I'm looking to purchase a good magician's table for my coin work. I need something large enough to perform assembly and matrix routines. Ideally, I’d have a working surface of at least 2 feet by 2 feet and at 36-38 inches high. It also must have a servante (shelf or bag), and it would be great if it had a shelf to stage my props while keeping them out of view.

Any suggestions, coin guys?

I’ve tried posting variations of this post in other areas of the site with little luck. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Some folks use a bridge table, and put the servante on their closeup pad. There are options. Nice to start simple and cheap.

Many street performers find that using a Waiter/Busboy stand works well. This is the X folding frame you see in resturants which holds trays of dishes that have been cleared from tables.

Add to this a top of your own making and you have a portable working surface which is perfect for stand up magic. It's cheap and you get EXACTLY what you want because you customize it to your ow neeeds.

You can builld in PK gaffs and slits for loading jumbo coins and etc.

Worth thinking about...

Here's a link to the type of stand I'm talking about:
http://www.restaurantequipment.com/TRAYSTANDS.html

Frank Starsini has some good comments on how he made his table top in a similar thread in "The Sidewalk Shuffle"

It's rather easy to build in coin holdouts along the bottom edge with a couple thin strips of wood, poster board, whatever you can find. I like the finished look of a framed table top, and some have suggested framing only three sides as it allows you to slide coins (or cards) easier off the back edge.

I found the "tall" waiter's stand to work better as it's 38" high instead of the standard 31". Mine is dark mahogany, and looks very nice. The top is just over waist high, and any bag I wish to use as a servante can be strung across the top braces and is in perfect position.

Theres a strange question....

Normally magicians say.. whats the best coins for table work?

You ask... "Whats the best table for coin work?" .... ha!
Ignore my quirky comment!

Dave, where did you get your "tall" waiter's stand? Thanks Frank

It was at my local "RESCO" Restaurant supply store. They don't have a website or I would have posted it. I have seen a few online suppliers that also carry the tall stand.

Try this It's pretty much exactly like the one I bought.

Dave, thanks I just ordered the 38 inch stand. You saved my back.
I wanted to post a picture of my table but it keeps saying the jpeg file is to big. But when I go into photoshop and make it smaller the image get tiny.

Thanks, guys!

Dave - I see the stand in Frankm6's link, but what do you use as a top and how do you keep the top stable enough to do assembly routines without the tray or top sliding around?

I made my own top by buying a sheet of 3/8 plywood and covering it with "pellon" padding and fabric. Later I went back to the hardware store and bought a strip of corner molding and used that to "frame" the table.

Frank Starsinic found a nice Drafting Board at his local art store. I haven't seen one yet, but I believe it's lighter as it has thin birch laminated over a honeycomb core with a nice finished edge. It didn't cost much over the price of the raw plywood either. (Actually, it cost about twice the price, but I got enough wood for two table tops for the price of his one. Trouble is, you have to buy the entire 2x4 sheet whether you use it all or not. I cut mine into two 18x24 tops with some left over to build a shelf if I were so inclined) I chose 18x24 as I figured I could find a nice picture frame and save some work, but as it turned out I only had to pay a dollar or two for the molding, I already had a miter saw and some left over stain, so I figured "why not?"

The table stand comes with rubber rings that help to grip the table and keep it from slipping. It wouldn't take much to attach some sort of "Z" bracket on the bottom to lock it in place, but in Frank's case he uses both sides so that wouldn't work. Really though, the rubber "bumpers" are plenty stable.

I just purchased a nice one from Magic Max, here: http://magicmax.com/item.php3?sid=187277......nav=cart .

I'll let you know how it is.

Dave,
What is pellon?
I first used batting but that wasn't right. I then used 1/8 inch foam.

Thomas,
I had seen the ad for the table that you ordered some time ago and forgot where I saw it. I'll be interested in your review of it.

Bob

I’m resurrecting and old post because I think I came up with a really great coin magic table.

I bought a $24 stand from Sam Ash which is a big music store near me, this stand is online at www.samash.com.

It has a quick squeeze trigger release that makes it easy to adjust. The height adjusts between 27” and 39” and has a 150 lbs. capacity.

I went to Home Depot and found some type of 3/4" composite plywood that was about $7 and had them cut it to 18" x 27".

I bought a 90" round black tablecloth at Linens n’ Things for about $20.

I put the table top on the keyboard stand and draped it with my black tablecloth. Then I used two rare earth magnets to pull in the rear of the table cloth and hold it up against the underside of the stand (the stand is metal). This encapsulates the wood top and helps keep it in place. Since the table is now draped and tucked in, I have a staging area to put props out of view - and with magnets, you can actually hang some items from the stand itself under the table.

Now here is where I splurged and why the 18" x 27" wood cut: I bought a Jumbo Ultimate Pad ($135) from Dean Dill along with his servante ($15).

When I put the pad on the draped table, it fits the top exactly and looks quite elegant. Since Dean's pad is solid and has some weight to it, the servante hangs from between the draped table top and the pad. It looks and works great.

This link is a picture of my table.

Dan

Very Cool. Thanks for sharing!

Nice table!

Dan s the man with the plan!!!! Nice table!!!

Darren Romeo uses a Losander Floating table to do Matrix in him stage shows... then he goes into the floating table... a very nice sequence.

Nice work Dan.