As a total public service, I wanted to provide my take on the chop cup as I've been doing it for quite a while. It's a powerful piece but I believe that you should have a set of chop cup and balls that allows for a casual placement to unchop the ball. These are my findings between two inexpensive chop cups over the years.

I have the Morrissey cup and the Ickle Pickle cup (not widemouth - haven't tried as I can't naturally place larger loads in my jacket pocket.) Love the look of the Morrissey silver cup but also like the black bag and casual look of the Ickle Pickle cup. The Morrissey comes with a red bag.

After using the Ickle Pickle cup for a couple years, I switched back to the Morrissey Cup as I lost track of the Ickle Pickle cup when working on a new set over the summer. Really had problems with two of the same-styled Morrissey Cups, even with 1" balls. For whatever reason, the Morrissey cups start out okay then require an unnaturally strong slam. Switched back to the Ickle Pickle cup. The balls that come with the Ickle Pickle cups are fine but still require a strong placement.

The perfect set is this: the Ickle Pickle cup (not wide mouth) with 1" Morrissey replacement balls.

This combo offers the perfect balance for me at least. I offer this to anyone considering using the cup as it eliminates the need for a slam to unchop the cup.

For those who have used the chop cup previously and had "need to slam" problems, I believe this combo will meet your needs. If offers a nice balance and I see no need to buy a more expensive set as it offers a nice feel. You can pick up an Ickle Pickle cup for cheap and a set of Morrissey replacement balls for cheap as well.

Trying to give back as I wish someone told me this early on and strong chop cup routines are amongst the best out there for table hoppers, etc. Has been on my mind and wanted to share as I'm thankful to the magic community and the Café for all of your help in the past.
Mike

To each his own. I have two "perfect" chop cups. One is the cup that I use when strolling. It's a Baby Don Alan in brass. It fits my work perfectly.

The other is the one I use when I work as Merlin. It is made of leather, and it allows me to do some loads that are very difficult with other cups.

So, each person has his own "best" piece of apparatus. I'm glad you found your "perfect" set!

Great to hear Bill;Thanks for the post.

Would say the word "perfect" here means an acceptable balance between the ball and the cup. I remember I had similar questions about this matter a long while back and wish I had this information then. The low price tag moves this combo further into that category of "perfect." All is relative of course.

Probably not museum worthy yet this is quite the working combo.

The RNT2 balls make it easy to match balls to the cup, because they are adjustable. But, because of the wood core, they do talk when loaded. I may change the type of chop ball that I use, if I change my routine.

The perfect loads took years of experimentation to find and I want my thread on that to stay in Secret Sessions.

Mike -- any cup is museum worthy.

What is perfect balance for one is too strong or too weak for someone else. There is a certain knack for making the Baby Don work exactly the right way. My leather cups were basically the same way. I purchased Mike Rogers baseballs by the dozens!

My favorite chop cup is my Killer Chop Cup from The Ambitious Card - Beautiful and has the perfect amount of pull.

Adam

I sat and had a few scotchs last night and lo and behold indeed one of the wooden balls did talk or at least mumbled something to me

Ya sure it was scotch and not some questionable form of vegetation?

I should specify that the talking is only a problem when trying to load them secretly. There's a definite "clunk".

Thanks very much. I like 'em too

Requesting some advice from the Chop Cup experts.

I have an excellent Tim Star standard chop cup (the wide mouth aluminum model). The "balance" that Mike refers to is nearly perfect: you can silently roll the ball into the cup and it clings unfailingly -- but drops without needing to bang it -- just dropping the cup from about an inch will do it (no slamming required). The other good thing is that the balls Tim furnishes are 1 and 5/16ths in diameter, that is large enough to be seen on a stage, where I do this, and also not dwarfed by the cup, as many chop balls are.

Can anyone advise me on the following: I also have an excellent RNT II copper chop cup. I would like to get someone to make me some larger balls of the same size that come with the Star cup, 1 5/16ths, and match them to the RNT II cup to get the same "feel" -- absolutely certain cling but "no-slam" drop. I think the larger size would suit the size of the RNT II cup, which looks too big for the 1" balls that come with it.

Recognize that all of this may seem obsessive, but in my experience it's these little details that make the difference between good and great.

Thanks very much.

Have you spoken to Jake/RNT2 direct yet? Its probably worth asking if they can make you a set to go with your chop, and everything I've had from them (balls included) have been great!

I would agree with Bill. The Merlin leather chop cup is super. It is well balance and the ball comes off easily.

But does anyone know where I can get an Ickle Pickle (non wide) chop cup? I google it and only find a store called Magic Legacy selling it (for $20), but I haven't heard of them before. Ronjo just appears to have the wide.

Thanks, T

Timdini, check RNT-2 website and you will find plenty of chop cups at liquidation prices. Also, they make the best adjustable balls to match their cups.

I ordered several chop cups and had Jake adjust them for me and it works great.

:)