I can testify to the truthfulness of that statement. I live in Houston and I am lucky enough to have met Bill. I consider him one of my friends. I look forward to every SAM/IBM/HAOM meeting here because among other reasons, I'll get to socialize and talk with Bill. I can think of many times when Bill and I just standing out in the parking lot talking about Cups and Balls or Gaffless coin routines... or "The Stupidest Coin trick ever".... The man is a seer and a true friend.


ps If you ever meet him ask him to show you "The stupidest coin trick ever"

Eric:

Thanks for the kind words. I do consider you a friend as well.

It's actually called "The World's Worst Coin Trick." Vernon liked it!

I thought I would add to the original "A Cup Story" by mentioning that I had a nice conversation with Mike Brazill this past week regarding cup restoration.

I talked with him about some of my original Danny Dew/Paul Fox cups that were considered "seconds" by Danny. Danny considered them "seconds" for various reasons, and I attempted to have some work done on them a few years ago in order to make matching sets that would stack. Unfortunately, some of the work left something to be desired, and Mike is interested and willing to take a look at them to see if he can do anything with them.

As we talked, he shared with me that he and Bill Palmer are putting together a "Council" to restore and certify certain cups that have historical interest.

It isn't for the ordinary cups. It's for cups that are basically not being manufactured any more -- seriously collectible cups. For example, if you have a set of Uday cups or a set of Bazar cups, those would not be appropriate.

The other thing would be that they would ask for individuals to send a photo or two of the cups first, so they know what they are and what they are getting into.

They would need some kind of insurance on the cups, as well, just in case the
post office or other carrier messed up and ruined the cups. They know how to pack cups, but since many of us may not, they will be glad to tell people how to pack cups properly.

Mike is not asking me to pay him for his help. I simply need to cover the costs for shipping. I never met or talked to Mike before, but he was very helpful and actually called me back after a couple of my attempts to get in touch with him!

Since I don't want to misrepresent what he and Bill are thinking about, maybe Bill can add more light on their Council!

Terry

This is an idea that started when Christopher Moro needed help with his Sisti cups. Mike volunteered to polish them for him. There are things you can do with a polishing wheel that you just can't do as well by hand.

Mike's idea was to restore the cups as well as possible, then send them to me for inspection and verification (such as I can provide), and for me to issue a "Guru Certificate" (Mike's term -- not mine, but I'm honored!) that would state the kind of cups they were and the condition that they were in when Mike finished up with them.

We didn't charge Christopher a thing for this.

However, we have to be very careful, because we don't want to be inundated with a flood of cheap cups that have been stomped flat! Also, if we keep paying the postage for these things, we will go broke really fast! But we aren't doing this as a profit-making venture. It is strictly a service for people who have collectible or working cups -- good ones -- that need to be restored and polished.

So, here's the basic idea. Postage and insurance for a set of cups, priority mail, from Mike to me is roughly $10.00. Postage from me to just about anywhere in the continental US is about $10.00.

If you have a set of good cups -- PF, Rings and Things, Owen, P&L, any good cup -- send us a photo, so we know what needs to be done. If Mike says he can do it, then send it to him with a money order for $20.00. We will take it from there.

It is very important that you insure your cups, and make sure that you have some kind of verification for what they are worth. Otherwise, the Post Office won't consider the estimate valid.

That's basically it. If you have questions, send me an e-mail at bill@billpalmer.com

I said it once, I'll say it again -- Mike and Bill are great guys.
BTW Bill, I didn't know the idea originated because of my Sisti's. That's actually kind of cool.

Terry: If Bill and Mike actually charged a real fee for this, it would still be worth it. During the process, Mike even called me to explain what was "wrong" with my cups and what he was going to do with them. Partially asking permission to do them, partially educating me on the craft of metal working. It was nice.

Mike makes a good point on packing the cups. Here's what I did -- I got thick white tissue paper. The kind you use to cover clothes wrapped in boxes for Christmas. I wrapped each cup tightly in the paper and stacked them. The stack went into the drawstring bag, which now fit very snug with no room to spare. I then wrapped the whole thing in fine bubble wrap and then wrapped the entire unit into thick/large-bubble bubble wrap. Then it went into a box with newspaper for extra padding. I insured the cups for $500. I considered the possibility of the cups getting lost or damaged before sending them out.
When the cups came back to me from Mike, they were pretty much packed the same way. With the exception that the stack was wrapped in a T-shirt material. So actually, Mike packed them even better than I did.

That is awesome ....I have a set of Steel Sisti's that might need that treatment.
No matter how ofton I clean them or work with them ...black oxidation and rust keeps appearing on them.

I also have a friend that has Brass R-N-T cups that the finish flaked off off ..those might need a bit of treatment as well.

Bill I will e-mail you.
Thanks,
Mobius

Sounds like your Sisti's might not REALLY be made of steel.

The Sisti steel cups are steel, but not stainless steel. They can and will rust.

Ah.

What Bill Said.
It was not a problem with them until recently. I have had them for 8 years.
They weigh a ton.
Mobius

The original Sisti Steel cups were a CNC product from machine grade steel. The new version we spun of these were hand spun which reduced the weight.

That is a big step in the right direction!