Anyone have any experience with the Hydrostatic Glass.

Namely, Ted Lesley's. What is so special about it that it cost $112.50 from Steven's Magic?

Any tips on making a gimmick. I have Alan Shaxon book and Tommy Wonder books.

Need tips on material and where to get it.

Bill

I have made this glass and it works very well. I built mine like Dr. John Booth made his. As for why Lesley's is so much...no clue.

The trick is a signature effect for Booth so the method is good...far as I know they are all pretty much the same of course. If you PM me I can tell you where to get the material and how to make it for probably $5.00 You will be very happy with it as far as how it looks and works.
quack

Ted describes his glass and method in his book "Paramiracles."

Terry

Terry,

Thanks for the reminder. I have the book and had not remembered it being there. The answer then, as to why his glass is so expensive is this:

It is a real Crystal (as in glass) wine glass

As a result it is harder to make than with a typical plastic glass or even a plastic wineglass. Crystal is hard to drill.

The Booth version I mentioned is a tumbler, a nice plastic looking one. These are available. This makes it easier to work, although I think you could now get a pretty decent looking plastic wineglass too. I saw some that were a far cry from the cheap bulk ones they used to sell.

Lesley's sounds very well made and I can see why it is pricey. I am afraid that I would break it. I tend to avoid glass props when I can, other than really tough glass stuff like salt shakers.

quack

Do you have a Pic-n-Save (now Big-Lots) near you? They periodically have indestructable lexan-type glasses perfect for the HG. Also, the 99-cent stores carry the good stuff occasionally. If you don't have a drill, just use a pair of pliers and a hot finishing nail to gaff the glass.

Big Lots remains the magic-makers dream. last season they had $10 Duck Buckets! This season they have large chinese-made Hobgoblin Houses for $25. (Most perfect for the contemporary Sephalaljia...decorate the inside walls with tiny posters, notes, and hobgoblin junk...and a gaff or two will fit right in, right there, on the walls, for all to see.)

I made mine out of real glass with the instructions in Alan Shaxon book for drilling. Of course it was not lead crystal.

Then it slid right off the table onto a concrete floor and the person that hired me for the show was really upset. It is plastic from now on.

Anyone have any ideas where I can get material for the gimmick. The sheets from the hobby shop turn yellow within a few months.

Bill

You can get a variety of clear plastics at http://www.micromark.com

They have sheets of styrene, lexan and others. My gimmick is at least ten years old and is not yellow. I think I used styrene or butyrate..not sure. Just put the word styrene in their search engine at the site and you will get a list of that as well as the other plastics which you can then search for individually. One of these plastics should fit your needs very well.
quack

Anyone have experience with Tommy Wonder method to make the gimmick. What do you use to attach the 2 gimmicks together.

I will check out the plastic site. Thanks for the reference.

Bill

Not sure what Tommy does. It may be what I do. I have the primary piece which goes on where we magicians know it goes. I have a second piece which is the size of the inner rim. I attach that with clear glue, just a drop in the center. That makes it lie pretty flat on the main piece, but the edges tend to be raised just a smidge. That way, when the paper is pulled off you never need to worry about losing the main seal. And it makes it easier to get the thing on so it is in the right place in the beginning. As for glue, I know Testor's makes a glue that would work to bond plastics clearly...forget the name but it is at their model paint supplie kiosk in most stores. It is called something like plastic weld. You can get a good clear bond at a window glass store that sells plastic or plexiglass. You want an agent that actually melts the plastic to itself, unlike something that adheres between the pieces. One secret, when you use these bonds do not blow on the joint or in any way get it wet or moist. The moisture, until it is dry, will make the joint turn white and it will stay that way. At the Micromark site look under adhesives, they had a number of things that sounded like they would work for your purpose.

By the way, if you did not, take your plastic tumbler and gently sand it on the top edge. Just put a piece of sandpaper on the table, hold it, and run the glass tumber over it. That flat edge will not be noticeable but sure makes for a better seal.

Thanks Magicduck,

I do sand the tumbler. Just need the best source for plastic and adhesive. Anyone know how to cut a perfect circle, or find the inner size of a glass?

Bill

As for scientifically speaking about circles and measurements, I am not an expert. As far as building this effect, I suggest that you get a very sharp exacto knife, run a line around the outer lip of the glass as you hold the glass down to the plastic. If you do that a couple times you will actually have the big piece of plastic cut out or, at the least, you can then cut it out along the indent with scissors.

As for the inner circle. This need not be perfect. In fact, as far as getting it on smoothly, just a smidge small, or sloppy, is best as long as it is big enough that the bigger disc cannot slip off the edge. Catastrophe!

To make this, I measure the diameter of the inside of the glass with a ruler. Then I take a compass and set that for about 1/16 less than that size. Then I draw on the plastic with a sharp pen in the compass and neatly cut along the line with sharp scissors.

Afterthought: in the post below, Sid uses plexiglass which would not cut the way I suggest. I use a not as heavy plastic from Micromark, such as .030 up to .060 which works fine for me. It is not plexiglass but still fairly heavy, adheres well and is pretty thin and invisible when in use.

quack

The best way to make the gimmick is by using a lathe to turn a single piece of plastic. I use plexiglass. As mentioned by others, it should not be a tight fit.

Grinding the lip of the glass flat is important. It will provide a much better seal.

A light coating of petroleum jelly (Vaseline of equivalent) on the lip of the glass helps to insure a good seal.

I think a real glass tumbler is far preferable to plastic glasses.

The hole in the glass is easy to drill with a carbide spade drill. Use kerosene to lubricate the drill while in use.

A surplus hard telephoto lens case provides a safe way to transport the glass.

Always carry an extra glass.

Sid

To cut a very accurate circle in thin sheet plastic you can try a circle cutter that is manufactured by OLFA. It is like a compass with a blade. The radius can be changed easily. The cutter is meant to cut paper, but if the plastic is not too thick and you are patient, by making several passes you can cut through the plastic. The nice advantage of this method is that when you have cut the two disks they will both have a small hole at the exact center. This will allow you to center both disks when you glue them together. (This is for the Tommy Wonder style gimmick.)

I use an acrylic tumbler. I picked it up at the hardware store. These glasses were designed to be used outdoors for barbeques. They look like real glass and have the advantage of not breaking. When you smooth out the rim use wet-dry sandpaper. Get a fine grain, like a 400. Wet the paper and place it face up on a table. When you smooth out the rim of the glass, move the glass in a figure 8. This will ensure that one side of the glass is taken down further than the other side. If the surface of the rim gets a bit milky looking after you dry it off, do a bit more sanding with 600 wet-dry. If you wand the surface to be a bit smoother, you can use a bit of tooth paste. Tooth paste has a bit of very fine abrasive that will bring the rim to the lustre of the rest of the glass.

Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Chris

http://www.borntoamaze.com

Last time I bought plastic from T&A Plastics, they cut it for me.

Alan Shaxon's routine is as good as it gets.

Pete,

Any info on where T&A plastics are located. A search turned up nothing.

Yes, I have used Alan Shaxon's routine to end by act for a long time. Can't beat it!

Bill

Here is a tip that may save you $112.50.

You can perform the hydrostatic glass without the hole in the glass. Make a small tab on the gimmic. To release the water, push the tab gently against the top of the inner wall of the pitcher you use to catch the falling liquid. It works like a charm, there is no splashing and the audience reaction is as strong as usual. In this way you can also use the glass earlier in your act without having to worry about sealing the hole.

I use a plastic stem glass, drill the hole down the stem, and put a piece of blue tac opver the hole, so you can use the glass as normal. do the gimmick business, and you can hold the glass upside down by the stem, looks very clean, then all you do to release the water is roll off the blue tac, and the water comes out, without your hand going anywhere near it.

Snilsson, Dang! You tipped my favorite method!

I use two different methods both with stemmed wine glasses. The first is the old tried and true drilled glass (I drilled at an angle from one side of the stem – carbide/kerosene technique) I will put that glass down after doing a pretty standard routine. Then as an after thought (and challenge) I will pick up the glass (switch it) and hand the glass out to be filled. Then openly put a card on it (with a gimmick as you describe) and do it a second time (gimmick drops into the container which already has water from the first glass and becomes invisible in the water).

By the way, I tumbled onto the idea from the old Adams plastic Rice bowls from the 60’s. They had the tab gimmick to hold back the water. I lost one bowl and decided to do a hydrostatic bowl routine. A small plastic bowl, simple gimmick, water and a square of newspaper was all that I used to perform a hydrostatic routine for a couple of years. I later had a glass worker make me a plastic gimmick to fit a wine glass and also make me the “regular” gimmick to fit my gimmicked glass.

I stopped doing the routine because some of the venues started complaining about the mess I was making (stopped a card fountain/sword routine too for the same reason).

I performed my routine only two or three times over the past year for the odd “special occasion”.

To not have a mess with the finale, I used purchased a water pitcher from a resturant supply house. The same pitchers I found at Wal-Mart recently, fluted sides and taper down sides, making the opening larger and eaiser to hit.

I have the pitcher only 1/3 full, that leaves enough room for the splash to not leave the pitcher. I hold the glass only about 10 to 12 inches above the pitcher. No mess on the floor, unless the trick gives way early.

Digging this old thread up, but has anyone tried making the gimmick with an empty laminated pouch? Just a thought...