talkmagic.co.uk

does anyone know of a site that teaches card stripping? ( by card stripping i mean seperating the pasteboard) i saw a post somewhere... think it was by mandrake???? dunno i may be wrong

Not guilty, I'm afraid! One guy was asking about shortening a card and I just advised how I'd do it - sharp knife, metal ruler etc.

I'm reasonably sure that cards will separate into the two sides if they are soaked long enough but I'd be worried about their appearance afterwards - could be creased etc. It might be possible to slit them with a sharp razor blade but you’d need to be very sure about doing this – make sure you have a steady hand, your affairs are in order, and your will made out.

There was full detailed description on a site advertised on the Visions website. I'll find out what it was and post the address.

thanx both, i was sure it was your name on the post mandrake... was on magictricks.co.uk forum i think, but its no biggie

OK, it was me - Shhhh!

Ok, the page I was thinking of was wowbound.com but I just looked and couldn't find the description there as the site has been re-done, sorry. It is still worth having a look there, however, as Ben Harris has some good products out.
Nick

I will try to reproduce in writing the method that was on the wowbound site, if it doesn't work then sorry, I only ever used it once.

Bikes are made with three layers, two of thin paper and one of card, the object being to remove the paper layers from the card. You will need a table with a sharp 90 degree edge and a craft knife. Loosen the edge of the layer you want to remove with the knife, try to get enough free to be able to grip it firmly. Now, with the paper side down run the card towards you over the adge of the table, gently pulling down on the paper. The adge of the table should stop the paper from ripping, but it might take a few tries to get it right. Dampening the side you want to remove in advance with a drop of water then almost letting it dry might help a bit with any extra tough glue patches.

I am going to try this now to see if I got it right, will tell you how I got on!

Nick

Ok, it's slow but do-able, you need to start at on corner, and go diagonally accross the card, holding the stripped paper layer against the edge of the table whilst you pull the card layer upwards. As you get towards the opposite short corner you will need to start to edge the card around so that you strip straight down the length of the card. This is the hardest bit, the paper is under more stress at the adges so it wants to tear, you can help it along with your knife by running the tip of the blade from the centre of the bit that's already stripped towards the corner VERY GENTLY. once you are round the corner it gets easy to just pull off the paper, continuing in the same way to hold the paper against the edge of the table and pull the card upwards, then move the card towards you a bit and do the same until the paper is all off.

Hope this helps.

Nick

Failing that, take a washing up liquid bottle, some sticky back plactic and a pot of glue and you can probably make Tracy Island out of them!

(Sorry!)

nah.. the tracy islands already been done... *looking admirably over in the corner of the room* hehe

thanx for the info nick... that seems to be the same thing i read i just couldnt remember... thank you again

I've only done this twice... but here goes... (If it goes wrong, I have an instructional sheet to enable you to construct a Christmas Candle Mobile... )

Get a clean tea towel and soak it in hot water. Wring it out, so it's damp and warm still... lay it flat and put your cards in. Fold the tea towel over so it makes a card sandwich. lay something flat over the top (I used a flat based tray - most of my magic building is usually done on the kitchen table!)

Leave it overnight, or 24 hours if you can.

Carefully open the tea towel... if you treat the card with care, you can separate the two plastic surfaces intact. Dry them by placing them in an old thick book (around the centre), which also flattens them.

I used this to make some great gaff cards - a half-king, half-ace... and it's still going today.

Glueing them back together is important... I recommend VERY thin layer of PVA glue - it dries hard and clear, and gives some rigidity back to the cards.

is actually gonna go try boiling a kettle and doing the old "opening letter" routine.... never know... might work??!?