|
|
CarlWinder New user 6 Posts |
Hi All,
I'm about 2 weeks into Royal Road to Card Magic, so I'm working on the Overhand Shuffle. My issue is my decks seem to be getting sticky rather quickly, as in a few days of practicing with one, making it a bit difficult to do the shuffle at times. The precautions I take against this are: 1. I wash my hands before I handle the deck. 2. I keep the deck in the box when I'm not using it. I do tend to practice quite a bit. Usually, I would say around 2 - 5 hours a day. Does any one else suffer from this? If so, could you recommend anything else to keep the decks slick? Or is this because I'm just practicing a bit hard and I should just accept this? Cheers Carl |
BalloonThief New user California 63 Posts |
This is a common problem when working with cards. The oils on a persons hands will make any deck of cards sticky over time.
I don't practice nearly as long as you do each day but my advice might still be useful to you. I have a five or six decks rotating in a stack. When the deck I'm using becomes unusable(too sticky or warped), I place it back on the bottom of the pile and use the new top deck. Since each sticky deck waits while the other decks are used the cards become dry again. The cards won't be "like new" but they will be perfectly workable. Using this method the cards slowly deteriorate over time so eventually you will have to take out a deck and switch in a new one but the cards will last longer when you give them time to dry out. The timing for this is difficult to judge. A slightly sticky deck might be dry in a week or less while a really sticky deck might take a few months to be workable again. And since I mentioned warped cards the best way to deal with that can be found here. http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......&forum=2 Hope that helps a little bit. |
Doug Trouten Elite user Minnesota 471 Posts |
The Merchant of Magic website's blog offers 10 tips to make your playing cards last longer:
http://blog.magicshop.co.uk/2012/07/make......-10.html
It's still magic even if you know how it's done.
Terry Pratchett |
CarlWinder New user 6 Posts |
Cheers guys,
I will probably rotate my stacks from now on and accept that cards don't last forever, and like all hobbies, magic will suck my wallet dry. :) |
Timtom New user Sweden 56 Posts |
I have 4 deck that I rotate, 2 decks that’s drying up and 2 decks that I train with. After sometime I change decks so the 2 decks that I train with will be spread out for drying and I take the other 2 for train.
|
CarlWinder New user 6 Posts |
What do you spread them on Timtom?
|
MRSharpe Special user Never a dull moment with 940 Posts |
I use the same deck until it is too worn to continue using and I also use a thin lotion for magicians, so this builds up on the cards. However, my decks last about three weeks before I donate them to friends who play cards at work or use them to practice Immaculate Connection, Card Warp, Mercury Card Fold, T&R, etc. Also, I work with cards about 2-4 hours per day when I'm not keeping other effects up to speed, and I'm a worker, so I have to keep things up to speed and add new material regularly Here's a few questions: 1) How old are you? Younger magicians tend to have moister hands than older magi. Our hands get dryer as we age. 2) Are you living in a humid area? It's late summer and higher humidity means that cards will build up moisture quicker and dry out slower. 3) Are you using quality cards? The finish on cheap cards don't hold up to as much use as higher quality cards. Finally, picking up some quality plastic cards. I recommend Cartamundi Ace Authentic which were voted the best cards for use in poker rooms by the Las Vegas Dealer's Union. Yes, these guys don't do sleights, or shouldn't on the job, but they handle cards all day or nigh long on the job and know the difference between good and bad cards. They are more flexible and elastic than pasteboard cards, I have found them to be excellent for most sleight of hand, and best of all,since they are plastic they don't absorb any moisture. The deck I'm currently using shows no wear at all except for some places where my fingernails have scratched off some ink here and there. I know this will sound like sacrilege to care men, but they are really excellent cards. The only downside to them compared to pasteboard is that since they are e plastic you can't do some things with them. They fan poorly, you can't bend or tear them, and they can have some side slip if you apply too much pressure, but then a light touch is best for all but a few sleights. There are also no gaffs for Authentic Ace cards. One other thing is that you can't do signed card effects with a Sharpie or marker of your choice and then clean the signatures off with a dry erase marker erasure pen. Not, that' something you can't do with Bikes or Steamboats! I have switched to them for my restaurant work but still work with pasteboard for speciality decks and packet tricks that are not available--and will not likely be due to a lack of demand--in this card stock.
Custom Props Designer and Fabricator as well as Performer from Indiana, USA
|
CarlWinder New user 6 Posts |
Hi MrSharpe,
1. I'm 32. 2. It's summer here (UK) so the humidity could be a factor. Although I'm in the Lake District, so it's always raining, so we're not having much of a summer lol 3. I'm using Bicycle cards. I have ordered a couple of Phoenix decks to try out. I may try plastic coated cards as you have suggested. Cheers, Carl |
CarlWinder New user 6 Posts |
It's been a while since I've picked up a deck of cards, work commitments,
But I've recently got back in to it. I picked up a deck of Copag 100% plastic cards at https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000......_summary and I'm really liking them! They do take time to get used to, but what doesn't eh? Just putting this here just in case someone else comes across this issue with their cards. |
Brad Burt Inner circle 2675 Posts |
In almost all cases the biggest problem is humidity. Unless you have hands that sweat overly much, just the moisture in the air will cause your cards to thicken and puff. It not generally the oil on your hands, unless again, you have excessively oily hands. It's the humidity AND the small amount of oil that is added.
Frankly, this is a real problem for folks that use cards in any environment that is not humidity controlled, etc. Handling the cars distributes the moisture through the cards. The idea of using say 7 decks that you rotate daily or in some extreme cases even hourly is a good idea. What you need is a place that is cool and dry....NOT cold like a fridge....but, a cool dry place in your home that you can place the cards so that over a seven day period each deck and dry out. The FLOOR of a dark back room closet is a good bet. If you don't live in a humidity controlled environ, but you work in one.....leave the decks somewhere at work where they won't be a problem. Take the days deck home with you each day, etc. Good luck.
Brad Burt
|
wulfiesmith Inner circle Beverley, UK 1339 Posts |
Hi Carl,
with no dis-respect, the problem might not necessarily be your hands. I take it you are using quality decks? |
CarlWinder New user 6 Posts |
Hi Wulfie,
I've used bicycle (air cushioned) and phoenix decks. The only decks which don't stick and clog up, so far, are the plastic copags. I've been using those for the past 3 days, practicing about 4 hours a day and they haven't stuck at all. I think my skin is quite oily and wrecks the paper stock over a very short period of time. I wash my hands before handling the cards as well. |
jimhlou Inner circle 3698 Posts |
How do you like the Phoenix? I just bought my first deck - they seem to be slicker than the Bicycle. However, that may change once I work with them a while. Jim
|
SvenSigma Regular user Germany 151 Posts |
Quote:
On Oct 13, 2016, jimhlou wrote: I like Phoenix decks very much, but I can only compare them to Bicycle standard (OK, but Phoenix is better value for money, at least in Germany) and Bicycle plastic (too heavy and too thick for my personal taste), have not tried Bicycle gold standard (too expensive in comparison to Phoenix). When I first opened a deck of Phoenix cards, after having used Bicycle before, I was not used to how slick they are. They were so slippery that they nearly fell out of my hand. I also love that you can easily Faro new decks (even no big difference between Top-Down and Bottom-Up). Regarding the care for your decks, this thread might be interesting: http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......c=606826
It takes a baby in the belly six months to learn how to put the thumb in the mouth.
The rest of life is essentially the same problem. |
docguitarman Special user Thousand Oaks, California 888 Posts |
Hello MRSharpe,
How thin is the Cartamundi Ace 100% plastic deck? Amazon says the deck of 52 cards is only 0.5 inches. Other sellers say the deck is 0.8 inches -- which I hope is the external measurement of the tuck case. I want a deck that thin for creating a peek deck! Phil |
The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » New to magic? » » Overhand Shuffle Sticking (2 Likes) |
[ Top of Page ] |
All content & postings Copyright © 2001-2024 Steve Brooks. All Rights Reserved. This page was created in 0.04 seconds requiring 5 database queries. |
The views and comments expressed on The Magic Café are not necessarily those of The Magic Café, Steve Brooks, or Steve Brooks Magic. > Privacy Statement < |