ALLMAGIC.COM has a pretty good article on barehanded
silk production, using a couple ballpoint pens and a rubberband as a silk winder.

Decent article!

http://allmagic.com/magicshow/stage/silktwister.html

Very nice article. Incidentally, Laflin's Magic has an interesting set of silk winder/droppers. They are reasonably priced and easy on the silks. They are not listed on the website at http://www.laflinmagic.com but you can call for information. They are better than a number I have seen in the past. He has a table mounted model and one that can be stolen from the jacket.

I tried the method recently and it works! I've tried published methods and a few of my own but I like this one best. Will use it from now on. Thanks for the link cheaptrick.

Common wood pencils work better than the ballpoint pens Robinson uses here. IMHO, they are also less likely to leave any permanent mark on the silk.

Cheap Trick,

That link was very helpful. I finally got around to trying the method out and it works very well. I'm still fine tuning it.

Thanks.

Stephen

Is this that same silk winder that is talked about in the Carl Rosini book? I saw a silk winder in Tannen's web site that was credited to Rosini. It is advertised that you can produce an endless amount of silks.

Darkwing,

This is not a commercial product. It is just a method of using a couple of pens or pencils and a rubberband to wind silks in a tight self-contained bundle so they can be produced/manipulated. It's origins are probably lost somewhere in pre-vaudevillian antiquity.

Most books that introduce silks show methods of folding neatly-rolled silks. In the real world, these neatly-folded bundles are hard to do. At least, I've never been able to get them right until I tried this method.

You can buy commercially made products that will do the same thing.

This works as well, if not better than many of the silk rollers on the market.

That is one of my favorites sites to drop by and visit. You never know what trick you are going to get from there. They are all good and can be used at some point.

I guess I need to start a topic on Carl Rosini's method.

As per the Rosini Method, this is called the Rosini silk Winder. Paul Diamond gives an excellant demo of it in his Symphony on Silks Lecture which is still available from L& L publishing.

It is a good method to load a streamer or bunch of individual silks in a small area. The first Magic convention I ever went to I saw this lecture and later I saw Abb Dickson get 300 feet of silk streamer into a pop can. Unbelievable.

I do manufacture the winders if you have a need.

Cheaptrick,

Yes the folding of silk works in the real world, but it must be practiced just like your act. I have been to magic conventions and seen pro's fold a silk faster them most can roll them.

Richard Hughes,

I did not notice the Rosini Silk winder on your site. Can you discribe and give a price? Is it only for large streamer production?

Agreed, a REAL silk winder does a great job.

As a "field expedient" (old Army term) the thing with two pencils and a rubber band will get the job done in a pinch, though NOT as well as a good piece of equipment designed for the job.

Thanks, for your comments.

:magicrabbit:

The Rosini is my personal favorite. (I'm a sucker for well made brass gimmicks.) It is safe for the silks. Homemade models from soda straws, etc. wreck silks.

But then again, since I am the magicians' silk importer I should encourage you to ruin all of them you will and restock! We have customers who never reuse a silk. (Most others even save used rubber bands!)

Quality never goes out of style. Good silk winders do exist. I actually hate to see silks and feather flowers ruined with rubber bands. (Yes, Lucy ruins one about every show. But her supply of silks is a little different from most magicians. You can save the scrap of silk that is not ruined and glue it into a TT!)

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander

I am sorry I dropped the ball on replying to the questions on this item.

The Rosini Silk Winder is best used on streamers in my opinion. It can be used on strings of silks or silks tied together but best on streamers. It allows you to put a large silk into a small bobbin like configuration.

It is listed on my website in the catalog under the silks products. I do still make them.

I will eventually get a video put together on it's use but until then Paul Diamond's Sympontic in Silks is a good reference.

Richard

Here is a link to my Silk Roller/Holder. I hand make them out of brass. I've added a couple features, but they are based off of the old method that is shown in Rice's Encyclopedia of Silk Magic.

Lynetta

There is that good looking lady I read about this month!

Hello Lynetta,

Great to see you here on The Magic Café. One of these days I'll catch you in Arkansas at Eureka Springs. (March?)

BRASS! You know what I like in Silk Winders! Thank you for showing these folks what's available. Knots don't hurt silks, but rubber bands can.

Lynetta's solves the "reset" problem too!

Thanks Lynetta!

Bob Sanders
Magic By Sander