Hi all, considering purchasing a new expanded [ set of morgans. I've heard good things about Bob Swadlings work, but can anybody give a comparison to a Schoolcraft [ for example? There is a big difference in terms of price between the two, is it justified? Is the coverage good on Bobs?

Thanks in advance...

Ha Jarvo
Welcome to the café.Bobs work on expanded shells is superb.
I have a set and love them.Im not going to compare but you
will be very happy with them.
Todd

I don’t think you will find any noticeable difference at all.

Jim

I cant speak for schoolcraft as I don't own any but I love all my Mason / Swadling gaffs every bit as much as my Lassen, Mogar and Keuppers that I own. Mason / Swadling is ALWAYS my go to when it comes to quality working gaffs.

I recommend Bob Swadling's work if all you want is a usable expanded shell. I bought one of his and am very happy.

If what you want is a perfect fitting shell and matching coin(s) you should look to Lassen (or Schoolcraft - I prefer Lassen, but they're both good).

The difference is small, but comes from the fact that there is a tremendous difference in size (and coloring) of old silver coins, mostly due to wear, but also variations in minting. If you are making a shell that has to fit most coins of the same size, it will have to be big enough to fit the largest coins. Lassen (and Schoolcraft) make sets that are perfectly sized so there will be no chatter due to the shell being slightly oversized. Lassen, in particular, is known for matching the appearance of the coins and shell so that you can't tell them apart. If that is important to you, the cost differential is worth it. If not, as J Mac says, you probably won't notice the difference.

Alan

Hey Poof - hope you are doing ok.

yeah, surgery went well. very noticeable cosmetically as they took out a lot after 5 hrs under the knife but they are pretty certain they managed to get all of the cancer out of that side. had 29 staples all said and done and lost most of the feeling in the right side of my face. got the staples out today but still cant turn my head enough to be released to drive. still lots of pain but lots of pain killers to help. things are getting better every day I guess.

That's great news Poof! Praise God!

Think of it as practicing the moves for a tabled perfect faro or a Truffle Shuffle and master something that you thought that you would have a hard time to master: it's magic in itself...

I send you all the support that you can take

Thanks all, I think I'll go for a matched set of Bob Swadlings

Just received some Bob Swadling made double expanded Kennedy Half dollar JB Pro coin sets today and I wasnt completely satisfied with the quality. Coins are ok quality but far from perfect.

The set consists of normal coin, normal expanded shell and super expanded shell. This makes the coin higher and larger than normal expanded shell coin. Fully nested coin is 1,6-1,7 normal coins thick. So two full nests are around 3 normal coins height.

The Shells arent too deep either. When nested the uppermost shell covers maybe 50% of the original coin. The normal expanded shell covers maybe 60-70% of the coin. This leaves the edges of the coin extremely vulnerable and in all honesty, I have received better fitting Johnson shells in the past.

Also the fitting of the shells isn't nearly as perfect as one might expect. There is loose space between each shell allowing em to move and rattle quite a lot causing sound. This causes problems in shadowcoins type routines where minor shake or move can unnest the coins messing up the whole routine. The nests just cant withstand close scrutiny and I woudnt dare to use em in extreme close up on close-up mat.

However for in the hands work for vanishing 3 separate coins and making em appear the quality is good enough so one might be able to use em in routines that usually work with F****R and shell. But for table work or those looking for poor mans version of Dean Dill Explosion these wont work...

J-M

Bob Swadling and Mark Mason (via JB Magic) now have a "Super Dish" shell that comes with four matching coins. It's an expanded shell, but it covers more of the coin than even the unexpanded shells from other manufacturers that I have. The coin coverage is so good that even if you are looking dead at the shell and know what you're looking for, you don't see it. In addition to the coverage being superb, Bob gently remills the edges, (I say gently, because he does it just enough to make palming the coin easy, but not to where the coin is distinguishable from the others in the set). The set is called, "Shell Shocked", and it comes with a DVD that has a very fair, easy-to-do, OPEN HANDED Coins Across routine.
Though I have other shells from Bob that are great, (better than other manufacturers of expanded shells), this Super Dish shell that is part of the "Shell Shocked" set is something in a class by itself.
(Different coins are offered, but I have the Morgan set.)

I don't see this super dish shell anywhere on their site. Will it be coming out soon?

Dentian:

Here you go:

http://www.jbtv.co.uk/new-items/shell-sh......-803.php

They are also available in Kennedy Halves and Walking Liberty.

Doug

Thank you!, it looks pretty interesting..

I seen these at a convention a few week's ago.
A very nice set of coin's.And the routine was good also.
Todd

I have the Kennedy set and love it!

How do you like the routine that
come's with the set of coin's?
Todd

Can anyone describe the routine that comes with the shell shocked set?

A one handed coins across??? If you only got one hand where is it going across To ???

Hi David. I don’t see where it says "One-handed" anywhere on this page.

I think you saw "OPEN-HANDED" and mistook that for "One-Handed".

Jim