalley13 Elite user 465 Posts |
I use a solvent called "Goof Off". It's mostly acetone and some other solvents and enhancements. SEARS has it and their affiliate stores like Orchard Supply Hardware. It's in small or big refill cans.
I got a few of the blue and white plastic cleaner/picks the dental hygienist gives you, after a cleaning, for bridge work maintenance. It's a device with 2 ends on it. Each end has a tapered scrubbing brush that is wired and flexible in shape. It will clean out a latex gaffed coin in seconds after a solvent soak of an hour or so. dsalley13 |
Bill Palmer Eternal Order Only Jonathan Townsend has more than 24312 Posts |
Goof Off does not contain acetone, according to the MSDS that is on file with the authorities. It contains Xylene and Ethanol.
Glycerine is the proper lubricant for rubber bands. It is water soluble, so you can rinse it off.
"The Swatter"
Founder of CODBAMMC My Chickasaw name is "Throws Money at Cups." www.cupsandballsmuseum.com |
Turk Inner circle Portland, OR 3546 Posts |
Hey, gaffed.
Thanks for the long detailed posts. One question: On the page where you list the various sizes of surgical tubing ( http://www.4fishin.com/surgical_tubing.h......odiCp_FA ), what sizes are appropriate for quaters, half dollars and dollar size coins. Thanks a lot for the info. Mike
Magic is a vanishing Art.
This must not be Kansas anymore, Toto. Eschew obfuscation. |
Leo-Kim Veteran user 359 Posts |
Great post, Gaffed. thanks a lot.
How about using those little minitothbrushes that you use instead of toothpicks to floss your teeth? Would they work? I don't have any at home right now, otherwise I would try it myself... Mikael Johansson Sweden
If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well (Donald Duck)
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gaffed Inner circle So far I've managed to gimmick 1817 Posts |
Quote:
On 2008-12-15 01:43, Turk wrote: Mike, For the quarter I purchased: 1/8" ID x 1/32" wall thickness Surgical Tubing (3/16" OD) For a half dollar I would get: 1/4" ID x 1/16" wall thickness Surgical Tubing (3/8" OD) As for a dollar I’ve never had one but I imagine the correct size would be the: 3/8" ID x 1/16" wall thickness Surgical Tubing (1/2" OD) but I suppose you could get by with the: 5/16" ID x 1/16" wall thickness Surgical Tubing (7/16" OD) for a tighter fit. Of course make sure you order the: Amber (Natural) Quote:
On 2008-12-15 03:19, Leo-Kim wrote: Thanks Mikael, The flossers I was referring to are the small plastic things that already have a piece of floss stretched between them. I’ve included a picture of them. Although a brush may possibly do the job the floss can get all the way down into the recess of the coin. ~gaffed~ Click here to view attached image.
"Half this game is ninety percent mental."
~Yogi Berra~ "To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible." ~St. Thomas Aquinas~ Twitter – "A means of proving how pathetic and lonely you are in 140 characters or less." ~Anonymous~ |
Leo-Kim Veteran user 359 Posts |
Yep, we have 'em here in sweden too. Thanks for the pic.
Mikael Johansson Sweden
If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well (Donald Duck)
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