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Just quickly, Im wanting to know how to s*** playing cards, after buying my monster bertha.

I've been playing around with the idea of s******* lots of things but cant think of how to do this with playing cards.

Could someone PM me and help me out or point me in the right direction.

You can buy them ready made from ebay but its £5 for 2 cards!! not gonna happen..

Pm me if you can help me with this..

Thanking you in advance

I.D wrote:
I've been playing around with the idea of s******* lots of things

This could so be taken the wrong way!!

Yeah, I got that too. S******* materials. Naughty boy!

Anyway, there's a book, or even a DVD somewhere. I cna't remember the namr, although I'm sure soembody will be along soon.

Cards4magic sell them although I don't know how much their is.

It may be worthwhile buying just one to dismantle and find out how to make your own.

Splitting a card is tricky, but very simple once you have the knack.

Although, there's quite a few occasions when literally sticking the shim to the back or front of a card with no cover is acceptible. Simply don't show the shimmed side.

I've performed an effect for a number of years which uses a shimmed card prepared in such a way. The shim allows me to pick up the card and whatever card is above (a selection) by placing a card box which has a very thin neo inside... and nobody ever sees the shim.

Card splitting is a trial and error thing... here's some basics...

(NOTE: I don't believe I'm breaking any laws by explaining this, as it's a method which I've known for donkey's yonks which is basically my own perception on how it's done... if I need my knuckles wrapping and this should be edited, please let me know...)

Splitting a card - Seige's method
Firstly, decide which face you want to split off. Bicycle cards are basically three layers... the front, the back, and a card middle. They're all laminated together, but believe me, there are 3 separate elements (at least!).
In this example, I'll be taking off the FACE of the card—discarding the centre layer and back of the card as one (i.e. the centre layer and back will always remain attached)...

So, step one is to soften the card's corner. Hold the card as in fig 1, and tap the corner on a hard surface a few times, moving around the corner's curve until it starts to look a bit frayed.

Next, using a fine blade (I use a No.10 Swann-Morton scalpel... get one, it's essential to your magi's toolkit!), gently separate the layers you want to separate (fig 2). In this case, I want to separate the FACE from the BACK+CENTRE... leaving the back and centre as one.
Tip: DO NOT use the blade to cut... use it to gently separate the cards.

After a while, you'll end up with about a 1/4 inch of card split. FROM THIS POINT you will keep the PART YOU WISH TO KEEP totally flat.
ALWAYS move the UNWANTED layers AWAY from the KEPT layer...
You'll now start splitting by placing the card on a flat surface with the part to keep FACE DOWN. At all times, you will hold the part you want to keep flat, as you gently pull the OTHER PART away, peeling back as you go (fig 3). As you peel further (SLOWLY) you need to advance the fingers holding the 'kept' layer flat, making sure you're as close to the unseparated crease as you can. (fig 4).

After a while, you'll get the hang of it. BUT DON'T GET COCKY... keep going slowly, and try to always keep going at the same angle/direction. (fig 5).

All the way to the bitter end, just go slow, and peel the UNWANTED layers away, never peel the kept layer. If at any point the layer looks like it's thinning or the unwanted layers are starting to tear up, use the blade to fray the card at that point to keep the layers separate.

Finally, VOILA (fig 6), you have a split card. In some cases, BOTH parts of the split are usable.

This method works whether you're keeping the single or double layer.

I've literally just done this as we speak, and even with taking pictures, the whole split took less than 2 minutes.

What now?

You can half-split the card and add a shim. Just a small amount. Or add a magnet. Whatever you like. I recommend a VERY thin layer of rubber cement to put the whole thing back together. Then, put it inside a big hardback book and weight it flat... leave it for a few hours, and you've got a perfect shimmed card.

How to split a playing card by Chris Jones

When I've tried to make them like that I always end up with a card that feels flimsy and doesn't like being bent (crinkles). Is this the common end result or can it be 'perfect'?

Mahoney wrote:When I've tried to make them like that I always end up with a card that feels flimsy and doesn't like being bent (crinkles). Is this the common end result or can it be 'perfect'?

Once glued back together and pressed in a book, they are pretty much normal looking. However, they will NEVER be like a new card.

BTW... always use FRESH NEW CARDS for splitting.

Practice on the 'casino' and advert cards

Pictures help a lot! I've been wondering too, thank you!

And 2 minutes, do you split cards alot?

Wonder if this is a better way to perform C2C (coin to card) I still can't get the splitting right...

K

Do I split cards a lot?

Not really. But way back when I was more experimental with effects, there were three things I tried constantly to master... muscle pass, 8 perfect faros (to bring the deck back to it's original state) and card splitting.

Card splitting is the only one I can still do perfectly

as an aside, cards4magic have bridge sized playing cards that are metallic, but look like odd little playing cards, they bend, d-lift and fan etc, with a red marble back...

if you can find yourself a decent story line to use/produce them - then they work perfectly well with a PK ring...

Thanks Seige.. that will help a lot Im sure.. I have over 400 old cards to practice with

8 perfect faro's bring the deck back to its original state? I dont understand..


Muscle pass.. I still have trouble with the muscle pass. it makes my hands sore and it doesnt go very far...

I.D wrote:Thanks Seige.. that will help a lot Im sure.. I have over 400 old cards to practice with

Old cards are sometimes no good for splitting but they may make good test dummies

I.D wrote:8 perfect faro's bring the deck back to its original state? I dont understand..

Take a deck which is stacked in order and give it 8 perfect faro shuffles, and it will be back in it's original order.

I.D wrote:Muscle pass.. I still have trouble with the muscle pass. it makes my hands sore and it doesnt go very far...

It's just one of those little things that we spend ages trying to master, and then when we do, we spend just as long trying to find a reason to use it

seige wrote:

I.D wrote:Muscle pass.. I still have trouble with the muscle pass. it makes my hands sore and it doesnt go very far...

It's just one of those little things that we spend ages trying to master, and then when we do, we spend just as long trying to find a reason to use it

I can only think of one use and thats the Daniel Garcia coin in glass routine where I learnt it !!

The things I am devoted to learning right now are

Muscle pass...
Classic Force..
Hot shot cut..

The Color Fusion DVD teaches splitting quite well, as does Vol 1 of the Daniel Garcia Project (which you'll probably be interested in I.D. if you've already got one of the set).

As for the muscle pass after much practice I've now got a fairly good one but I generally only use it for super slick L'Homme Masque loads. It's an awesome utility imo, to use it as a flourish it has to be more or less perfect.

[quote="bronz"]The Color Fusion DVD teaches splitting quite well, as does Vol 1 of the Daniel Garcia Project (which you'll probably be interested in I.D. if you've already got one of the set).

Volume 1 - Third Degree lol I totally forgot about that.. i havent put much time into the Daniel Garcia Volumes.. just learned a few that caught my attention and moved on.

I really must stop buying magic related stuff.. I have so much and I dont have enough time to learn it all.. Ive proabably got a years worth of stuff and I haveno money left but I keep buying more and more!!