talkmagic.co.uk

would it be advisable to put my tt in hot water and mold it to the exact shape of my thumb?

I'd read/heard that previously & when I got my Vernase (excuse spelling) TT from ebay (best shop in the world) I poured boling water in a cup & then put the TT in, for about a minute prodding it about, then tipped the water out & as soon as was humanly possible (bearing in mind the heat) wrapped it over my thumb, tried to mold it into shape, found it bearly moved, & then ran it under the cold tap.

So for me it made no difference, but it sure can't hurt to try. Have fun.

Johnny Bravo wrote: but it sure can't hurt to try. Have fun.

It will hurt if your TT is still hot when you put your thumb in!

Sorry couldn't resist that one!

There must be a stack of us who have read and used the hot water technique and found that it's a waste of time, water and electricity!

Whilst this may well have been the case at some stage, I can't help wondering if modern manufacturing and materials have removed the need and/or the ability? Perhaps someone will know the true answer but if you have the chance to buy from a shop, I'd concentrate more on matching the TT with your skin tone first and then on the closeness of the fit (obviously you don't want a TT that's far too big).

I'd reverse that last statement and go for the best fit first and then worry about skin tone, there has been much discussion previously on the forum regarding TT tone, try the search function for more info.

I've used the hot water thing.. both for altering the size and for moulding it from a circluar hole to an oval that fits me.

To alter the size I boiled it in water (in the kettle) and then plunged the end of a stick into it (I made it from a peice of dowel that I tapered). It took me ages to get it to expand but I did get a result in the end.

However, I agree.. the hot water thing doesn't seem to work if you want to make big alterations as it seems to shrink back somewhat even after being brutal with it (and my stick and hammer were brutal).

Slippery

TT's are the one item I always buy at conventions or magic shops and never just mail order. That way you can try them on, find a good fit, etc - sure saves a lot of messing about trying to improve the fit with hot water - owwwch!

I've got quite a collection of tips and one of my favorites is a no-name, imported tip that I found at a convention, the guy had a bucket of tips and I rooted through and found a few that were a good fit. Of course I'll probably never stumble over another so I'm pretty careful with it.

Andy

I personally go for the soft TT, as opposed to the hard plastic type! I also only buy at conventions or from my local magic dealer where I can look and examine before buying!

The soft TT lends itself better to the bill switch for example in my humble opinion! I use the bill switch a lot!