talkmagic.co.uk

Hello hello,
Does anyone know where I can get hold of some flash paper bills - but either £10 or £5 denomination.

Seen a few sites selling dollars and euros bills.

Or anyone got any clever ways to colour photocopy one side of a tenner onto plain flash paper - without losing the paper (or melting the copier!)

Many thanks for any suggestions

UB

uncle billy wrote:Or anyone got any clever ways to colour photocopy one side of a tenner onto plain flash paper - without losing the paper (or melting the copier!)

HAHA. I can picture it now:

"Is it ok if I borrow the photocopier for some magic props boss? I'll show you the trick when I'm done."

...then WHOOSH! Flames shoot out from under the copier and the office sprinklers kick-in.

Somebody write that down and make a sitcom out of it. Brilliant.

I think trying to print your own or photocopy your own could be extremely dangerous and wouldn't recommend it.

I believe I am right in thinking that International Magic used to (maybe still do) a flash newspaper effect, and so they may be better people to contact.

Their website is down at the moment, but the phone number is 020 7405 7324

Just a thought - if you scanned the tenner into a computer, lightly stuck the flash paper to an ordinary sheet of A4 and lined things up as accurately as possible, couldn't you 'print' on to the flash paper? OK, you'd have to let the flash paper dry out first to get a good image but, even if it's not perfect, it might look good enough from a distance and all evidence will disappear in a flash anyway.

ok how about scaning and printing on normal paper and then flashing it, cheap printer paper is ideal for this purpose and you can get flash stuff in liquid and gel forms for painting on, thats how we made flash paper in the old days and i still make my flash string this way today.

That's a great idea fella. Any idea where I might buy flash liquid / gel, and a rough cost.

Will the paper burn to nothing? (obviously depending on the weight) and at the same speed as the real thing?

Ta very much for your help.

UB

Is it such a good idea to be making your own flash paper? I remember reading an article in MAGIC magazine last year some time (I still ahve the copy somewhere, I can dig it out if you want) about a guy who tried to make his own flash paper and nearly blew up the hotel he was staying in. Although I suppose if the stuff is bottled and sold with adequate directions it shouldn't be too difficult. Just a bit of caution is neccesary.

in a word or two its called lighter fuel and you want as low a density paper as you can get to print on.
its not for the faint hearted and it takes a wile to get the proportions right without blowing yourself up, it burns longer than flash paper but not much.

Where can you buy your own fluid or how can you make your own flash paper.

Words of wisdom here from Goldfish!

For any of the beginners and youngsters out there, I really don't think that it is wise to start making flash paper using cheap paper and lighter fuel. This is particularly dangerous as the elements used are totally different from what is used to make flash paper.

I'm no expert on flash paper but it doesnt take a genius to work out that this combination is going to end in tears. For one, lighter fuel evaporates quickly and also, it's vapour is also flammable.

Normal paper will still burn as normal, although slightly to a lot quicker, depending on the amount of lighter fuel used. The flame may well be hotter and burn much higher and longer. Whilst you can handle small amounts of flash paper with care and whilst alight, not even a fire fighter would handle the home made varient without a heavy duty pair of asbestos gloves. Great for the DL that follows eh!

In the UK we have a piece of legislation called the Health & Safety at Work Act. Don't be fooled by the word work as it is NOT ONLY applicable to the work place. Part of the H&S legislation is another piece of scribbling called the Fire Precautions Act and you could EASILY be in the wrong side of the law if you set fire to anything drenched in lighter fuel inside a public accessible building.

Be warned!

Where can you buy your own fluid or how can you make your own flash paper.

I found a 'recipe' for making your own flash paper whilst browsing the net one day.

I am yet to try it but would be interested to know if it does actually work.

(To be on the safe side, the recipe has been removed by the Mods, sorry!)

Sounds to me like a risk not worth taking.

new health and safty rules meen any magician should now steer clear of fire in ther acts and the additional public liability cover needed should further put you off.

I'm afraid liscenced pyromanics are now a dying bread.

(To be on the safe side, the recipe has been removed by the Mods, sorry!)

Sorry about that guys, I should have thought

When it comes to playing about with Flash paper/liquid/string/cotton/wool/gel or any of the such like the general rule of thumb is - Don't.

Unless your a chemist and pretty sure what you are doing with chemicals it is not a good idea to play about with them..