Nice day today, good for spraying lacquer. I hope to have the card frames completed and pictures posted by the weekend.

As a side note, I already have a commitment to buy one of these, sight unseen, and we haven't even decided on the price yet!

I think you must price props based on wholesale. I have an hourly rate that works for shop time and includes all overhead. So I just add all the hours plus materials then profit for the end dealer.

I don't think I could make it without a dealer to sell a good portion of what I build. Of course it takes time to find a good dealer to work with. You might be shocked how many "big name dealers" pay very slow. I sell to just one dealer these days and am very happy with the way they treat me.

Gimpy

Some of the mfg we are competing with give the dealers a 50 to 60% discount. One dealer who wanted to sell my book wanted a 60% discount. And Gimpy, you bought and read my book so you know how I feel about that. I don't know of a dealer who existed in the 80s and 90s that I didn't sell through at one time or another.

Who are the "slow pays" in your book? I talked about just that issue anecdotally in my book, Tabman Magic and started selling direct on the internet, dropping my prices some.... Probably the same ones. There is one that I noted that always paid well and fairly. Perhaps that's who you're dealing with, I don't know and probably can't keep up with you or your business let alone my own.

Of course, at this stage of the game I'm not interested in working a lot of hours a day but Im in and out of the shop all hours of the day...and night. The shop has become my "hobby" so to speak and making props is something I know how to do and have some degree of interest and passion about and Im still interested in getting better everyday in everyway and I don't mind getting dirty in the process.

So I guess its a tough call and all you can do is price things at what you think you'd want to pay for a prop and be getting good value for your money. And now, with the Euro failing and the dollar dropping, value will become an even more valuable commodity.

Re: by the hour... I don't think I make much by the hour. I better take a look at that.

Finally finished my first 3 "No Fake Card Frames" I spent much more time modifying hardware than I thought I would. Hope you enjoy the pix.

Click here to view/download attached file.

Pretty work. What woods did you use?

What did you set the price at?

Thanks Michael. The frames are Maple. The doors are Walnut with Purple Heart, Padauk and Orange Osage (I think). The inlay woods were given to me by a woodworking friend. They were a cutoff assortment he bought from Rockler years ago.



Tabman, still working on that. I'm thinking around $75. Any thoughts?

The pix lost a lot in the translation. MC wouldn't accept my original photo even after I reduced the size to fit the requirements. I had to paste it into MS Word to get it posted at all. I'll have to research this later.

My wife wants me out in the shop to make her some boxes for the wooden mosaic panels she made from my scraps. We use the panels she glued up for box lids. Some of these may find their way into magic props if I'm lucky.

Tim

That seems like a fair price. Does it come with a routine?

Tim,

I'm not sure what program you used, or what format your pix are in, but it took a while to download it, and my computer froze for a couple minutes.

If you have a website, you can upload your photos to it and create a link to them, which can be posted here. With such a url, you can either post a link, copy/paste the url, or use the img tags to have the photo actually show on this page. BBcode link at the bottom of this page gives the needed info.

As well, you can do the same using a service like Photobucket. Lot's of guys here do that and the photo sizes are generally larger and easier for the viewers to see. Some uploads directly to the Café are so small that I can't make out any detail. Yours was fine, it just took me awhile to download, as I said.

~michael

I'm working on the instructions now. It will probably have a basic routine or at least some performance ideas. I kind of thought that if you paid $75.00 for a card frame you would know what to do with it. On the other hand, there is that perceived value thing.


Michael, thanks for the picture posting instructions. I know that you have given them at least once before in some forum and spent a couple of hours trying to find them. I'll try posting more pix in the near future.

Concise, but thorough, well-written instructions are very important, for many reasons.

First... It saves embarassment and frustration for anyone who may not be familiar with the apparatus.

Second... Even though a magician may understand the working of the trick, not all are so blessed with the ability to put that information into context and build their own routines. There is a lot of talk about creating one's own original routines, but most of that talk does not come from people at the time they are trying to sell their product.

Third... Even if a basic routine is supplied, some magicians appreciate additional ideas that allow them to go beyond the basic. When possible, include as many tips and alternate ideas as you can. The reader will appreciate it. As well, if you can supply a simple "no sleight" routine, along with a more advanced "professional" version (assuming that is possible), you will generally appease both sides of that fence.

Fourth... Some magicians are collectors above all else. To many of them, original instructions are very important to the value of the trick. The nicer they are, the more value they hold.

Fifth... In a world of magic overrun with shot-from-the-hip "how-to" DVDs, a set of well-written instructions does much in the fight against illiteracy.

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=21......14436546

More pictures. Hey, it worked! Thanks Michael.

I know you are right on all points, but thanks for the reminder. Point five sort of reminds me of the many Japanese magic tricks from the 80's. My favorite phrase was "make obscure in hand". I guess I can't laugh too hard though...Their English is much better than my Japanese!

You have a special way with words my friend.

When my grandson was here showing me all the card sleights he'd learned off youtube I got him to read through some old written instructions just to see if he could follow them and gain understanding. It made me happy to see that he could read for understanding.

When I was in school, we used to have to take these boring tests that were essentially like a file of different reading exams. Each contained a short story, and then some questions about what was read. The student would advance as his/her own pace, which was charted by what color tags were used on the file cards, with several different assignment per color. You tried to work your way through the box.

This is where comprehension really made a difference. Learning to read by turning the letters and words into sounds is basic. Learning the meaning of words and what a sentence meant was the next step, but being able to make sense of the whole story (or parts of it), draw conclusions from that information, and understand what the author was trying to convey are entirely different skills. I think this is where a lot of people fall short these days. It is a very common excuse I hear all the time from younger magicians. "I can't learn as good by reading a book."

Of course, I will admit there is such a thing as a reading disability, but I don't buy that the volume of sufferers has increase so greatly since I was a kid. I think it all boils down to lack of practice, or laziness.

This is why I think well-written instructions are important. They should be written clearly, so the reader will not have to fight so hard to understand what is being explained. They should also be as entertaining as possible. Any hooks to keep the reader focused and interested are important in my eyes.

Merely as a speculation, I think the availability of the computer somewhat marks the beginning of this trend toward the "I can't understand books" syndrome. It became so easy for anyone to write a book, that the skill of the authors and the quality of their writings was not kept in check. It is very possible that to an inexperienced reader, these were horrible works to practice upon and improve their comprehension skills. Ironically, at about the same time videos were becoming more plentiful and affordable.

Even more ironic is the fact that my previous post is loaded with typos. Ugh...

For those who don't do FB, here are two pictures of the latest creations from Magic Woodshop. Sorry about the size, I tried to edit them in Photobucket with no success.

Nice clean sharp lines,bright and eyecatching,and they look solid.Well done!
I'd like to either see the hinge chopped in,or a more elaborate face mounted hinge used.
The piano hinge seems a little industrial and overpowering and takes the eye away from the centrepiece,the laminated flap.
You could even bore holes from the side of the frame and pivot the flap on two metal dowels.That would leave the face of the piece completely uncluttered and fit with the minimalistic look
Just a couple of thoughts.
Ray.

Ray, thanks for your thoughts. I was trying to get away from the gaudy cheap stamped brass hinges that are so prevalent on small inexpensive boxes and many magic props. These mini piano hinges looked great in the catalog, but were less than I expected. Still, I wanted a robust hinge for the doors that didn't cost $35.00 a piece and these are better than most.

Mortising the hinges into the gaffed door is not practical and may not even be possible. I like the idea of the metal pins. It might work and could possibly solve another minor problem with the doors. If not, I will keep looking for better hinges.

Micro Mark has a few very small brass hinges in their catalog for thin material. I tell you what I think (not that you asked but Im gonna tell you anyway ) would be cool at first thought, a shop made wood hinge. I do think youd have to use a brass pin in it though. Make it of contrasting wood.