Any recommendations on what size balls are good for the Gazzo cups?

Any point on where to get'em?

As big as you can get away with, try out some sizes. It looks a bit more impressive if they're bigger.

That is what I have heard

Thanks Robin...

When I got my set of gazzo cups they came with large soccer balls. I believe the balls were about 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 inches. They were too big for me.

With a cup that big, it wouldn't matter that much how big the working balls are. They'll still be plenty big enough to see. 1" to 1 1/8" is about what I settled on with mine. The ones in my avatar are about 1 1/8"

It's really not that hard to handle the larger ones. My only problem was when I tried to load two at once. Other than that, the relaxed grip from using a larger ball worked well to imply my hand was "empty."

I can understand that Dave.

Thank you both for your posts.

ps.

Can anyone recommend a decent place to get a street table... a large on at that.

I know Frank at Ambitious has them... anyone else?

I am looking for a pouch too...

I hear frank is the go to guy, since gazzo isn't making them hardly now...

I built mine myself, that's always a possibility.

I would...

I know a frame worker...

I will try to figure something out...

What type of wood would you recommend?

and what padding goes under the top material?

Heya Jester,

I'm just finishing up a batch of 3 table tops.

In thins run I used 1/2" plywood (cut 20"x32"), 1/4" sheet foam (green stuff from the fabric store), countertop laminate for the underside and synthetic suede for the fabric. My edging is made of pine hand railing that I groove so it lines up with the plywood for easy refitting after one changes out the fabric when necessary.

Kozmo thought that my felt topped tables were too loose and that was giving him trouble with his coin matrix...which prompted me to try other top materials. The felt looks and wears great, but I agree with him. It just can't be pulled any tighter without causing other problems. So, I'm trying the suede stuff out. Looks really good...just gotta see how they look after a season.

I made 8 busking tables this year. Some painted, some stained. Some with bases and others without. Overall, I'd say stick with 1/2" plywood over 3/4" for weight reasons. And, stain/seal any exposed wood rather than paint because it'll look nicer longer.

Whoa, gotta go. The fam just got home.

PM me if ya'd like.

Chad

I bet James Tong can make the balls any size you want. Check out his website: http://www.magicaroundtheworld.com/info/......dex.html

I used a velvet cover for my table, forgot about padding though.

A link if you're interested: http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......orum=6&8

For pouches I highly recommend Frank's. I got his street pouch a week ago, it's perfect.

What kind of padding would you recommend to out under the top material?

I found a "foam sheet" that was the closest thing to "sheet foam" that Chad recommended... but it was only in 18x20 sheets... my table is bigger than that...

any recommendations?

You can probably get sheet foam in a lot of different sizes. We don't use that for our tables but I think I've seen it in large sizes (or rolls).

Thanks Frank...

I am guessing that I may not have to use any foam now that I am thinking about it...

Frank, by the way, has the best tools for busking to anyone reading this that is not aware...

Check out theambitiouscard.com fro all your busking needs...

Thanks for all your help Frank...

The balls Gazzo uses are 1 1/4" soccer balls. A good 1 1/8" ball would work well, too.

Whatever you use, buy a couple dozen of them, if you are busking. You might find that you like the way that silicone rubber balls handle. You can get those at Wally World in the toy department. They are about 1 1/16" in diameter.

Thanks Bill...

you have been such a big help to me...

please, let me know if there is anything I can ever do for you.

and thank to whoever put this thread in its place... 'ppreciate that...

I picked up some rubber sheeting at Home Depot. It's the stuff they use to line wire shelving so small items don't fall through. It's much denser than what I think Chad uses. Not a lot of cushion, but it deadens a bouncing ball just great. It's sort of cream colored and comes in four foot rolls in widths of 12 and 18 inches. I bought two 12" rolls and butted them up down the middle of my table.

It's very much like this but HD had it in four foot rolls instead of ten feet.

I glued it to the plywood with contact cement and then covered it with green poker cloth. Velvet, felt, Naugahyde, they all work. Pick what you like. Poker cloth doesn't deform when stretched like felt does, but it's sort of expensive. Total table size is somewhere around 22x32.

For the balls with the gazzo cups I used the red croched ones they mine came with, but I have been using monkey fist balls that I made. From the larger sized marbles and seude lace. They look really nice and handel really well.the lace can be bought at a cratf store. The core you can use glass marbles, or steel ball bearings. Or even the sling shot loads you can get at sporting goods stores,like dicks or gander mountain. They are available in many different sizes. This link will show you how to tie a monkey fist, and there are many other tutorials out there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXdHcH3FRcM

Josh's quick and dirty table:

Get a large poster frame. Frame a piece of foam, along with whatever top surface you want. Put it on a keyboard stand. Call it a day.

I know it sounds terrible, but I think they look just fine. Anyone who's seen my "real" magic videos, has seen me use this.