Even though I didn't start this thread, I want to thank everyone for the replies. I have the book and a shop and the materials, now maybe I will have the push to build the table.

Mike

If you can, please post some photos here. Good luck with the build!

I have worked on my table after reading these posts and made a few modifications to the original design to make it sturdier. First I added pins (just nails with the heads trimmed off) to the shelf brackets and corresponding holes in the shelf bottoms so the shelves would be held in place and to keep the table legs tightly spread.


Since the pin holes do not line up exactly each shelf has to go in the proper place, so I put a drop of white paint on the bottom of shelf one and two drops of paint on the bottom of shelf two, and corresponding marks on the shelf brackets.


I made a base the same dimensions as the table top. I added a stop-piece on the top of the base to snug the corner of the legs into, and added a pin at that location as well.


So the base is secured to the legs by two hook-and-eyes in the back and the pin going into the legs at the front.


I added a pin to the table top as well.


On the advice of my magician friend Kevin Wilson, I added a lip around the table top to keep things like
sponge balls and wands from rolling off.




I spray painted the exterior parts of the table gloss black and the interior parts flat black, and covered the table top and shelf tops with black felt. I realize the table is not very fancy looking but it is quite functional, easy to set up and tear down, not very heavy and inexpensive to build.

That'll do it! Good idea with the pins.

Just FYI - If you are the only person to ever see into the back of your table, you might want to consider painting it white... at least the shelves. It makes it a lot easier to see your props inside. If you are ever performing where the strong light comes from the front, a black interior will turn into a dark cave.

~michael

Another excellent idea! I will do that.

I also made the BA table top. Here are a few images of that. If you want to see the gimmick from the back and loaded with the cup, send me a PM with your email address and I will send you those.

Daryl, that's pretty cool!

Michael, thanks for the tips, as always!

I built the table, it took a day and half. I wasn't too pleased with the way the BA well turned out. The crowd does have to be below you, since I am a stage magician;/mentalist this was no problem, but I was really wanting something for close up work. I made another top, minus the BA well, and just rolled with that. I do like the idea of the spring loaded trap door.

Dreadnought,
Did you try triple velvet? Use that with some bright colored ribbon and outline the BA well. This tricks the eyes very well. I will start a new thread and take some photos so you can see what I mean.

I have been using these tables for years, but with modifications to the original design. The airlines do not allow much in the way of weight, so if I am doing a solo show I have to keep that weight under 50 lbs per trunk or pay an extra $90. I don't really want to pass that along to the client, so I made my tables much lighter using 1/4" ply and covering the audience side with black Naugahyde. They are very stable, because I made detachable bases, tops and middle triangle shelves.

I Velcro these together instead of using a latch. So how do I hinge the body of the table together? I use something called a Chicago Sex Screw. (No, really, it IS called this. Geez, I bet they censor me and I work for The Café'!) It is a 1/4" barrel bolt. You can also use t-nuts. I will post a new topic with photos and show you what I mean!

On another forum, some of us mentioned the book, "Black Art Well Tricks for the 80's". This has some info within that describes some ideas that tend to take the heat off the wells. By applying some of that info and a bit of lateral thinking, you can probably come up with a design that should work for your specific applications.

Spring loaded traps are cool, but each should be calibrated to the object to be used with it.

To be honest, it is better to view such a utility device (black art wells), as less utilitarian, and more specific to a need.

Glad I found this disscussion has me thinking on alot. Been building one with my gramps. The ones online that fold up on tripods look even more unstable and more angle sensitive. They also look tacky and you don't even know how big their tops are. What I like about the mark wilson black art table besides it folding up. "They are not uncommon to find nowdays." Is that the folding base conceals the pocket so well. The ones online only have a table cloth type of deal to conceal it. I am making my velvet into a table cloth. This to me makes it look less like a black card table. Plus I can sew a pocket in the back to a secret servante.

One issue I have always had with black art tables is the checkered pipping. For one it is only one the top. Wheras a true table cloth would have this along the entire thing and it would not be pipping. Besides this the pipping makes the table look like a cheap plad picnic table cloth. There has got to be something better to trick the eye and conceal the well. Perhaps zebra striped velvet? Would be my first thought. I have my velvet cut and am currently sewing my servante and pocket. But really worried about things looking right in the assembly phase.

While I decided to go with a Harbin style table instead, I also built wells into mine.

I had the same thoughts about the visibility of the well, and unfortunately, some kind of striping or piping is needed. I avoided piping because the rolled edge intereferes with cardwork on the table.

What I used instead is seam bias tape; it lies flat and comes in a variety of widths. I used red instead of yellow to match my other gear and it works just as well. Blue actually works extremely well.

Honestly, I have NOT ONCE had an audience member catch on to the existence of the well, even though it's right there at/below their eye level. I perform in a close-up environment and I've never been burned. I think the trouble is that because *we* know it's there, our eyes catch it much more easily than a layman's- they *don't* know it's there, so even if they do see it, it will simply appear to be a deeper shadow. Of course you can cheat by placing objects in front of or to the side of the well to draw the eye, or if the base of the object is big enough, even OVER the well until it's needed. Card trays are great for that.

I'll see if I can find my camera and snap a few shots.

Got my table top finished just half to paint the bottom section. The top looks great I used painters tape as temporary seam bias tape. Will get the cloth stips today but it is completly invisible.

Another table that is great is from The Table Book by Magic Inc. it folds into forths, has 2 shelves and looks very nice and professional. When I was a teenager, my dad made it for me to do my shows. The table is bright read. Notice it has open or cut out front and sides. Sorry, color film was not available at this time.

Click here to view attached image.

Who is the pretty assistant?

The design he puts in his book is good for the time but you can tell that it is very outdated. I would look online for some blueprints on a better table like bill suggested.

We can't forget the contextual use.

The real point is that the basic design in the book is easily modified. The book shows the plans using a very basic geometric design, with easily cut parts. As each magician's show is different (hopefully), the table that he uses should reflect the style of the act. The same essential design can be modified to look like a rabbit for kid shows, skeletons, as I've shown, for a spook show, or any number of other styles.

"Outdated" is a term only relative to the act in which a particular item is used. I can think of many outdated tables and props that would look great in a period act for which they apply. The question is, do they follow form and function?

There are of course, many other table designs (in a mechanical sense) that use a variety of supports for the top surface, and that is really all a magician's table is... a surface upon which to work or place props. First and foremost, it must serve the magician. Form is nothing if it is deficient in function. A busker's table is naturally going to be different in both style and construction, than one used by a manipulator, or a kid show performer, .

A table may also serve the purpose of having additional storage space, built-in secret accessories, or whatever the performer might wish to include. Portability is often a consideration, along with function, but unfortunately, that is where a lot of the thinking stops... as it does when something is moded as "outdated", without consideration for context.

Ironically, so-called "modern" designs for magic tables often look like nothing seen anywhere else on the planet except in a magic show. I don't think that's necessarily any better.

Just remembered, there was a very nice member who gave his case table plans away for free in PDF form here in this section. I have changed computers so much, I no longer have the link

I found the plans here:

http://kkistler.powweb.com/magic/fastandplans.pdf

Thanks to Kerry Kistler for the plans:

http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......start=30

There are photos of the table posted in the above forum string.