I was recently inspired to make my first illusion but I have no idea where to start can you guys give me some help on the books required, how much time I would need to build each piece and a ballpark figure on cost as I need to do it fairly cheap thanks

We need more info than this. The size of the illusion, the type, etc. Some can be build under 25 bucks and some costs thousands. I'd reccomend looking at Andrew Mayne's illusions, they are inexpensive, and some of them are really good. They include instructions to build them yourself, so it'd be right up your alley. I believe most of his illusions cost less than 100$ to build, and some cost only 10$ or 20$.

I think this site will help you out a bit http://www.magicnook.com/ I have got about 5 or 6 things from here and some are better than others but as a whole all is good value.

As for cost it dose depend on on what your building. But also consider the finish your looking for. A cotton curtain is a lot cheaper than a thick velvet curtain. But you don't have to spend big bucks to achieve a flash look. But choice of look can help the budget. For example if you go for a eco warrior feel rather than a smooth slick Vegas a chest made out of different wood panels will look fine.

When making stuff take your time. I build model rail ways as a hobby and in model making and 5 tips given to me were,
1, Plan- Make sure you have every thing you need including time.
2, Prepare- This means have a clear clean working space, Have you plans laid out and you have sharp knife and saws ect.
3, Precision- Every measurement, every cut, every gluing and everything,
4, Patiences- Take your time if glue say leave for two hours leave it for two hours.
5, Pleasure- Enjoy every moment from sanding a edge to using the thing.

A great first effect to make and which can be made very cheaply is a mirror box. There are cheap magic money boxes that use this principle so buy one and work out how to build a larger version.

Hope this helps have fun.

If you want to start out simple there are some very good illusions in Mark Wilson's book. With a little design creativity then can look many different things and fit different themes. I wouldn't start off with a Zig Zag or Sawing for my first build though unless you have excellent wood working and metal fab skills and a decent shop to build in.

For small illusions you can't beat magicnook.
A good starting place for large illusions that will not "break the bank", look for Victory Carton Illusions by U.F. Grant. It's available as a dgital download but I can't remember the website I got it from.

Mike

Visit the subforum here called "The Workshop." Lots of great advice there in old threads.