Hi! I recently acquired some used magic tricks from a magician who was well advanced in age and getting to old to perform anymore. Along with those tricks is a "Sword Through the Neck" trick. The stock latches are rusted and need some TLC on the metal - this is an older version all made of wood except the latches. I'm not sure who originally produced this one since there is no name on it. If you know and could share that would be great.

The sword for this illusion is in bad shape and I'd like to repair it or replace it. Can someone share with me how you have made a sword? I have looked on several sites to try to find on to replace it but without knowing who originally made it found it hard to know if a replacement would fit. And I did not find any site that sells just the sword. Any help would be most appreciated. Thanks!

John

Http://madhattermagicshop.com/magicshop/......_id=3834

This site has a replacement sword available and also provides you some measurements to ensure that the replacement sword will work with your stocks. The handle may not match your stocks, but shouldn't be too hard to paint over perhaps. Hope this helps a lil

Regarding the latches, most were made with common draw latches. Go to a hardware store and find some replacements for a few bucks. Less frustrating and time-consuming than trying to re-polish the old ones.

(Spring) Metal mesuring tape. There are various sizes and good elbow greese.

Two metal tapes back to back with a cross section like this () was the sword blade that I owned in the 80s. Clear cellophane tape (NOT magic tape, which is somewhat ironic) was used on each edge to hold the "blade" together.

If you need to clean the paint off a tape measure, I've found this works- scratch the paint up with a pumice stone, then cover it with paint stripper gel and let it sit a while. Then go back over it with the pumice stone and repeat as necessary. As mentioned, it does take a little bit of elbow grease, but works pretty well.