Hi, I was wondering what is the best invisible thread around? I have Infinity V2 right now, but I'm almost out of it. I was wondering which I should get next. Is Ellusionist's thread good? Or should I go with yigal mesikas elastic thread? Or maybe there is another better option? Im looking for the best for making loops ( because buying the loops themselves adds up to an extreme amount of money). Thanks for any of your opinions and help in deciding which to get.
Invisible elastic thread
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I go to a local magic shop and they were selling these loops that were apparently the strongest a guy showed me a demo of them and they were very durably if you would like me to put in a call and ask I could?
get some mesika thread. that stuff is pretty good. i have v2 right now and as i remember, mesika's is more elastic and stronger
i have worked with Mesika and its super good, but a famous magician once showed me hot to make loops out of pantyhoses and those things are super strong!!!!! i would recommend using them at least once.
i know its not the easiest way to make them but you will be surprised how good are them.
let me know how it works for you.
D.
i know its not the easiest way to make them but you will be surprised how good are them.
let me know how it works for you.
D.
Let's Go Old School. . .
For Elastic type thread you want to find "wooly nylon" strands. . . you can buy spools of it at JoAnn's Fabrics or similar retailers. Grab an end and pull out about 3 ft. of it and cut . . . . you'll notice that this thread is made up of many really fine strands that can be GENTLY pulled from the long piece, giving you a dozen or more stretchy invisible thread that can be set to whatever length you may need it to be.
Standard IT can be made by doing the same thing to a pair of pantyhose; I use a dark brown, purple, blue or smokey grey in that they are less likely to regester on the eye. In this case you must separate out a single strand of the hose fabric and again, break down that strand just as before. One pair of hose will give you an easy 3-5 year supply for a fraction of the cost the magic dealers will charge.
Is it "Better"?
That I can't say in that "better" is a matter of personal perspective. I've used numerous types of thread over the years and I believe in practical. The mesika (sp) loops are nice but about 30% more expensive than need be due to the ego factor. . . sorry, I meant to say "Brand Name". But if you look around you can find stuff that is just as good. . . you may visit Penguin since they bought out Paper Crane, ask them about the spools of IT that Crane used to sell for Power Word FALL. I think I paid less than $20.00 for a huge spool that would let me make 20ft. loops if I wanted to.
For Elastic type thread you want to find "wooly nylon" strands. . . you can buy spools of it at JoAnn's Fabrics or similar retailers. Grab an end and pull out about 3 ft. of it and cut . . . . you'll notice that this thread is made up of many really fine strands that can be GENTLY pulled from the long piece, giving you a dozen or more stretchy invisible thread that can be set to whatever length you may need it to be.
Standard IT can be made by doing the same thing to a pair of pantyhose; I use a dark brown, purple, blue or smokey grey in that they are less likely to regester on the eye. In this case you must separate out a single strand of the hose fabric and again, break down that strand just as before. One pair of hose will give you an easy 3-5 year supply for a fraction of the cost the magic dealers will charge.
Is it "Better"?
That I can't say in that "better" is a matter of personal perspective. I've used numerous types of thread over the years and I believe in practical. The mesika (sp) loops are nice but about 30% more expensive than need be due to the ego factor. . . sorry, I meant to say "Brand Name". But if you look around you can find stuff that is just as good. . . you may visit Penguin since they bought out Paper Crane, ask them about the spools of IT that Crane used to sell for Power Word FALL. I think I paid less than $20.00 for a huge spool that would let me make 20ft. loops if I wanted to.
Unfortunately, I believe those gigantic spools are no longer sold in that form. They paired it down to 200ft from what I've seen.
That's unfortunate. . . it would be awesome to some day find a magic dealer that actually HELPED their patrons by supplying them with the tools they need (I'm not talking about tricks but utility devices) such as IT, rope, TTs, etc. both, in reasonable volume and at a reasonable price.Then again, the lack of such things is why people like me investigate materials and find where, outside the magic community, one can get such things for a fraction of the cost we'd otherwise endure; hence my post above.
if to consider money wise V2 is reasonable and you may opt the choice and to taste why it is good you have to give it a try
Just want to update this thread with a correction (because it comes up as a top result in Google).
In my somewhat extensive experience, Craig's advice is backwards.
Woolly Nylon, which is still widely available from sewing supply shops (it's used for serging the edges of fabrics, look at the hem of many t-shirts), is the source for NON-ELASTIC IT. This can also be found in pantyhose. A fat spool (maybe a km or more) of Woolly Nylon (also spelled Wooly) will cost you a few dollars. And it comes in many colors.
Woolly Nylon feels a bit stretchy (because it's bunched up), but the individual strands are just nylon, which isn't stretchy at all.
For Elastic IT, you need some version of spandex (brand names include Lycra, Dorlastan, etc.). As far as I'm aware, this isn't available to consumers by the fat spool. Magic dealers buy huge industrial spools for dirt cheap and resell small quantities for a huge markup.
However, elastic IT is available from any pantyhose that has spandex (or a brand name spandex) on the material list. You will find very stretchy yarns in there that look like woolly nylon, but have a thin spandex thread at the core. When you find one of these truly elastic threads, you will know it. Stretchy as all get-out, but still strong---a really remarkable material. There is no confusing it with nylon.
My understanding is that different thicknesses of spandex are used in different brands of hose. Look for low-denier hose if you can find it. And different parts of the hose may have different compositions and thicknesses of spandex. The panty vs. the waistband vs. the leg.
For example, I found some "hose footies" (like little hose slippers) at the dollar store that listed 4% spandex, but then I couldn't find any stretchy fibers in the foot part at all, so I gave up. Later, I looked in the cuff, which felt much stretchier, and extracted black spandex from there. Sadly, this was too thick to be usable, but I'm guessing that on the legs of more expensive hose, thinner spandex can be found.
Finally, if you get the hose to run just right, the knitting is spiral, so you can pull off very long threads round-and-round the leg... essentially extracting as long of a woolly, spandex-core thread as you want, probably hundreds of feet in one stocking. Then, from that, you can extract whatever length of spandex you want.
The only non-industrial source for pure spandex fibers that I can find are these spools on Ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...stan+fiber.TRS0&_nkw=dorlastan+fiber&_sacat=0
These used to be only $6 per spool, but after magicians drove up the demand, they are going for $50 each. Also, they are white. Apparently, they can be dyed somehow, though.
In my somewhat extensive experience, Craig's advice is backwards.
Woolly Nylon, which is still widely available from sewing supply shops (it's used for serging the edges of fabrics, look at the hem of many t-shirts), is the source for NON-ELASTIC IT. This can also be found in pantyhose. A fat spool (maybe a km or more) of Woolly Nylon (also spelled Wooly) will cost you a few dollars. And it comes in many colors.
Woolly Nylon feels a bit stretchy (because it's bunched up), but the individual strands are just nylon, which isn't stretchy at all.
For Elastic IT, you need some version of spandex (brand names include Lycra, Dorlastan, etc.). As far as I'm aware, this isn't available to consumers by the fat spool. Magic dealers buy huge industrial spools for dirt cheap and resell small quantities for a huge markup.
However, elastic IT is available from any pantyhose that has spandex (or a brand name spandex) on the material list. You will find very stretchy yarns in there that look like woolly nylon, but have a thin spandex thread at the core. When you find one of these truly elastic threads, you will know it. Stretchy as all get-out, but still strong---a really remarkable material. There is no confusing it with nylon.
My understanding is that different thicknesses of spandex are used in different brands of hose. Look for low-denier hose if you can find it. And different parts of the hose may have different compositions and thicknesses of spandex. The panty vs. the waistband vs. the leg.
For example, I found some "hose footies" (like little hose slippers) at the dollar store that listed 4% spandex, but then I couldn't find any stretchy fibers in the foot part at all, so I gave up. Later, I looked in the cuff, which felt much stretchier, and extracted black spandex from there. Sadly, this was too thick to be usable, but I'm guessing that on the legs of more expensive hose, thinner spandex can be found.
Finally, if you get the hose to run just right, the knitting is spiral, so you can pull off very long threads round-and-round the leg... essentially extracting as long of a woolly, spandex-core thread as you want, probably hundreds of feet in one stocking. Then, from that, you can extract whatever length of spandex you want.
The only non-industrial source for pure spandex fibers that I can find are these spools on Ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fro...stan+fiber.TRS0&_nkw=dorlastan+fiber&_sacat=0
These used to be only $6 per spool, but after magicians drove up the demand, they are going for $50 each. Also, they are white. Apparently, they can be dyed somehow, though.