My hands tend to get restless. I have to fidget with something while I work. Used to be pens, but since I got back into magic it's been a deck of cards. Sometimes it goes beyond fidgeting and I get the urge to build something. A couple years ago I made a suit of armor out of a garbage can. Haven't had a decent project like that in a while, so I started thinking I should make some gimmicks for myself. Problem is, I'm not too sure where to start and I have quite a few questions.
I'm mostly into card magic, so card gimmicks would be the most likely direction, though I am open to pretty much anything. I'm thinking I'll probably start with something like a blink card and maybe trying my hand at making my own gaff cards (splitting cards and recombining, or using alcohol to remove the ink and printing directly on it). Has anyone done this before? How well do these processes work? I tried a pencil eraser, but that left streaks and wore away a bit of the card. Does alcohol work any better, or does it remove the finish really badly as well?
What products out there (DVDs, etc) require a gimmick but don't include one (in other words, require you to make your own)? What sorts of gimmicks would be good to have for a general purpose magic toolbox? When making these gimmicks, what sorts of tools might be the most widely useful? What tools would be the most general purpose and useful to create more than one gimmick (stuff like glue stick would probably be on this list).
Lastly, does anyone have any gimmick concepts that they wouldn't mind sharing to give me some inspiration for this.
I'm mostly into card magic, so card gimmicks would be the most likely direction, though I am open to pretty much anything. I'm thinking I'll probably start with something like a blink card and maybe trying my hand at making my own gaff cards (splitting cards and recombining, or using alcohol to remove the ink and printing directly on it). Has anyone done this before? How well do these processes work? I tried a pencil eraser, but that left streaks and wore away a bit of the card. Does alcohol work any better, or does it remove the finish really badly as well?
What products out there (DVDs, etc) require a gimmick but don't include one (in other words, require you to make your own)? What sorts of gimmicks would be good to have for a general purpose magic toolbox? When making these gimmicks, what sorts of tools might be the most widely useful? What tools would be the most general purpose and useful to create more than one gimmick (stuff like glue stick would probably be on this list).
Lastly, does anyone have any gimmick concepts that they wouldn't mind sharing to give me some inspiration for this.