Help me find out what does this trick do.

[FiliS]

Hi fellow magicians!

Recently I was going through some old stuff and I found a box with magix trick that I am not familliar with. It belonged to my uncle and it was sitting in the basement for quite long. So naturally there are no instructions along with the box.

I was wondering if you can help me explain what does this box do. I guess that there are several tricks included.

Thanks in advance!

 

[brotherwolfgang]

I can't help identify it but it is a massively cool find! That wand alone just has so much character.

 

[Seth Hughes]

I definitely recognize the black stick with the silver dots. It’s called a hotrod.

 

[Gustav Dubh]

I see a hotrod, a wand, two cards or decks, a pendulum and a bolt with a nut. The thing on the left looks like a tube that can be taken apart. A rolled-up card should fit. This is one trick, i think. Way too much work to make a box like that just to carry your props. The box is maybe used in the trick but i doubt it. The following is all educated guesswork now;

Card is forced with pendulum and put in tube, hotrod is used to force a color, white in this case. Card in tube has changed to white? Doesn't explain the bolt and nut though. That nut looks a bit funny to me. And it looks like a weird way to keep a deck of cards like that, unless they are gimmicked. Do you have more pics of the tube and bolt?

 

[FiliS]

Thanks, that helps a lot.

Yes I can make more pics, this one does not show everything, as some of the parts are "hidden" inside the box. I can post the pictures as soon as I get home. I also think this is one trick and the box is one of the gimmicks for sure (you will see it when I take addditional photos). I just thought that it is like "standard" package or trick and not home made product, but I see that nobody know a trick like that so it must be home made.

 

[FiliS]

https://imgur.com/a/ZFoee2T

 

[JoshL8]

I've been lowkey watching this thread, biting my nails now....things are certainly getting interesting!! I was thinking the box was a series of effects rather than one big one. Couple of guesses incoming, but hopefully with the new pics someone knowledgable will know for sure.

I was wondering if there was magnets etc. hidden in the box and then you posted that pic! Not sure thats what it is since I can't see exactly what either of the turning pieces do, like shoot cards ouutta the box or vibrate the box. Have ya tried connecting a battery and pressing the button?

The tube with a slot in it; can a coin fit in there and can the wand fit through the tube for a wand through coin effect?

If that thing isn't a pendulum (even if it is I guess) can one of the beads on the end of the string move up and down the string? If so it could be a string through whatever trick. And is that pendulum also a die...dice...d6?


When I saw the bolt I immediatly thought of a puzzle my dad had where you had to get a nut and bolt off of something and the bolt appears to be welded to the nut. However on my dads version the weld was quite obvious it doesn't appear to be on yours, does one part of the bolt appear to be soldered to the nut? Other than that it doesn't screw into anywhere obvious like the tube?

Thats a pretty cool find, thanks for sharing it!

 

[Gustav Dubh]

This is getting stranger by the minute. That electronic stuff looks like some motor that slowly spins the square bar. The switch is hidden under the cards. Maybe to make a chosen card vibrate or there could be metal studs in it to influence the pendulum. But what about that handgrip or whatever it is? Have you tried Michael Baker, he is a prop-builder and has a website. He knows a lot about this kind of stuff. I have seen a tube like that before, somebody makes them, perhaps Viking.

 

[RealityOne]

This is definitely homemade. You can tell from the difference in color from the box and the insert, the screws attaching the insert into the box, the hardware and little blocks used inside the picture frame apparatus. I'm guessing it is an entire show in the case and that concept is used to disguise the fake of the picture frame.

I figured out a couple of pieces. The circuit board has a dual timer integrated circuit chip. The resistors and capacitors are what provide the length of the time delay. I can't get a good look at the chip under the red wire to figure out what that is. A close-up picture of that so I can read the writing would be helpful. So you press the button and then after one time delay the motor runs and then after another time delay the motor runs again.

My first thought is that the motor was used to switch the card in the frame. There doesn't appear to be any traction point (e.g. a rubber washer that grips the cards) so my guess is that the black piece was magnetic and the cards shimmed. I could see how this would work if the spindle was turned the other way -- it would kick a card from the left side into the right side. But it is the wrong way to do that. So I"m going with @JoshL8 idea that the motor was to make vibrations. The use of the square middle piece on the spindle would do that -- sort of like driving a car with square tires. Also, there is a back to the picture frame would would not allow the motor to interact with the cards.

Is there sand in the picture frames? If so, they are sand frames. That would make sense because the vibrations would trigger the effect.

The other items are a hotrod and wand. Pretty standard.

The tube looks like a bill tube. I'm not sure about the piece in the middle - I haven't seen one like that. Is it gimmicked in any way?

The bolt looks like a ring on/off bolt. Is there a second gimmicked bolt in his magic stuff? Maybe next to a ring vanishing handkerchief.

The last piece, I'd need to see a close up to figure out.

The handle appears to be part of the box (the wood seems to match). Its location tells me that it is designed to either make sure the vibrations go to that side of the frame or that they don't go to that side of the frame. OR, it could be that your uncle wanted to keep the handle with the box and put the foam there to keep from rattling.

 

[RealityOne]

One additional thought. The dual timer may have two different voltages. The first voltage is enough to shake the sand from the left card holder and the second one is more powerful to shake the sand from the second card holder.

 

[FiliS]

Unfortunately, the wires are damaged, and the battery can’t connect to the motor. I will repair it, change the wires and the battery and then try to press both buttons. When I do that in a couple of days (I hope) I will inform you what the box does.


To JoshL8:

There is no slot where the card could be shot out, so maybe vibration is possible.

The slot in the tube is wide enough for 3 cards, but I think that the coin could not be inserted.

Also, the wand fit through whole tube, past the slot in the middle.


The pendulum can move up and down the string. It is a dice and it has a different color circle on each side.


The bolt and the nut seem to be completely normal. It does not look like that they are gimmicked in any way.


To Gustav Dubh:

As I said I will repair the box and then try it.

Michael Baker? I will contact him, and I hope he knows any of this concept.


To RealityOne:


I will send you better photo of circuit board.


I do not know how the motor could switch the cards, as there is no slot between two piles of cards.

When the box works, I will film a video of it and show it to you.

Sand in the frames, what do you mean by that?

There is not any additional gimmicked bolt.

That may be the reason that the handle is there, I will see how it works, when I fix the box.


Thank you everybody, you are really helpfull.

 

[FiliS]

More photos: https://imgur.com/a/KICEKzu

 

[RealityOne]

Sand in the frames, what do you mean by that?

The other chip is a voltage regulator. I'm guessing there is a delay, the first turning at a lower voltage, a delay and the second turning at a higher voltage.