I just got off the telephone with Greg Bordner, owner of Abbott's Magic Co. He tells me the still sell the Floating Light Bulb, but cannot supply the necessary thread. They have not been able to supply for many years, and will not be able to get any in the future.

Does anyone have a source for the thread used in this effect?

Need immediately.

Ultimately it depends on the angle but try Sean Boguina.

What Okito described for the floating ball : silk AAA is no longer available. Later on, just a silk A was used...and it can still be found , but it's expensive.

I had great luck with a polyester thread of similar thickness that I used during the early 1980's, and I think it is still available.
Polyester does stretch a bit...but you can get used to the 'feel' and 'give' and worked with it well enough.

Ray Pierce has had even more experience than I have.... and his floating ball was a delight to watch!

Regards-
JNeal

Thanks! Wow... remember the days of buying out IS&W of all of their silk A thread! I've had a large cone of a good polyester lingerie thread I've used for years for the ball as well but the thread I got from Sean was a little stronger. I'm not sure if he sells it alone or only with his systems but it is a good start!

You can use fly tying thread... but you HAVE to keep in mind what the "run" of your travel is... more than 20 feet and you'll have to go to a stronger version.

get the 8/0 Uni-Thread... or the 10/0 UniThread.

They also sell Kevlar thread that's somewhat thin... not invisible thread thin.. but thin.

http://store.hookhack.com/Uni-8_0-Waxed/products/323/

For smaller pieces, black silk suture is VERY strong...but not nearly invisible. It would work, though, in any application where black thread will work. It can be purchased in 18" lengths (with needles attached...so you might need to get these from your dentist), or in longers spools...usually sold through veterinary supply houses.

Thanks for the suggestions, what I was looking for was the size A, surgical braided silk thread as was commonly used with this trick. I see it is no longer made in for more modern material.

I have searched the Internet and contacted Richard Hughes with no results for black thread that is used for this effect. It seems the Floating Light Bulb is dead because of new product development.

Most of the fishing thread I have seen has a gloss/sheen to it, that will not work well for magic of this nature.

Also it seems black is not a popular color with many thread on the Internet. This trick is not trying to attract fish, but become invisible.

I am sure there is some thread currently made that may work, but I do not have the time or resources to buy and test dozens of threads find one that may be acceptable.

Hopefully, someone with some knowledge of current thread technology will contact me with workable information. The bulb in the meantime will have to go back into the protected security of it's case and hope that one day the world will be able to witness The Floating Light Bulb Illusion. Of course they will not know what it is by then, as I heard they are stopping manufacture of all light bulbs as we know them today.

I want to thank all of you for your guidance thus far.

One of my clients once mentioned that he uses fishing line. I asked about the gloss problem.

He said he handles it by wiping the line with lighter fluid, whch dulls the surface. Then he wipes it down with powdered graphite, making it black and slippery.

Haven't tried it myself, but he swore by it. I know *I* didn't spot the thread.

Dan

Earl...that sounds like it might very well work. I little fine steel wool run over the length of the thread would also take away any gloss.

Original Question: “…Does anyone have a source for the thread used in this effect?

One Answer: http://store.hookhack.com/Uni-8_0-Waxed/products/323/

Winnebago Wrote: “…Also it seems black is not a popular color with many thread on the Internet. This trick is not trying to attract fish, but become invisible…“

Comment: “…will have to go back into the protected security of it's case…”

My two-cents:
This will work.
It will not attract fish.
No need to pack the effect away.

I’ve used this thread for various floating effects with success. It is quite strong, it does not have a sheen/gloss, it is surprisingly thin for the weight it can hold, I’ve been successful with minimal lighting problems using both brown and purple.

Walt

How can Abbotts sell the Floating Lightbulb with no way to make it float? Shouldn't they be selling "The Lightbulb"?

Jim

I believe Okito said brown was the best color thread in most venues for his Floating Ball.
Makes sense with red-based stage lighting.

You are correct David on the brown thread. It was a Cortinil brand and wrote up in his Okito on Magic I believe. I asked David Ben about the brown versus black. He used the black as with today's lighting it seemed to work better.

Abbott's will probably have to start selling the floating compact flourscent soon. If the T****d breaks, call the haz mat team.

Richard

There is a LOT of work on brown, dark blue and other camouflaging colors. The reality is that I've always used back with no problem.

I've heard of using the black suture thread, I've used Kevlar thread that is used in making fly fishing lures, and other thin fly thread as well. For the majority of my shows, the regular thin polyester is fine.

I will admit that when I did ships, I would always plan on doing the ball and if I couldn't get the lighting to work, I had a back up case with the guts to the light bulb. I would "borrow" a lightbulb from back stage, bust out the base and add the gaff to use in the show.

In the old days, didn't these type of levitations use plain old brown carpet thread? Ray, I used monofilament for years but have been concerned about shine. Steel Wool is an idea I have used, then zebra-stripe it with a Marks-A-Lot black marker. I like the graphite idea. The stuff I have been using with Astrosphere is a "smoky" colored mono that I have had very good luck with. This is it right here:

http://www.voguefabricsstore.com/images/P/Sulky-2320012.jpg

Braided silk has always been difficult to find for me. The Sulky is the best I've used so far...

Doug

Hey Doug!

Yeah, we use mono all the time on camera but seldom on stage. With a fixed view for film, we can set the line then adjust the lights for that particular shot to kill the shine. On stage with thousands of viewing positions, it's just not possible.

Yes, I've used the lighter fluid/graphite as well. Also the magic marker camouflaging technique but never the steel wool.

Ultimately it's just about a LOT of experimentation. There is no perfect solution for every situation. For me it was all about having a good "tool kit" of solutions and having the experience to select the correct tool for each situation.

I used Gutermann 000 black silk when I performed the bulb at Denny & Lee's in Baltimore several years ago. It held fine,was quite strong enough and quite invisible except when someone broke the first bulb by horsing around and another person walked into the t***d, both things occuring 30 minutes before the contest. When I re-tied it it was a bit higher than I had been practicing with all week which threw me way off but Denny found another bulb in one of his boxes and I gave it a noble go. Denny still reminds me of how I was the only person ever to execute the famous "Swimming" move after showing the bulb in the audience...

The type of thread used for this kind of illusion depends a lot on your background. Like was said before, experimentation would be the best

There are three things to consider when doing any t****d based effect like the Dancing Hank and Floating Light Bulb. The t****d itself, the background, and the lighting. It's briefly mentioned above, but the best light is colored red and is NOT directed from above, but below. Blackstone Jr. used lights set on the floor in front of the stage which were just just a bit taller than the stage. They used Fresnels with heavy red gel. If you can provide your own background, the lighting can be brighter than if you have to work in front of a solid background as most stage curtains provide. Ralph Adam's wonderful version of the Dancing Hank(s) was done in front of a busy background which Ralph carried with him.

The discussion above is just wonderful. Having done the Dancing Hank years ago I thought I knew a little about the t****d, but I've learned a great deal in this thread. Thanks to all of you for sharing.

Hmm... a "thread" on t****d.

Dennis Loomis

I gotta tell ya, the latest stuff I bought is Vectra X2 Stage line from Steve Fearson. This stuff is almost as invisible as I.T., and is twice as strong! I can actually use this stuff to do AstroSphere, which I usually use the Sulky.

I've experimented with it for about two weeks. It does have a slight shine to it. I wonder if any of you have thought about using this for The Floating Lightbulb?

Doug